Cartoons with more explosions than usual

[Matt the Y]

Can anyone here think of any cartoons that contain more explosions per scene/overall running time than usual standard? Explosions and gags involving dynamite and other explosives are standard cartoon reportoire but some animated shorts take advantage of this medium more than others.....

"Ballot Box Bunny" (WB/1951) - After the cartoon's opening scene/initial set-up about Bugs wanting to compete with Sam for running for mayor, pretty much every following scene concludes with an explosion gag (the exploding cigar gag, the dynamite in the watermelon bit, the backfiring cannon gag, the piano-rigged-with-explosives bit, and, of course, the oft-censored-for-TV Russian Roulette gag that concludes the cartoon). Even when I first saw this cartoon as a kid, I was amazed on how this cartoon relied on more cartoon explosive gags than usual..... especially considering that explosives and politics don't usually go hand and hand storyline-wise. ;)

"Safety Second" (MGM/1950) - It's probably a given that a cartoon involving a) Tom & Jerry, b) the 4th of July, and c) plenty of fireworks will have a lot of explosive gags thrown in. As expected, pretty much every gag in this cartoon involves someone getting blown up somehow, usually Tom but even Jerry gets his share of explosive casualties even after Tom is vanquished at the end at the hands of careless Nibbles.

"Quack Shot" (WB/1954) - Not a favorite of mine but a cartoon that still has pretty much every scene concluding with either a shotgun blast or an explosion. My personal favorite is the bit with Elmer getting the worst of Daffy's explosive "toy" boat (heh, heh..... take that, Elmer!!!!!:p ) even if Elmer's resulting (Rod Scribner-animated) facial expression is a bit gruesome to watch.

"Dial 'P' For Pink" (DFE/1965) - A safecracker uses a variety of explosives to blast open a safe..... problem is, the Pink Panther lives in the safe and keeps returning them, one way or another, to the thief the second before they go off. Treg Brown is actually credited on this film (along with "Sink Pink") alongside Lee Gunther..... wonder if some of the explosive sound effects were supplied by him personally?

"Captain Hareblower" (WB/1954) - Also not a favorite of mine but still fits the category I'm mentioning very well. The ending helps make the cartoon for me even if it does end with Bugs unfortunately looking rather foolish as well ("Talcum powder doesn't explode.....").

"Lickety-Splat" (WB/1961) - Road-Runner cartoons especially rely on explosive gags but this one actually uses one as a running gag and plot-device..... the Coyote invents a string of dynamite-darts to let loose on his prey but naturally they keep returning to him instead at the most inopportune times!!!!! :D

"Ant Pasted" (WB/1953) - Elmer Fudd at war with a bunch of picnic ants, both of which armed with an arsenal of explosive ammunition. Guess who wins.....

"Bunker Hill Bunny" (WB/1950) - Another cartoon in which seemingly every scene involves an explosion gag to put the scene over (WB really favored these, didn't they?). Freleng's timing works best in this one, I love the scene at the end where Bugs lights the trail of gun powder that Sam tries ever so in vain to out-run. :D

Can anyone think of any others?

[Chow Hound]

The hunter's trilogy is chock full of gunshots, but no other explosions (that I can think of).

[oceansoul]

Assault and Peppered should deserve a mention.

[Matt the Y]

The hunter's trilogy is chock full of gunshots, but no other explosions (that I can think of).

Riiiiiiiiigghhhht..... how could I have forgotten those?!

"I'm a dirty skunk..... I'M A DIRTY SKUNK???!!" :daffy: :bugs2: :befuddled

BTW, it's baseball season! :D :p ;)

[nickramer]

The Woody Woodpecker cartoon "Square Shootin' Square" comes to mind.

[Jon Cooke]

The Woody Woodpecker cartoon "Square Shootin' Square" comes to mind.

Lots of canon blasts in "Woody Meets Davy Crewcut", too.

There's also that Inspector cartoon, "Napoleon Blown-Aparte" with its mad bomber... who looks like a bomb, himself!

[Dirty Skunk]

I'd say The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943) qualifies. Plenty of explosion, gunfire, general warfare. And very much like Safety Second, it ends with Tom being shot into the sky and exploding.

[Geezil]

Hey, why stop at just classic cartoons when there are these, too? (http://www.sctvguide.ca/programs/farmfilm.htm) :D

[Matt the Y]

Hey, why stop at just classic cartoons when there are these, too? (http://www.sctvguide.ca/programs/farmfilm.htm) :D





Ummm..... if it's alright with you, I'd rather just stick with classic cartoons. But thanks for your input just the same. :)

[Mark J]

Daffy The Commando :daffy:

[BloodyChamp]

Now this is what I'm talkin bout! You know, since people have complained about the shape of this forum lately. This is why I come here though. Cartoons...with..explosions. Since explosions are so common in cartoons, they're kind of running together in my head and it's to soon after work for me to think hard again today so I'm all over this later. In case I forget though, I had to throw this much up.

[Marty26]

Assault and Peppered should deserve a mention.

For that matter, so should The Astroduck.

[Bugsmer]

"Millionaire Droopy", "Rockabye Bear" (and its Droopy equivalent), and the Road Runner cartoon in which Wile E. makes little gliders containing lit dynamite, which fall randomly throughout the cartoon.

[Matt the Y]

"Millionaire Droopy", "Rockabye Bear" (and its Droopy equivalent), and the Road Runner cartoon in which Wile E. makes little gliders containing lit dynamite, which fall randomly throughout the cartoon.

That Road-Runner cartoon was "Lickety-Splat!" which I already mentioned.

"Millionaire Droopy" [1956] was actually originally "Wags to Riches" [1949] and (and I had contemplated mentioning this as well) when you think about it, all of the Droopy Vs. Spike cartoons seem to have a LOT of explosive gags going for them since a lot of Spike's plans to do away with Droopy seem to involve dynamite, blackball bombs, and other deadly arsenal of the sort. See also "The Chump Champ", "Daredevil Droopy", and "Droopy's Good Deed" (and also Mike Lah's "Grin and Share It" with Butch instead of Spike).

[Matt the Y]

And here's another cartoon I definitely should have mentioned..... "Ventriloquist Cat" (MGM/1950). Lotsa dynamite gags in this one, many of which leave Spike injured, dumb-founded, and otherwise worse-for-wear (and, in one instance, missing his mid-section which a duck actually flies through! :eek: ).

[larriva9/11]

"Captain Hareblower" (WB/1954) - Also not a favorite of mine but still fits the category I'm mentioning very well. The ending helps make the cartoon for me even if it does end with Bugs unfortunately looking rather foolish as well ("Talcum powder doesn't explode.....").

Would this be the only Bugs/Sam outing where Bugs gets it worse in the end? (Remember, Sam escaped--albeit by swimming at breakneck speed to dry land or wherever.)

I've always found the scene where the fish that swallows Sam gets "skeletized" disturbing, somehow.

[frizfrelengfan]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Jack King's "Boom Boom" which has Porky and Beans in a war.

[Douglas E.]

Would this be the only Bugs/Sam outing where Bugs gets it worse in the end? (Remember, Sam escaped--albeit by swimming at breakneck speed to dry land or wherever.)

I've always found the scene where the fish that swallows Sam gets "skeletized" disturbing, somehow.
I belive that's "Captain Hare-Blower." :ysam:

-Doug

[Bugsmer]

That Road-Runner cartoon was "Lickety-Splat!" which I already mentioned.

"Millionaire Droopy" [1956] was actually originally "Wags to Riches" [1949] and (and I had contemplated mentioning this as well) when you think about it, all of the Droopy Vs. Spike cartoons seem to have a LOT of explosive gags going for them since a lot of Spike's plans to do away with Droopy seem to involve dynamite, blackball bombs, and other deadly arsenal of the sort. See also "The Chump Champ", "Daredevil Droopy", and "Droopy's Good Deed" (and also Mike Lah's "Grin and Share It" with Butch instead of Spike).

Sorry. I'd forgotten the name. Yes, a lot of Tex Avery's MGM cartoons have explosions. He must have really liked them.

[Matt the Y]

Would this be the only Bugs/Sam outing where Bugs gets it worse in the end? (Remember, Sam escaped--albeit by swimming at breakneck speed to dry land or wherever.)

I've always found the scene where the fish that swallows Sam gets "skeletized" disturbing, somehow.

You and me, both. That's WHY that cartoon is ranked so lowly on my list of WB likes. Freleng and Foster took that WB explosion gag a bit too far to extremes; i.e.; technically, more crude and shocking than it actually is funny! :eek: It actually ruins the rest of the cartoon for me with its' sheer grotesqueness.....

And, yes, the ending would have made more sense for Bugs and Sam to both have been in the conclusive explosion to have done more justice to the villian of the picture (i.e.; instead of having Sam escape at the last minute, Bugs nonchalantly shows Sam on board, "Relax, Sammy, talcum powder doesn't explode!" Then, the explosion occurs!).

[Matt the Y]

I suppose another cartoon that counts is "Fleets of Sten'th" (Fleischer/1942) since the main plot of the cartoon involves Popeye dodging the enemy army's batallion of explosive bombs, gunfire, and torpedoes.

Also, an awful lot of "To Hare Is Human" (WB/1956) involves explosive gags; not EVERY gag culminates with an explosive device (there's also the safecracker bit, the backfiring plunger vacuum gag, and the climactic falling-boulder-in-the-carrot-patch routine) but about 3/5'ths of the cartoon revolves around Wile E. getting blown up as does the previous outing of Bugs vs. Wile E., "Operation Rabbit" (WB/1952). In fact, the only blackout in that cartoon that doesn't involve Wile E. getting caught in an explosion is the first bit with the pressure cooker; everything after that involves an explosive of some kind. Freleng's "Hare-Less Wolf" (WB/1958) also falls under this category; not entirely made up of explosion gags but certainly enough of them (again, about 3/5'ths of the cartoon's running time) to qualify as being more than usual (the wolf getting shot in the face by his own rifle, the wolf getting caught in his own hand grenade explosion, and the trail of gun powder leading to the powder keg gag). I remember both "To Hare Is Human" and "Hare-Less Wolf" were always much shorter in running time whenever they aired on ABC on Saturday mornings thanks to ABC hacking out all of the explosion gags (Why did ABC consider gags involving explosions unsuitable for younger audiences?!:rolleyes: :confused: ) making for very brief, incoherent, and unenjoyable cartoons. Thanks, ABC!!!!! :mad:

[oceansoul]

And we didn't mention Good Will to Men yet.

[Matt the Y]

And we didn't mention Good Will to Men yet.

Coincidentally enough, I was considering mentioning "Peace on Earth" (MGM/1939), the predecessor to "Good Will to Men" (MGM/1955), and the superior film, IMHO, since it does use a lot of explosion scenes to emphasize that war and hostility toward mankind is becoming too far out of hand but considering that those explosion scenes were actually meant to be taken seriously and dramatically instead of for the sake of comedy and humor..... do those actually count?????

I guess we shouldn't make exceptions no matter what context (after all, animated shorts aren't ALWAYS meant to just be funny) so we may as well include those shorts too.

[doctoon]

DePatie-Freleng's Pink Panther cartoon G.I. Pink (1968) has one scene with explosion after explosion, when the "little man" hops onto multiple land mines during his temper tantrum.