The Dover Boys
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The Dover Boys at Pimento University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall (better known as simply The Dover Boys) is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released by Warner Bros. on 19 September 1942. The cartoon is a parody of the Rover Boys, a popular juvenile fiction book series of the early 20th century.
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[edit] Summary
The three Dover Boys - Tom, Dick and Larry (a play on both the Rover Boys' names "Tom, Sam and Dick" and the generic reference "Tom, Dick and Harry") - are having a day out with "their fiancée", "dainty" Dora Standpipe. She apparently has that name because of her stiff, cylindrical skirt.
The Boys are called upon to rescue Dora when she is kidnapped by stock villain "The Nefarious" Dan Backslide, whose feelings for Dora are summed up in his comment, "How I love her! ... (father's money!)" Backslide takes Dora to a remote mountain cabin, but discovers that despite appearances, Dora is anything but "dainty"; she proceeds to give him quite a beating while still acting the damsel in distress - crying for help and pounding on the door and on Backslide - to the point where Backslide is also crying out for help from Tom, Dick and Larry.
When the Dover Boys (finally) arrive, they proceed to lay a few punches on the barely conscious Backslide before managing to knock each other out as Backslide collapses to the floor beneath their swinging fists. Dora is then escorted away by an odd man in a sailor suit who was a running gag throughout the cartoon, appearing periodically to interrupt the story by walking up, jumping in place, and moving on (to the tune of Ed Haley's "While Strolling Through the Park One Day"); he and Dora repeat these movements as they walk (and hop) off into the sunset.
The Boys are from Pimento University ("good ol' P.U.") and from time to time lapse into their "alma mater", sung to the tune of George Cooper and Henry Tucker's "Sweet Genevieve" ("Pimento U., old sweet P.U.", etc.)
[edit] Notes
This cartoon is notable for being one of the earliest examples of stylized animation, a technique which used shape-heavy designs with minimal movement, as opposed to the type of animation done at that time by the Walt Disney studio. This animation was also the first from Termite Terrace to really push the physical limits of linear action. The characters move with sudden bursts of speed that defy all convention, demonstrating that animation did not have to adhere to any natural laws. Bugs and Daffy in particular would never be the same again after this short was produced, even though they don't appear in it.
Jones has said that Schlesinger and the Warner Bros. studio executives were less than pleased when they screened The Dover Boys, and went through the process of attempting to fire him. A replacement for Jones could not be easily found, so he was kept aboard. This probably also explains that even though the characters were all developed enough that they could have starred in numerous shorts, no more were ever produced with them.
Stylized animation would later be made famous by the artists at startup animation studio UPA, for which Jones moonlighted to direct the political film Hell-Bent for Election in 1944.
Although voice credits from Warner Bros. are not easy to find beyond Mel Blanc, it is assumed that John McLeish voiced the part of the narrator (he performed a similar role as the stately, unctuous narrator on several Goofy shorts for the Disney studio). The voice of Tom Dover was performed by long-time WB animator Tedd Pierce, who also co-animated the short. It is possible that Mel Blanc patterned his voice characterization of Dan Backslide as an impersonation of Hans Conried. The times when Backslide shouts, his voice is similar to the voice used by Blanc for the short-fused Papa Bear in Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears, and the shouting Tweety at the end of A Tale of Two Kitties.
[edit] Quote
We first see Dan Backslide seated in a saloon. He spies the Dover Boys riding their bicycles past the window and says, "Confound those Dover Boys! They drive me to drink!" He then rapidly downs fifteen shots of booze, hiccups, and very drunkenly says again, "Confound those Dover Boys!"
[edit] See also
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography
- Less Than Hero, an episode of Futurama that featured a short part of this cartoon in its opening credits
