Question: "Refoogies"

[frizfrelengfan]

In Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, in the scene where the worms escape from the poisoned apple, one of the worms is carrying a sign that says "Refoogies". What is the significance of this (especially the spelling)?

[Pietro]

"Refoogies" is I believe the word "refugees" mispronounced.

-Pietro:daffy:

[frizfrelengfan]

I was wondering if there was a racial angle to it.

[J Lee]

I was wondering if there was a racial angle to it.
Yes there was. It was the same type of bad-spelling gag as the "O-W-T out!" gag Hanna-Barbera gave Mammy in "Puss Gets the Boot" (though Clampett later showed in "Baby Bottleneck" that Daffy couldn't spell any better).

[Jeff]

It could also be that they wanted to use "Foo"...see The Etymology of Foo (http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3092.html).

Regards,
Jeff

[Paul Penna]

Yes there was. It was the same type of bad-spelling gag as the "O-W-T out!" gag Hanna-Barbera gave Mammy in "Puss Gets the Boot" (though Clampett later showed in "Baby Bottleneck" that Daffy couldn't spell any better).

Well, I don't know if there was necessarily a particular racial angle to it. During the years immediately leading up to WWII, the refugee situation was an ongoing, high-profile news story. Just check out the opening to "Casablanca." All kinds of people were fleeing various belicose dictatorships. Jews, in particular, were escaping from Hitler's advances. But so were others, including from the USSR and Japanese invasions.

Though the word "refugee" is not an old one, its sense as referring to large numbers of people fleeing their homes (as opposed to individuals seeking some place of asylum) was something that didn't enter widespread usage until the mid-20th century. So it was, to a broad spectrum of the public, a somewhat unfamiliar word. That, plus its outre, foreign sound made it ripe for good old-fashioned silly wordplay. The gag, such as it is, plays off on that combination of factors, I think.

[frizfrelengfan]

It could also be that they wanted to use "Foo"...see The Etymology of Foo (http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3092.html).

Regards,
Jeff Wow. More about "foo" than I ever knew!

[Geezil]

Well, I don't know if there was necessarily a particular racial angle to it. During the years immediately leading up to WWII, the refugee situation was an ongoing, high-profile news story. Just check out the opening to "Casablanca." All kinds of people were fleeing various belicose dictatorships. Jews, in particular, were escaping from Hitler's advances. But so were others, including from the USSR and Japanese invasions.
...making this particular Clampett "gag" one calculated to make some of us "gag," historically speaking. (IMO, it's the sole sour note in "Coal Black," topical reference or otherwise.) :(