Foney Fables
About Foney Fables
A Merrie Melodies book of fables turns its pages for a string of jokes. A prince shakes Sleeping Beauty and calls her a lazy good-for-nothing. Aladdin rubs a lamp. A boy keeps crying wolf until the joke wears out. Wartime gags cut in: a grasshopper expects to last the winter because he bought war bonds, a wolf in sheep's clothing is called the fifth columnist of his day, the goose that laid golden eggs lays plain eggs for national defense, and Old Mother Hubbard is accused of hoarding.
Cast & crew
More about Foney Fables
Warner cartoon no. 375, a Merrie Melodies short released 1 August 1942, the same day as The Ducktators. Friz Freleng directed, Michael Maltese wrote the gags, and Richard Bickenbach animated. Leon Schlesinger produced. The blog Likely Looney, Mostly Merrie lists Treg Brown for the sound, uncredited on screen.
Themes
Background
The short opened in August 1942, with ration-board jokes about bonds, hoarding, and national defense.
Making
Maltese and Freleng built the reel as spot gags rather than one story, with the boy who cried wolf coming back between the other fables.
Reviews
In Dr. Grob's Animation Review (10 October 2018) the gags are called tired, and the war jokes are singled out as the part worth noticing.
Music
Carl W. Stalling directed the music. Mel Blanc, Sara Berner, and Frank Graham speak the parts.
Preservation
Wikipedia's 1940s Looney Tunes filmography marks the cartoon public domain. It is on the DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5.
Notes
- Mel Blanc supplies various voices. Sara Berner plays the mother. Frank Graham is the narrator and the wolf.
- The Looney Tunes filmography on Wikipedia marks the short as public domain.
- It is on the DVD set Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5.
- Dr. Grob notes that the hand turning the storybook pages repeats a device from A Gander at Mother Goose (1940).
Scenes
- The prince grabs Sleeping Beauty by the shoulders and yells at her to wake up.
- The boy cries wolf, a hunter runs in, and the boy laughs at him.
Influenced by
- A Gander at Mother Goose (1940)
Also available
- Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5
Quotes
Come on, wake up! Wake up, you lazy good-for-nothing!
