Baby Bottleneck

[zenchan]

Hello all, I'm fairly new here and while a lifelong Looney Tunes fan I'm not an expert so go easy on me ;), I watched Baby Bottleneck earlier today and was struck by how odd a section of it seems.

I'm aware of the abrupt cut with the alligator/pig gag being a pre-release censorship issue, but what seems most strange to me is the Daffy/Porky scene from around 4:35 to 5:35 where they are fighting over the egg in front of an empty brown gradient background. It almost looks like they ran out of time to actually implement a real background as there is no detail at all in the scene. It all just seems very out of place. Do we know if it was a deliberate artistic experiment or did they actually not properly finish a part of the cartoon (shortly after they are running along the conveyor belt with a side-on view in front of a green gradient background but with actual background details)?

Youtube version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2PyVpfUJF8

[jonmayo15]

Welcome!

It's probably a decision that was intentional. Clampett was someone who liked to play with the form of a cartoon. In "Buckaroo Bugs" for example, the background just switches without any change of the shot. The fact that Clampett liked to do things like that leads me to believe that it was probably intentional.

[Jack G.]

Sometimes backgrounds are changed for impact. Or to heighted mood.

If you've seen The Case of the Missing Hare, backgrounds change colors at certain points in the action to give an accent to it.

I think the door in Kitty Kornered changes color for a frame when it is slammed shut.
It's intentional, not a mistake.

[J. B. Warner]

Of course, the evidence for it being an unfinished scene also exists. "Baby Bottleneck" was one of Clampett's last cartoons, and it was probably in production around the time that Eddie Selzer fired him. A lot of Clampett's cartoons from 1946 have weird shots and edits in them that would seem to suggest they weren't complete ("Bacall to Arms" being the most blatant example), and others had to be completed by other directors (Art Davis finished up "The Goofy Gophers", and I suspect he had a hand in "The Big Snooze" too).

[The "Chase"]

Of course, the evidence for it being an unfinished scene also exists. "Baby Bottleneck" was one of Clampett's last cartoons, and it was probably in production around the time that Eddie Selzer fired him. A lot of Clampett's cartoons from 1946 have weird shots and edits in them that would seem to suggest they weren't complete ("Bacall to Arms" being the most blatant example), and others had to be completed by other directors (Art Davis finished up "The Goofy Gophers", and I suspect he had a hand in "The Big Snooze" too).

Actually, I think Sogturtle once said Art Davis did at least two scenes in "The Big Snooze" and worked on "Bacall To Arms". As for "The Goofy Gophers", I heard that other than quite possibly the soundtrack and idea, "The Goofy Gophers" was pure Davis.

[Speedy Boris]

Not only does the cartoon seem to be missing backgrounds, but sound effects. Watch the scene from where Porky tries to get Daffy to sit on the egg to the part on the conveyor belt; there are numerous instances where there should be a sound effect, but aren't.

Doesn't diminish my enjoyment for the cartoon, but it's still noticeable.

[Nick]

The weirdest thing I find about this cartoon is how Mel Blanc seems to start a line in Porky's voice and then finishes it in Daffy's!

[oceansoul]

Yeah, this cartoon is weird. Is there an uncut version available (with the complete alligator/pig scene)?

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Yeah, this cartoon is weird. Is there an uncut version available (with the complete alligator/pig scene)?
No. That edit was by the studio, before the cartoon was released to the general audience. Maybe someday it might show up, like the director's cut of Hare Ribbin' or the ending to Hare Um Scare Um did.

I heard a rumor that in the censored scene the Momma pig faces the audience and says, "Don't touch that dial!" or something like that. Who knows if it's true.

*EDIT* Oh, and by the way, Baby Bottleneck is one of my favorite cartoons of all time!

[oceansoul]

No. That edit was by the studio, before the cartoon was released to the general audience. Maybe someday it might show up, like the director's cut of Hare Ribbin' or the ending to Hare Um Scare Um did.

I heard a rumor that in the censored scene the Momma pig faces the audience and says, "Don't touch that dial!" or something like that. Who knows if it's true.

*EDIT* Oh, and by the way, Baby Bottleneck is one of my favorite cartoons of all time!

Uhmm, and what's so offensive at that line?

[J. B. Warner]

Uhmm, and what's so offensive at that line?

I think it's playing off the fact that a radio dial and a female nipple kinda look the same. A little risqué for 1946.

[JERRY BECK]

I heard a rumor that in the censored scene the Momma pig faces the audience and says, "Don't touch that dial!" or something like that. Who knows if it's true.

I know it's true... because Bob Clampett told me that was the line himself.

You are correct it was cut before release, just like the ending of THE HECKLING HARE (but unlike HARE RIBBIN and HARE-UM SCARE-UM). Unless it is sitting in the Bob Clampett archive, it was probably discarded at the time.

[Thad]

I know it's true... because Bob Clampett told me that was the line himself.

You are correct it was cut before release, just like the ending of THE HECKLING HARE (but unlike HARE RIBBIN and HARE-UM SCARE-UM). Unless it is sitting in the Bob Clampett archive, it was probably discarded at the time.

Clampett had the original ending to HOLLYWOOD STEPS OUT, but Sody claims it got stolen at a revival screening. So that one is out there in someone's archive... dishonestly, but out there.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

I know it's true... because Bob Clampett told me that was the line himself.

You are correct it was cut before release, just like the ending of THE HECKLING HARE (but unlike HARE RIBBIN and HARE-UM SCARE-UM). Unless it is sitting in the Bob Clampett archive, it was probably discarded at the time.
I see, and thanks for the info and correction.