Matt the Y
06-09-2009, 12:29 AM
Hope this thread doesn't become a bit too morbid but.....
As black as they are or can be, some of the most fruitful opportunities for humor in cartoons (or in general) stem from the idea of suicide gags. So how many instances are there in cartoons in which the joke comes from a character offing (or attempting to off) himself?
The "Now I've seen everything" routine comes immediately to mind. The gag was done in at least a few WB shorts; "The Sour Puss" [1940], "Horton Hatches the Egg" [1942], "An Itch in Time" [1943], "The Stupid Cupid" [1944], and "The Grey Hounded Hare" [1949; offscreen].
"Tortoise Wins by a Hare" [WB/1943] - The rabbit gangsters shoot themselves over having cost themselves the gang bet by having helped the wrong victor to the finish line (Also note that, earlier in the cartoon, the newspaper announcing the big "re-match" race between the tortoise and the hare also carries a side-heading on the front page, "ADOLF HITLER COMMITS SUICIDE!").
"Winner by a Hare" [Famous/1953] - Similarly, the hare finally wins the race but, since he bet on himself to lose, he still loses the bet so he's left with no choice but to shoot himself dead!
"Rabbit Romeo" [WB/1957] - Goldfish slowly withdraws back into his bowl to pistol-shoot himself since having kissed the hideously-ugly female rabbit Millecent is far too unbearable and scarring to continue living.
"The Old Army Game" [Disney/1943] - Donald attempts suicide with gun after actually believing he's been cut into two halves by going over a spiked fence (this scene is actually one of Donald's most psychotically insane acting jobs!).
"Bear Feat" [WB/1949] - Pa Bear has finally had enough with his unbearable (no pun intended!) family and decides to end it all by jumping from a cliff..... but, as always, Junyer ruins things for him by "saving" his life by positioning the high-dive act bucket of water (which he ironically ruined earlier) below for him to land in.
"Porky's Pooch" [WB/1941] - Rover (later Charlie Dog) tries to feign sympathy from Porky by "attempting" suicide by jumping from Porky's apartment window..... but when Porky looks out the window, he finds the dog just sitting on the ledge of the building ("'ja lose somethin', bud?").
"Awful Orphan" [WB/1949] - Almost identical gag to the previous, Charlie tries to feign Porky's sympathy by again jumping..... but lands on an unbelievably high stack of mattresses, actually as high as Porky's apartment floor ("Lookin' for somethin', Bub?")!
"Red Hot Riding Hood" [MGM/1943] - The Wolf has finally had it with women declaring, "Why, I'll kill myself before I'll even LOOK at another babe!" But Red is back again for tonight's performance so, true to his word, the Wolf draws two guns, aims them to his head, and blows his brains out (His spirit then ascends from his dead body and continues to howl and wolf-whistle at the performing woman!).
"Half Pint Pygmy" [MGM/1948] - Incredibly frustrated over having chased the (second) world's smallest pygmy for nothing, George and Junior each aim a gun towards their head and shoot themselves (having the decency to pull down the "The End" title before firing so we don't have to see their gruesome demise!).
"Wacky Bye Baby" [Lantz/1948] - Woody, frustrated over his low living stature, declares, "If I had a gun, I'd shoot myself!" Oddly enough, suddenly, a gun materializes in his own hand and discharges. Woody suffers no injury but, horrified at his newfound gun, recoils into the garbage bin he's sitting in.
"Happy Birthdaze" [Famous/1943] - The recurring gag involving Shorty's inability to live up to his mistakes, ineptitude, and low self-esteem; his only solution to all of this is to draw a gun to his head until the person next to him plucks it out! Unfortunately, the [bitter] end of the cartoon isn't quite as optimistic for him once Popeye has had enough of his annoying antics (though, apparently, Shorty survived the gunshot.....)
"Professor Small and Mr. Tall" [Columbia/1943] - Scene with the ghost, posing as Hitler, getting flustered over the confusion involving Small and Tall's names, then taking a gun and shooting himself in the head (anticipating the real Adolf Hitler's death just two years later!).
"Mexican Joyride" [WB/1947] - Daffy tries to get the bull to commit suicide after tricking him intoto believing he's lost all his money in the "guess which sombrero Daffy's hiding under" bet.
Also, there are sometimes entire cartoons centered around a suicide motif.....
"Flora" [Columbia/1948] - Told in flashback, a dog explains why he wants to end his life; he tried to get the best of a cat named Flora but Flora got the best of him and that's too much for him to bear.
"Broadway Bow-Wows" [Lantz/1954] - Told in flashback, a dog, John, explains why HE wants to end HIS life; he had a great show-biz career with his former partner, Mary, but he left her for another woman..... which spelled the end of his name in show biz.
"Mousie Come Home" [Lantz/1946] - After Andy and Milo move away, the mouse tries to off himself after finding it unbearable with nobody around to torment.
"Common Scents" [HB/1962] - A skunk, not being able to stand being a skunk (since nobody likes skunks), tries to kill himself..... Loopy tries to prevent this.
"The Year of the Mouse" [MGM/1965] - Jerry and his friend use twisted psychology to trick Tom into thinking he's trying to kill himself.
"Blue Cat Blues" [MGM/1956] - Tom tries to commit suicide after being spurned by his girlfriend and feeling there's nothing left to live for.
"Life With Feathers" [WB/1945] - A blue bird, finding married life too insufferable, tries to end it all by feeding himself to Sylvester. This doesn't work since Sylvester is much too suspicious to take him seriously.
"Cheese Chasers" [WB/1951] - Similar to the above but with Hubie and Bertie trying to end it all by feeding themselves to Claude Cat. Not only is Claude too suspicious to allow this but his suspicious gives way to outright neurotic paranoia, leading him to want to commit suicide himself at the hands of the pet bulldog who similarly becomes a paranoid basket case himself!
Pretty weird to think that such a morbid and dark topic could turn up as fodder for either humor or plot in so many cartoons! There must be others! Can anyone think of any?
As black as they are or can be, some of the most fruitful opportunities for humor in cartoons (or in general) stem from the idea of suicide gags. So how many instances are there in cartoons in which the joke comes from a character offing (or attempting to off) himself?
The "Now I've seen everything" routine comes immediately to mind. The gag was done in at least a few WB shorts; "The Sour Puss" [1940], "Horton Hatches the Egg" [1942], "An Itch in Time" [1943], "The Stupid Cupid" [1944], and "The Grey Hounded Hare" [1949; offscreen].
"Tortoise Wins by a Hare" [WB/1943] - The rabbit gangsters shoot themselves over having cost themselves the gang bet by having helped the wrong victor to the finish line (Also note that, earlier in the cartoon, the newspaper announcing the big "re-match" race between the tortoise and the hare also carries a side-heading on the front page, "ADOLF HITLER COMMITS SUICIDE!").
"Winner by a Hare" [Famous/1953] - Similarly, the hare finally wins the race but, since he bet on himself to lose, he still loses the bet so he's left with no choice but to shoot himself dead!
"Rabbit Romeo" [WB/1957] - Goldfish slowly withdraws back into his bowl to pistol-shoot himself since having kissed the hideously-ugly female rabbit Millecent is far too unbearable and scarring to continue living.
"The Old Army Game" [Disney/1943] - Donald attempts suicide with gun after actually believing he's been cut into two halves by going over a spiked fence (this scene is actually one of Donald's most psychotically insane acting jobs!).
"Bear Feat" [WB/1949] - Pa Bear has finally had enough with his unbearable (no pun intended!) family and decides to end it all by jumping from a cliff..... but, as always, Junyer ruins things for him by "saving" his life by positioning the high-dive act bucket of water (which he ironically ruined earlier) below for him to land in.
"Porky's Pooch" [WB/1941] - Rover (later Charlie Dog) tries to feign sympathy from Porky by "attempting" suicide by jumping from Porky's apartment window..... but when Porky looks out the window, he finds the dog just sitting on the ledge of the building ("'ja lose somethin', bud?").
"Awful Orphan" [WB/1949] - Almost identical gag to the previous, Charlie tries to feign Porky's sympathy by again jumping..... but lands on an unbelievably high stack of mattresses, actually as high as Porky's apartment floor ("Lookin' for somethin', Bub?")!
"Red Hot Riding Hood" [MGM/1943] - The Wolf has finally had it with women declaring, "Why, I'll kill myself before I'll even LOOK at another babe!" But Red is back again for tonight's performance so, true to his word, the Wolf draws two guns, aims them to his head, and blows his brains out (His spirit then ascends from his dead body and continues to howl and wolf-whistle at the performing woman!).
"Half Pint Pygmy" [MGM/1948] - Incredibly frustrated over having chased the (second) world's smallest pygmy for nothing, George and Junior each aim a gun towards their head and shoot themselves (having the decency to pull down the "The End" title before firing so we don't have to see their gruesome demise!).
"Wacky Bye Baby" [Lantz/1948] - Woody, frustrated over his low living stature, declares, "If I had a gun, I'd shoot myself!" Oddly enough, suddenly, a gun materializes in his own hand and discharges. Woody suffers no injury but, horrified at his newfound gun, recoils into the garbage bin he's sitting in.
"Happy Birthdaze" [Famous/1943] - The recurring gag involving Shorty's inability to live up to his mistakes, ineptitude, and low self-esteem; his only solution to all of this is to draw a gun to his head until the person next to him plucks it out! Unfortunately, the [bitter] end of the cartoon isn't quite as optimistic for him once Popeye has had enough of his annoying antics (though, apparently, Shorty survived the gunshot.....)
"Professor Small and Mr. Tall" [Columbia/1943] - Scene with the ghost, posing as Hitler, getting flustered over the confusion involving Small and Tall's names, then taking a gun and shooting himself in the head (anticipating the real Adolf Hitler's death just two years later!).
"Mexican Joyride" [WB/1947] - Daffy tries to get the bull to commit suicide after tricking him intoto believing he's lost all his money in the "guess which sombrero Daffy's hiding under" bet.
Also, there are sometimes entire cartoons centered around a suicide motif.....
"Flora" [Columbia/1948] - Told in flashback, a dog explains why he wants to end his life; he tried to get the best of a cat named Flora but Flora got the best of him and that's too much for him to bear.
"Broadway Bow-Wows" [Lantz/1954] - Told in flashback, a dog, John, explains why HE wants to end HIS life; he had a great show-biz career with his former partner, Mary, but he left her for another woman..... which spelled the end of his name in show biz.
"Mousie Come Home" [Lantz/1946] - After Andy and Milo move away, the mouse tries to off himself after finding it unbearable with nobody around to torment.
"Common Scents" [HB/1962] - A skunk, not being able to stand being a skunk (since nobody likes skunks), tries to kill himself..... Loopy tries to prevent this.
"The Year of the Mouse" [MGM/1965] - Jerry and his friend use twisted psychology to trick Tom into thinking he's trying to kill himself.
"Blue Cat Blues" [MGM/1956] - Tom tries to commit suicide after being spurned by his girlfriend and feeling there's nothing left to live for.
"Life With Feathers" [WB/1945] - A blue bird, finding married life too insufferable, tries to end it all by feeding himself to Sylvester. This doesn't work since Sylvester is much too suspicious to take him seriously.
"Cheese Chasers" [WB/1951] - Similar to the above but with Hubie and Bertie trying to end it all by feeding themselves to Claude Cat. Not only is Claude too suspicious to allow this but his suspicious gives way to outright neurotic paranoia, leading him to want to commit suicide himself at the hands of the pet bulldog who similarly becomes a paranoid basket case himself!
Pretty weird to think that such a morbid and dark topic could turn up as fodder for either humor or plot in so many cartoons! There must be others! Can anyone think of any?