Boyhood Daze
Boyhood Daze is a 1957 Merrie Melodies cartoon featuring minor character, Ralph Phillips. It is one of two cartoons in which Ralph is the main character, the other one being From A to Z-Z-Z-Z.
Storyline
The cartoon starts with a baseball going through a window, breaking it, and Ralph exclaiming: "Ohhh nooo!" His mother sends him up to his bedroom until his father gets home.
Up in his room, he broods over his mistake and tries to imagine himself as a hero, first by imagining himself as a famous explorer in Africa to rescue his parents from a native tribe, then tells his father to go to his room for playing in Africa and tells his mother his insurance will cover the window and to buy a catchers mitt with the rest.
He is then seen making paper airplanes, and wishing he was a "jet ace or something". He then is imagining himself as an Air Force pilot who thwarts a Martian invasion and is a national hero.
His third dream occurs after he hears his dad come home and can hear the distant talking of both of his parents. His imagines himself as a convict in a jail cell. A whispering voice repeats: "They're coming to get'cha, Phillips." He steps down, crushes out a cigarette he was apparently smoking, and faces the door like a man. The cell door opens and a silhouetted person with a booming voice says: "You're gonna have to pay for this, Ralph Phillips!"
Back to reality, it turns out to be his rather gentle-demeaning father who basically says the window repair was coming out of his allowance, then lets him go outside to play.
As he runs back outside with a baseball bat and glove, he stops when he sees a cherry tree in the yard, then notices a hatchet. Next scene he is walking towards the tree with the hatchet, and he turns into a young George Washington as the cartoon irises out.
Edited versions
When this cartoon aired on ABC, the entire scene of Ralph rescuing his parents from African natives was cut.
When it aired on Nickelodeon, the part where Ralph rescues his parents from African natives was altered with only the scenes where the jungle natives were actually shown removed.
When it aired on Cartoon Network, the entire African native sequence was left intact, but a brief shot of Ralph (who imagines himself as a convict awaiting punishment in his jail cell) smoking a cigarette and stomping it out was snipped out.
See also
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1950–1959)