Of Fox and Hounds

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Original Title
Blue Ribbon

Airdate:
7 December 1940 Blue Ribbon reissue: 13 May 1944 6 February 1954

Series:

Merrie Melodies

MPAA Number:	Production Number:
6266	MM-8-10^[1]^[2] 1362 (2nd Reissue)

Copyright Renewed:

1 November 1968^[3]

Starring:

Willoughby
George the Fox

Crew

Voice Characterizations:

Mel Blanc as George the Fox (uncredited)
Tex Avery as Willoughby (uncredited)^[4]

Film Editor:

Treg Brown (uncredited)

Musician:

Draft No. 158 (too bad)

Video A
Dubbed print 1995

Of Fox and Hounds is a 1940 Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery.

Title[]

The title is a play on the 1937 book Of Mice and Men.

Plot[]

As fox hunters on horses trumpets their hounds awake, several small fox hounds leave the doghouse, followed by dimwitted Willoughby. As he is left behind, he runs into the forest as he attempts to find a fox, even if it means looking through every tree, which he eventually runs into. Willoughby passes by a fox named George, and completely oblivious to what a fox looks like, George tells him that there is a fox on another side of a nearby fence. However, the fence is only near the edge of the cliff, and Willougby falls on the bottom, realizing George was the fox.

Willoughby climbs back up, and George takes notice by wearning a fox hound costume. Despite George recognizing Willoughby and stating his name again ("Here we go, again."), Willoughby still doesn't recognize the fox under the costume, and he is told again to run behind the fence and off the same cliff. Willoughby comes back, stating the fox was not under there. As George insists to get one for him, the fox runs into a log and can't get through inside his costume. Eventually, he dislodges himself but rips off the costume in the process, making Willoughby realize that was the fox all along.

Another chase pursues, where the two trounces upon a bear's head. Willoughby manages to corner George inside a tunnel, and states he did a good thing to the bear, who is less than impressed at Willoughby's feat. The dog is forced up a tree to evade the bear, and George has a slight change in heart by lighting a match near the bear to make it flee. Willoughby thanks the fox, and apparently takes him back to the doghouse. The next day, the hunters calls out the hounds again, where it is revealed that Willoughby has kept George in the doghouse. When Willoughby asks George for advice, he yet again suggests the same fence, although when Willoughby jumps down, he lands softly into a pile of mattresses with all of the branches cut off. "Y'know, I ain't so dumb."

Availability[]

Notes[]

George the Fox has a voice and personality very similar to Bugs Bunny, who starred in his first cartoon in recognizable form that same year ("A Wild Hare", also directed by Tex Avery.)
The animated film is significant in that it is Tex Avery's first usage of characters based around George and Lenny of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
Willoughby first appeared with white and brown fur in this film. Starting from "The Crackpot Quail", his fur is completely brown.
Both American and European dubbed versions keep the original 1938-1941 ending music on the altered cards.
MeTV aired this short 5 March 2022 on Saturday Morning Cartoons; however, this airing appears unrestored.
The opening animation of this short, with the kennel, the horse-mounted hunters blowing the horns to awaken the dogs, and the dogs emerging from the doghouse, would be reused in "Foxy by Proxy".
According to Dave Mackey, as the USA was entering WWII, the men of a certain age were subject to getting drafted. Men were required to register with their local draft board and were giving a number from 1 to 7836. The first was 158, drawn in October 1940. Everyone credited in the title card was credited with draft numbers instead of their names. The exception was Carl Stalling, who was born in 1888, and therefore unlikely to have been eligible to serve due to his age ("and his placement in the credits guarantees his being the butt of the joke"). The other draft numbers listed (as most of the men at Termite Terrace were in their late 20s-early 30s) seem legitimate.^[6]
Vitaphone release number: 9771^[7]

Music-Cues^[8][]

A-Hunting We Will Go (traditional)
- Plays during the opening credits
- Plays again when the dogs are running with the horses
- Play again when Willoughby is sniffing the ground
Old Pal (by Egbert Van Alstyne)
- Plays when Willoughby shakes hands with George and passes out