The Wearing of the Grin
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| The Wearing of the Grin | |
| Merrie Melodies series | |
| Directed by | Chuck Jones |
|---|---|
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Animation by | Lloyd Vaughan Ben Washam Ken Harris Phil Monroe |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Eugene Poddany |
| Produced by | Edward Selzer |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date | July 14, 1951 (USA premiere) |
| Format | Technicolor, 7 min (one reel) |
| Language | English |
| IMDb page | |
The Wearing of the Grin is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese where Porky Pig spends a night in a castle inhabited by leprechauns. It was released theatrically on July 14, 1951.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
On his way to Dublin, Porky Pig is caught in a storm and must ask for the hospitality of the inhabitant of a nearby castle who calls himself "Seamus O'Toole." After being told there is no one inhabiting the place but leprechauns, Porky dimisses the information, but then accidentally gets hit on the head with a mace and loses consciousness. At that point, "O'Toole" is revealed to be a pair of leprechauns disguised as a human being. Pat, the first one, is very nervous and thinks Porky is after their pot of gold. Mike, the second leprechaun, convinces his partner that he knows how to deal with the Pig. When Porky wakes up, he is helped to a room by a "reunited" O'Toole who, during the short trip to the room, gets accidentally divided in two again. As Porky notices, he mentions to the top half of O'Toole that he has lost his lower half, and realizing that "O'Toole" is actually two leprachauns, is terrified and runs and hides in his bed, which happens to be a trap door leading to a shaft where Porky drops until he falls into the witness chair in a courtroom. There the Leprechauns find him guilty of trying to steal the pot of gold and sentence him to the wearing of the Green Shoes.
At first Porky appreciates them as some nice shoes, but soon he realizes that they are cursed, as his feet begin a frantic Irish jig. Porky realizes that the shoes will not stop dancing, and even when he removes them, they chase him and return themselves to his feet, and he is "danced" through a nightmarish landscape filled with Irish icons until he falls in a boiling pot of gold. At this point, he wakes up to find himself in a puddle of water still standing where he fell after being hit by the mace. Panicked and disoriented, he runs away from the castle. O'Toole watches him run, shaking hands with himself (actually Pat, the other leprechaun) with a mischievous smile.
[edit] Trivia
- The title refers to The Wearing of the Green, an old Irish ballad.
[edit] Availability
The Wearing of the Grin is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 DVD box-set , supplemented with an Audio commentary by animation historian Michael Barrier.
[edit] References
- Beck, Jerry and Friedwald, Will (1989): Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Company.
