Cartoon Titles that misled you

[Matt the Y]

Are there any cartoon titles that you saw or read before you actually saw the cartoons themselves that go with them that had you anticipating a different cartoon story idea or plotline but then found something completely different instead plotwise when you actually watched the cartoon for the first time? It's actually happened with me a few times; here are a few examples.

Porky's Last Stand (WB/1940) - Naturally, the title had me expecting Porky trying to defend himself from an Indian attack (possibly a follow-up to "Scalp Trouble", if you will). Instead, the plot deals with Porky and Daffy managing a short-order restaurant stand in the middle of a desert (clever pun!).

Bad Day at Cat Rock (MGM/1965) - I thought the use of the word "rock" in the title involved Tom and Jerry battling one another in a stone-age setting rather than a construction site setting in the real cartoon (the title itself is an allusion to the movie title, "Bad Day at Black Rock", which is itself, in fact, a Western, not a Stone-Age film).

Pinkadilly Circus (DFE/1968) - I thought this one involved the Pink Panther landing a job as a circus daredevil/performed and bungling everything up. Instead, the plot has nothing to do at all with a circus setting, just the Panther becoming a boone companion and servant to an Englishman and helping to keep his domineering battleaxe wife in her place.

The Pink Quarterback (DFE/1968) - Again, I thought the plot involved the panther becoming a bungling football star but, no, he chases a runaway quarter through a city instead (quarter, back, get it?:p )

Pink Panic (DFE/1967) - Rather than spending a night in a haunted hotel, I actually thought this one's plot involved the Panther mistakingly anticipating an "end-of-the-world" doomsday/armeggedon scenario somehow and getting panicky and hyper-hysterical over nothing.

Salt Water Daffy (Lantz/1941) - I thought this would be one of those "Hardaway spot-gag pun" cartoons hung on a beach seaside setting. I was only half-right; it's hung on a military Navy setting instead.

Owly to Bed (Famous/1959) - I thought this would be Tom & Jerry's "Quiet, Please" Herman & Katnip-style. Specifically, Katnip's owner (for once, he theoretically has an owner) tells him he'll get thrown out for good if he hears one more disturbance after he beds down for the night. Naturally, Herman and his mice buddies hear this and create all sorts of noise during the night which Katnip frantically attempts to silence. Turns out the real cartoon is another run-of-the-mill H&K plot about Herman trying to save a sleepwalking owl from carniverous Katnip.

Thumb Fun (WB/1952) - Rather than "thumb" relating to the hitchhiking/travelling theme, I thought the cartoon would have been about Porky finding a very small "Tom Thumb"-like man who perplexes and gets the pig into various scrapes throughout the cartoon (how off-base was I here?:rolleyes: ).

Rocket-Bye Baby (WB/1956) - I actually thought this was a Road-Runner cartoon before I actually saw it rather than a 1950's Jones one-shot outer space sci-fi cartoon (it sounds like kind of a Road-Runner-esque title pun).

Law and Audrey (Famous/1952) - At the time, I was just used to associating the phrase "law and order" with old western films so I just thought it was an old western expression (rather than used to describe law enforcement in general). So I thought the plot was about Little Audrey fantasizing about herself as an old cowboy heroine instead of getting into trouble with a policeman in a city park.

I was wondering if this sort of thing ever happened to any of you as well. I'd like to hear. At any rate, this should prove interesting. ;) :)

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Nothing but the Tooth (WB -- 1948) The title made me think it might have to do with dentistry, not a western parody. Porky goes panning for gold in this one. There isn't even a joke about someone with gold teeth, which would have at least been a sop to the title. I have no clue why anyone would give the cartoon the title it has.

[AardvarkDog]

Porky's Bear Facts (1941) - From the sounds of the title, I'd have thought that this would have been about Porky going after a bear and learning about wildlife or something...nope, turns out this is a retelling of the Ant and Gresshopper story. And as usual, Porky's only amount of stardom around this time is in the title, leaving the rest of the cartoon to his do-nothing neighbour, who happens to be a bear.

Like, wow. :rolleyes:

[Jon Cooke]

When I first saw the title "China Jones" on one of those WB VHS tapes from the late '80s, I thought it was going to be an Indiana Jones parody.

Hey... I was like 10 years old. I didn't know any better. :p :shame:

[oceansoul]

Basically most Bugs titles that has a bad pun can be mentioned here.

Rabbit Transit
Slick Hare
Hare Force
Hare Tonic
Robot Rabbit
Hare Do
Hare Splitter
Hare Lift
Bunny Hugged
Mad as Mars Hare
Mutiny on the Bunny
Hare Brush
Haredevil Hare
etcetcetc

[speedy fast]

I expected The Bee-Develed Bruin to be a Tazmanian Devil cartoon. I also misread "Satan's Waitin'" as "Santa's Waitin'", and thought it had to do with christmas (and at the time, I didn't know that the devil is named Satan).

[Marty26]

Sandy Claws, because of the obvious Santa Claus pun.

[Alf]

-No place like Rome (Famous Studios, 1953): I always thought that this `Kartune' was set in the Ancient Rome. However, I recently saw it on YouTube and it actually consists in a series of spot gags about (then) modern-day Italy.

-Northern Mites (Famous, 1960): The title made me think that this cartoon was about vikings, trolls or any other Northern European stuff. However, according to the Big Cartoon Database (actually, I have never seen this cartoon), I have found out that it is about two mischievous penguins doing pranks in the Antarctic.

-For the Love of Pizza (Lantz, 1972): When I learnt about the title of this Woody Woodpecker cartoon, made in the final year of the Lantz studio, I thought that it was about :woody: causing havoc in a pizza parlor. However, I later saw it on T.V. and I found out it was just a dull (like most of Lantz´s later-day stuff) Little Red Riding Hood spoof, with Mrs. Meany as Red bringing a pizza to her grandma.

[Jon Cooke]

Sandy Claws, because of the obvious Santa Claus pun.

On a similar note, you'd think a cartoon titled "Trick or Tweet" would be a Halloween-themed cartoon!

[Matt the Y]

Nothing but the Tooth (WB -- 1948) The title made me think it might have to do with dentistry, not a western parody. Porky goes panning for gold in this one. There isn't even a joke about someone with gold teeth, which would have at least been a sop to the title. I have no clue why anyone would give the cartoon the title it has.

Actually, there is..... two gold teeth jokes in fact. The cartoon begins with the first "gold" sighting being a gold tooth in a yawning man's mouth (and the man who spots it making a claim in the mouth in question!). And, for the finale, when Porky finally arrives in California to go some diggin', he finally strikes gold..... but it's a gold tooth still in the mouth of the little Indian who's been pestering him the entire trip ("You were expecting maybe Humphrey Bogart?????")!

[StillHowardFein]

Basically most Bugs titles that has a bad pun can be mentioned here.

Rabbit Transit
A stretch, but all about Bugs travelling

Slick Hare
Nothing to do with the title; isn't Bugs 'slick' in all his cartoons?

Hare Force
Nothing to do with the title; its wartime release would suggest a military ambience:confused:

Hare Tonic
'Tonic' was a common term for medicine or a pick-me-up.

Robot Rabbit
Makes sense to me, especially when he dresses up as one.

Hare Do
Nothing to do with the title.

Hare Splitter
A stretch, but because Casbah is trying to 'split up' Bugs and Daisy.

Hare Lift
Lifted by virtue of being on an airplane.

Bunny Hugged
Well, wrestling does involve hugging, but not out of affection.:D

Mad as Mars Hare
A play on Mad as a March Hare, extremely obscure to those who don't know ALICE IN WONDERLAND. The plot concerns Bugs on Mars.:marvin:

Mutiny on the Bunny
A play on MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY- fitting since this is a pirate flick.

Hare Brush
Nothing to do with the title.

Haredevil Hare
A play on 'daredevil' which basically describes an astronaut.

Some other misleading or nondescript :bugs1: titles:
COMPRESSED HARE
TO HARE IS HUMAN
HARE RIBBIN'
FRESH HARE
RABBIT RAMPAGE
HARE TRIMMED
RABBIT HOOD, if only for the fact that it implies the film will involve Bugs playing Robin Hood. Several books even feature a title card of this cartoon showing Bugs dressed up as same, but about to shoot a carrot from his bow instead of an arrow.:confused:

[StillHowardFein]

Nothing but the Tooth (WB -- 1948) There isn't even a joke about someone with gold teeth, which would have at least been a sop to the title.

Actually, the whole punchline to this cartoon is that the 'gold' Porky spends the cartoon seeking turns out to be the the Indian's tooth- a kind of variation on the punchline to THE WACKY WABBIT.:bugs1: :befuddled .

[Matt the Y]

Some other misleading or nondescript :bugs1: titles:
COMPRESSED HARE
TO HARE IS HUMAN
HARE RIBBIN'
FRESH HARE
RABBIT RAMPAGE
HARE TRIMMED
RABBIT HOOD

Compressed Hare is a pun on compressed "air" which usually comes from a high-tech machine which are Wile E. Coyote's (Bugs' foe in this cartoon) expert speciality. A stretch.

To Hare Is Human is fitting since it's a play on "To Err is Human" about forgiving one's mistakes and the cartoon is all about Wile E.'s constant failure (more humiliating than usual) in catching the rabbit.

Hare Ribbin' - ribbin' being a slang term for heckling which Bugs does in spades to that poor Russian dog.

Fresh Hare - fresh air is usually found up in frozen Canada, the cartoon's setting. Fresh is also a slang term for "rude" or "teasing" which Bugs certainly is toward poor Elmer here as well. A stretch.

Rabbit Rampage - Quite fitting since the tormented Bugs certainly goes on a rampage against the animator in this Duck Amuck follow-up.

Hare Trimmed - Nothing to do with the title.

Rabbit Hood - Actually quite fitting. Even if Bugs doesn't play Robin Hood (and if Robin Hood himself doesn't even appear until the cartoon's very end), it still focuses very clearly on a Robin Hood-themed storyline (to which the term Rabbit can be used in place of Robin and therefore "pun-ned") which suits me fine.

[Marty26]

Regarding "Slick Hare", I'm thinking the title might mean "slick" as in "sleek/stylish." Not so much "slick" as in "crafty."

[Speedy Boris]

Not so much misled, but very vague: "Daffy Rents". Daffy rents WHAT? (Yeah, I know, a robot) But talk about an uncreative title. What's next, "Bugs Throws" (a pie)?

[Matt the Y]

Not so much misled, but very vague: "Daffy Rents". Daffy rents WHAT? (Yeah, I know, a robot) But talk about an uncreative title. What's next, "Bugs Throws" (a pie)?

Daffy Rents was the name of his renting company in the cartoon. It'd be like the equivalent of Acme Rents or something like that. It's not referring to Daffy actually renting something per se but the name of his corporate business if you will.

[Glowworm]

I don't know if I ever got myself misled but "Trick or Tweet" does sound Halloween themed and otherwise makes no sense as to why it's title like this.

[Lee Glover]

Ain't She Tweet (WB 1952) - could this title be responsible for the current confusion regarding Tweety's gender? :tweety:

[Dirty Skunk]

This is an easy one for me.

Long before I learned that many of the early Merrie Melodies were used to showcase songs from the Warners collection and were titled after the featured songs, I had read that Porky Pig's first cartoon was called "I Haven't Got A Hat," and thus assumed the plot revolved around Porky, ahem, not having a hat, and being unable to enter certain establishments and institutions without this all-important piece of attire, with hilarious consequences.

Well, you'd do the same too, wouldn't you?

[Glowworm]

I had hoped that "She was an Accrobat's Daughter" Would center around this so called lovely daughter of an accrobat-nope not even close-just the title tune being sung somewhere in this picture.

What does "A Bird in a Guilty Cage" have to do with the short itself? You'd think it would have to do with Tweety and Sylvester in prison-not a department store. Still a great cartoon.

[Marty26]

Actually, Long-Haired Hare is another somewhat misleading title if you don't get the (rather dated) reference in it.

Also, Tweet Tweet Tweety and Home Tweet Home (odd since the cartoon never sets foot in somebody's house or apartment). Actually, a lot of Sylvester/Tweety cartoons had misleading titles come to think of it.

[Matt the Y]

Also, Tweet Tweet Tweety and Home Tweet Home (odd since the cartoon never sets foot in somebody's house or apartment). Actually, a lot of Sylvester/Tweety cartoons had misleading titles come to think of it.

I'm glad to see someone else mentioned this first because I was about to bring up this same point. We've already noticed this title trend with Bugs Bunny and especially the Road-Runner series but it happens a lot with Sylvester & Tweety as well. There are a few title-specific S&T cartoons which reflect the cartoon's plot, location, or setting ("All Abir-r-r-r-r-rd!", "Snow Business", "Tom Tom Tomcat", "Dog Pounded", "Tweety's Circus", "Tweet Zoo", "Birds Anonymous", "A Bird in a Bonnet" to name a few) but most are pretty generic and "pun-themed". For example.....

Tweetie Pie
I Taw a Putty Tat
Bad Ol' Putty Tat
Canary Row
A Street Cat Named Sylvester
Muzzle Tough
Tweet and Sour
Tree Cornered Tweety
Greedy for Tweety

Most of which could be hung on pretty much any Sylvester and Tweety cartoon regardless of story or plot.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Actually, there is..... two gold teeth jokes in fact. The cartoon begins with the first "gold" sighting being a gold tooth in a yawning man's mouth (and the man who spots it making a claim in the mouth in question!). And, for the finale, when Porky finally arrives in California to go some diggin', he finally strikes gold..... but it's a gold tooth still in the mouth of the little Indian who's been pestering him the entire trip ("You were expecting maybe Humphrey Bogart?????")!
Wow, I have no memory of those scenes! They just completely got lost in the fog of time. I guess that gives the title some justification, though not much. (I still think the title should be based on what the plot is about, and not on a couple of throw-away gags.)

[Bugsy-Kun]

It seems that Warner likes to surprised their audience with this titles. Here's a compilations of titles who misled me 10 years ago:

A Bird in a Guilty Cage
Guided Muscle
I Was a Teenage Thumb
Hare Lift
My Bunny Lies Over the Sea (just before i realised by my uncle it was a pun of a old song)
Trick or Tweet
Design for Leaving
From a to Z-z-z-z

[speedy fast]

Actually, Long-Haired Hare is another somewhat misleading title if you don't get the (rather dated) reference in it.



I don't get the reference. What is it?

[Tim Lones]

I don't get the reference. What is it?

The Idea that most classical musicans and the music itself was considered "longhair" by the general public in the 1940's and 50's.

[Mike]

I was never really misled by it personally, but I can see how, if you came across the name "Wackiki Wabbit," you'd surely think Elmer Fudd would be in there someplace.

Mike

[Mr. Semaj]

Butterscotch & Soda: Where's the butterscotch? :p

Tugboat Granny: Hardly about Granny, or the tugboat for that matter.

Donald's Dilmena: More Daisy's, but then women were always secondaries in Disney's olden days.

Pluto's Christmas Tree: Really, any where the cartoon is technically about Pluto, despite having the Mickey Mouse label.

The Big Bad Wolf: This confused me as a kid, because the names of the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood were also included in the title, which made it look like a multiple-choice cartoon. :o

Donald & Pluto: From what I recall, this was labeled a Mickey Mouse cartoon. So, where was Mickey??? :confused:

The Nifty Nineties: I once thought this what people in 1941 thought the 1990's would be like, before I realized they were talking about the 1890's.

[Glowworm]

"Pink Ice" unless one knows that "ice" is slang for diamonds, you'd think it would have to do with the Pink Panther iceskating or playing hocky.

[oldgreypole]

Martian Through Georgia - I recall that I was thinking that this was a cartoon with Marvin the Martian in it.

Bartholomew Versus the Wheel - I was thinking that this cartoon took place in the Stone Age. Also, Bartholomew sounds to me like a name that possibly dates way back, at least as far back as Ancient Roman times.

[speedy fast]

It seems that Warner likes to surprised their audience with this titles. Here's a compilations of titles who misled me 10 years ago:

A Bird in a Guilty Cage

I read a summary for a Looney Tunes video featuring that title in a video guide book, around the time that I first saw Catty Cornered, as part of The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, and figured that A Bird in a Guilty Cage was the title of that cartoon. Seems more appropriate.

[Matt the Y]

Guided Muscle


I didn't even think this was a Road-Runner cartoon when I first heard the title; I was so used to the Road Runner series cartoons just having some sort of play on words relating to speed or chasing (or the word, "beep!") in the title somewhere (although, the "speed reference" here comes from the fact that the RR's speed comes from his very powerful leg muscle which still eluded me for many years). "Scrambled Aches" was another short I didn't think would've been a Road Runner short until I finally saw it.

[Marty26]

Speedy Gonzales cartoons also tend to have rather vague titles. Gonzales Tomales, Tobasco Road, Tortilla Flaps, Mucho Locos, Go-Go Amigo. None of those (except MAY BE the final one) have anything to do with their respective cartoons.

Let's not even get into how misleading The Astroduck is.

[Matt the Y]

Let's not even get into how misleading The Astroduck is.

Tell me about it. I thought this cartoon originally involved Daffy going into space as a lone NASA astronaut member and naturally Speedy tagged along inside his rocket to heckle him. The real plot, once I found out, was even less entertaining and interesting than that. It actually matches "Nothing but the Tooth" in terms of naming the whole cartoon after only the closing gag (although, at least the closing gag in the former was actually funny and entertaining!).

[Cartman]

ALICE THE WHALER (Disney, 1927) - This cartoon focused mainly on a rat's antics in the whaling ship's galley with a goat on board.

I will second PORKY'S LAST STAND.:daffy::ham:

[Alf]

-AQUA DUCK (Warner, 1963): Certainly this cartoon might made you think that it´s about :daffy: as an undersea skin diver, not about him being lost in the desert.

-MAGOO GOES WEST (UPA, 1956): I always thought that this cartoon showed :magoo:visiting a Wild West town; when I finally saw it, I found out it was just about him travelling by car to the West (and spending most of the cartoon running in circles around a fountain, believing to be in the pouring rain).

-Also most of the early Merry Melodies have misleading titles, just because they were based in popular songs of the period, not always related to their contents: who might think that ONE STEP AHEAD OF MY SHADOW (Warner, 1933) is set in the ancient China?

[StillHowardFein]

RABBIT'S KIN implies that Bugs has a son or nephew, which is further inferred by the title card. However, there's no evidence that the 'leeeetle rabbit' in the cartoon, whom Bugs calls "Shorty", is a relative at all but rather a neighbor or random stranger that Bugs helps out.

Maybe McKimson intended "Shorty" as the same character as Bugs' nominal nephew Clyde in Freleng's HIS HARE-RAISING TALE and the later YANKEE DOODLE BUGS- even though the two rabbits have different designs, personalities and voices.

[AardvarkDog]

"Pink Ice" unless one knows that "ice" is slang for diamonds, you'd think it would have to do with the Pink Panther iceskating or playing hocky.
Actually, you just reminded me of another misleading Pink Panther Title:

Pink Lemonade - Heck, there was no mention or sight of the frickin' lemonade at all here! Just a basic reworking of "A Kiddie's Kittie".

[nickramer]

Pink Lemonade - Heck, there was no mention or sight of the frickin' lemonade at all here! Just a basic reworking of "A Kiddie's Kittie". Funny, I was just going to say the same thing.

There's also "Sweet Cuppin' Cakes". I could never understand what happens in this cartoon. Neither would Strong Bad.:p

[The "Chase"]

Funny, I was just going to say the same thing.

There's also "Sweet Cuppin' Cakes". I could never understand what happens in this cartoon. Neither would Strong Bad.:p

You know, The Brother Chaps should give that series another go one day. I never get tried of that talking wheelchair and EH STEVE!.

Anywho, I got one, War And Pieces. When I first saw that years ago on Cartoon Network, I thought it would be some one-shot cartoon about war. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was another (and Chuck's last) Road Runner cartoon!

[Matt the Y]

Before this thread folds, I have two more titles to add to this.....

"Mess Production" (Famous/1945) - I originally thought this cartoon was about Popeye trying to direct a movie with Bluto and Olive as his stars with Bluto trying to spoil and sabotage production. I later found out "Production" in this sense refers to factory production and not film production.

"Which is Witch" (WB/1949) - The title obviously made me assume Bugs was doing battle with a witch (not Witch Hazel since this was a Freleng-directed short and it came before both "Bewitched Bunny" and Disney's "Trick or Treat" but a generic witch who served as a precursor to WB's and Disney's Hazel) before I later found out the title refers not to "witch" but "witch doctor" (namely I.C. Spots in this cartoon). Perhaps "Witch Doctor is Witch?" might have been a more appropriate title.

[Bugsy-Kun]

I start to understand by misleds.

Well, my first choice is "The Windblown Hare" (WB/1949), the first time i see this title, i though to a story about Bugs was put off of his hole by the wind but this is just a 3 three little pigs story satire. Maybe "Bugs Bunny Meets the Three Little Pigs" was much sense to the storyline. Maybe a generic title, but that's have a much sense.

[Vdubdavid]

I start to understand by misleds.

Well, my first choice is "The Windblown Hare" (WB/1949), the first time i see this title, i though to a story about Bugs was put off of his hole by the wind but this is just a 3 three little pigs story satire. Maybe "Bugs Bunny Meets the Three Little Pigs" was much sense to the storyline. Maybe a generic title, but that's have a much sense.

I think in this case the "Windblown" comes from the wind produced by the Wolf as he blows the houses down, so it isn't all that misleading.

[Fibber Fox]

Before this thread folds, I have two more titles to add to this.....

"Mess Production" (Famous/1945) - I originally thought this cartoon was about Popeye trying to direct a movie with Bluto and Olive as his stars with Bluto trying to spoil and sabotage production. I later found out "Production" in this sense refers to factory production and not film production.

Factory? You mean as in "Mass Production"?

Yeah, I can see where that'd be confusing... ;)

F. Fox

[Matt the Y]

Factory? You mean as in "Mass Production"?

Yeah, I can see where that'd be confusing... ;)

F. Fox

I was thinking of "Mass Production" as in a "Mass film production" (i.e. a blockbuster hit) at the same time. Hence how I was double misled (I understood the pun, I just misunderstood its' implication).

[The Spectre]

I thought that Avery's "Lucky Ducky" would have something to do with superstition, like the Buzzy cartoon "The Stupidstitious Cat".