She Was an Acrobat's Daughter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

She Was an Acrobat's Daughter is an animated short in the Merrie Melodies series, released by Warner Brothers in April 1937 and directed by Friz Freleng.

[edit] Plot

The story is set at a local movie theater. Cartoon animals switch seats before the show and the show begins with a presentation of short subjects. This is followed by a community sing-along to the tune of "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter", with the lyrics projected using magic lantern slides. There is a gag during the singing involving the wrong slide being shown, so the audience sings "please do not spit on the floor". Afterwards, the main feature is presented, with a parody of the MGM lion logo who crows like a rooster instead of roaring at the start. A parody of The Petrified Forest (1936) entitled The Petrified Florist is then shown featuring Bette Savis (Bette Davis) and Lester Coward (Leslie Howard), with rather long cast credits. During the show, a donkey sells refreshments in the middle of the picture--and gets thrown out. An inquisitive goose curiously goes to the projection room and screws up the soundtrack of the movie by speeding it forward and backward. The goose ultimately gets his beak caught in the projector and is tangled up in the film reel. As he falls to the floor, loops of film dangle at him.

A spoof pornographic film of this cartoon was also created in the late 80s in Bavaria.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

Schneider, Steve, That's All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation, Henry Holt and Company, 1990)
Beck, Jerry and Friedwald, Will, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons (Henry Holt and Company, 1989) ISBN 0-8050-0894-2