Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!
| Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! | |
|---|---|
| Foxy/Merrie Melodies series | |
 The opening scene | |
| Directed by | Rudolf Ising (uncredited) |
| Produced by |
Leon Schlesinger Harman and Ising |
| Music by |
Frank Marsales Abe Lyman |
| Animation by |
Friz Freleng Carman Maxwell |
| Studio | Warner Bros. |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | September 5, 1931 |
| Color process | Black-and-white |
| Running time | 7 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Lady, Play Your Mandolin! |
| Followed by | One More Time |
Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! is a Merrie Melodies cartoon short (September 5, 1931), and also the title of the song performed in the cartoon. This is one of only three Merrie Melodies cartoons to star Foxy; the other two are Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (August, 1931) and One More Time (October 3, 1931). This short is a remake of Trolley Troubles, a Disney short featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in whose creation Hugh Harman had once been involved.
Synopsis
Foxy is a trolley engineer whose problems include an fat lady hippo who can't fit into the trolley and a set of wheels that detach from the trolley car while it's moving. Foxy picks up his vixen girlfriend and gives her a ride, but along the way, the car is blocked by a cow who won't get off the track. A group of nearby hobos sing the title song while Foxy tries to move the cow; he finally runs the car underneath the cow and goes on his way.
The trolley then goes down a hill and runs out of control; Foxy tries to stop it, but the brakes don't work. Finally, the trolley runs off of a cliff, throwing Foxy right into the camera... and then he falls from bed, waking up from what has turned out to be just a nightmare. The radio by his bed is playing the title song, and the annoyed Foxy smashes the radio with a bedpost upon hearing it.
Notes
- Foxy's name was mentioned for the first time in this cartoon.
- The song in the short was made by Billy Cotton (the song was named after the short).
- The title song was featured in Prosperity Blues, a 1932 Krazy Kat cartoon.
- The title song was also featured twice in the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit; first when Eddie drives into Toontown, and again at the end of the film. The song can now be heard as part of the background area music in the Esplanade at the Disneyland Resort as well as in the Mickey's Toontown area of Disneyland Park.
- The lady hippo's gibberish dialogue is actually the following sentence played backwards: "Susie heard one of those Atlantic bells! Whataya think?"
- Inside the trolley car are a number of parody advertisements based on real products of the time, including Arrow collars ("Narrow Collars"), Smith Brothers cough drops ("Sniff Brothers Cough Drops") and Fisk Tires ("Risk Tires").
- A portion of this cartoon appeared on a couple episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse.
- The song's title is referenced in the chorus of "Where's the Fun in That?", a song the Joker sang in a Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Emperor Joker!"
- This is one of many cartoons that was colorized in the 1990s by re-drawing the animation and re-painting the backgrounds.
- The song was performed by Christoph Waltz when he hosted Saturday Night Live on February 16, 2013.
- Same tunnel gag from Mickey's Choo Choo (1929).
- That was the first pre-1948 WB short sold to Associated Artists Productions in 1956.
Availability
- Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6
- Return of the 30s Characters
External links
- Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! at the Internet Movie Database
- Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! at the Big Cartoon DataBase