Gopher Broke
Encyclopedia
Gopher Broke is a "Looney Tunes
" cartoon animated short starring the Goofy Gophers
and the Barnyard Dawg
(in one of four appearances without Foghorn Leghorn). Released November 15, 1958, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson
. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc
and Stan Freberg
. The title is a pun on the phrase "Go for Broke".
and realize that if he were to awaken and spot them stealing the vegetables, he would cause them trouble.
The Gophers spend most of the rest of the cartoon using psychological weardown tactics to drive Barnyard Dawg insane and remove him as a threat to their well-being. A deadpan pig watches as the dog is repeatedly the victim of the Gophers' pranks, and can only shake his head as the dog's psyche is broken down. Meanwhile, the pooch tries to convince himself that all that is going on is nothing but a bad dream (consulting Sigmund Fraud
and using sleeping pills to laugh off each attempt).
In the end, the Gophers get rid of their foe for good by tying a harness around the sleeping Barnyard Dawg's belly, then attaching it to a hot air balloon
before launching it. Eventually, the balloon's hull begins to leak, and the dog awakens atop a light pole. After he wakes up and realizing his surroundings, Barnyard Dawg mentally snaps and begins to fly! The pig - confused about everything he has seen - goes to psychiatrist
Dr. Cy Kosis for counseling. Kosis realizes he needs counseling (and joins his client on the couch) when he sees the Barnyard Dawg flying by the window.
; that plot had twin mice Hubie and Bertie
physically and mentally torturing a potential antagonist, Claude Cat, into submission, all to gain access to the house and therefore an ample food supply. Gopher Broke also marked "the decline of McKimson's work," the review continued.
In Beck and Friewald's 1989 followup, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons, the two disparaged Seely's stock score
(which would later be used in early Hanna-Barbera shorts and The Ren and Stimpy Show
), noting it served "as part and parcel of the lame antics.".
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
" cartoon animated short starring the Goofy Gophers
Goofy Gophers
The Goofy Gophers are animated cartoon characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The gophers, named Mac and Tosh, are small and brown with tan bellies and buck teeth...
and the Barnyard Dawg
Barnyard Dawg
Barnyard Dawg is a Looney Tunes character. An adult anthropomorphic basset hound, he is the archenemy of Foghorn Leghorn. He was created by Robert McKimson, who also created Foghorn and was voiced by Mel Blanc...
(in one of four appearances without Foghorn Leghorn). Released November 15, 1958, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson
Robert McKimson
Robert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
and Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg
Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
. The title is a pun on the phrase "Go for Broke".
Plot
The Goofy Gophers are about to harvest the vegetables on the farm when the farmhands beat them to the punch. Worried that their food source is being "vandalized," they follow the truck to the barn so they can recover what they consider to be their food. However, they spot the guard dogBarnyard Dawg
Barnyard Dawg is a Looney Tunes character. An adult anthropomorphic basset hound, he is the archenemy of Foghorn Leghorn. He was created by Robert McKimson, who also created Foghorn and was voiced by Mel Blanc...
and realize that if he were to awaken and spot them stealing the vegetables, he would cause them trouble.
The Gophers spend most of the rest of the cartoon using psychological weardown tactics to drive Barnyard Dawg insane and remove him as a threat to their well-being. A deadpan pig watches as the dog is repeatedly the victim of the Gophers' pranks, and can only shake his head as the dog's psyche is broken down. Meanwhile, the pooch tries to convince himself that all that is going on is nothing but a bad dream (consulting Sigmund Fraud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
and using sleeping pills to laugh off each attempt).
In the end, the Gophers get rid of their foe for good by tying a harness around the sleeping Barnyard Dawg's belly, then attaching it to a hot air balloon
Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
before launching it. Eventually, the balloon's hull begins to leak, and the dog awakens atop a light pole. After he wakes up and realizing his surroundings, Barnyard Dawg mentally snaps and begins to fly! The pig - confused about everything he has seen - goes to psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Dr. Cy Kosis for counseling. Kosis realizes he needs counseling (and joins his client on the couch) when he sees the Barnyard Dawg flying by the window.
Reception
In two publications covering the Warner Bros. library of cartoons, critics Will Friedwald and Jerry Beck gave Gopher Broke negative reviews. In their 1981 publication The Warner Brothers Cartoons, the cartoon was panned as an inferior remake of the 1949 short Mouse WreckersMouse Wreckers
Mouse Wreckers is a 1949 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones starring Hubie and Bertie in their first pairing with the redesigned Claude Cat . The short centers around Hubie and Bertie's attempts to move into a new home by chasing Claude out of the home...
; that plot had twin mice Hubie and Bertie
Hubie and Bertie
Hubie and Bertie are animated cartoon mouse characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Though largely forgotten today, Hubie and Bertie represent some of animator Chuck Jones' earliest work that was intended to be funny rather than cute.-First film:Jones...
physically and mentally torturing a potential antagonist, Claude Cat, into submission, all to gain access to the house and therefore an ample food supply. Gopher Broke also marked "the decline of McKimson's work," the review continued.
In Beck and Friewald's 1989 followup, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons, the two disparaged Seely's stock score
Hi-Q (production music)
Hi-Q was a brand and library of production music produced and distributed by Capitol Records in the late 1950s-early 1960s. It saw quite a bit of use in several movies and other productions, most notably in the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, in which producer Karl Hardman used tracks from the...
(which would later be used in early Hanna-Barbera shorts and The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren & Stimpy Show, often simply referred to as Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series, created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on the titular characters: Ren Höek, a psychotic chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a good-natured, dimwitted cat...
), noting it served "as part and parcel of the lame antics.".
Censorship
- When this cartoon aired on ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, the part where an anxious Barnyard Dawg swallows an entire box of sleeping pills to help calm his nerves was cut to remove the dog actually ingesting the pills http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/ltcuts/ltcutsg.html.