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You Don't Know What You're Doin'! is a 1931 Merrie Melodies short directed by Rudolf Ising.

Plot

Piggy picks up his girlfriend Fluffy and takes her to a theater, where a hot jazz orchestra is playing. Piggy mocks the trumpet soloist, and plays a corny chorus of the 1873 hit "Silver Threads Among the Gold" on the saxophone. The audience, led by three drunk dogs in the balcony, mock Piggy with the title song "You Don't Know What You're Doin'". Piggy is joined onstage by one of the drunk dogs. Piggy picks up their bottle of bootleg hooch, takes a swig, and starts having hallucinations; he pours some booze into the radiator of his automobile, which arches its back like a frightened cat and takes Piggy for a wild ride through the city.

Music

The musical soundtrack was done by the then-nationally famous Abe Lyman Orchestra (though on some prints mis-attributed to the Gus Arnheim band), which adds a happy energy throughout the cartoon. The eccentric virtuoso trombone playing of Orlando "Slim" Martin is prominently featured. Martin played not only music but also some rather bizarre effects on his horn (the techniques he used to produce some of his sounds continue to puzzle other trombonists). His trombone solo representing the drunken automobile is especially memorable. The Schlesinger Studio had their sound effects department construct mechanical devices to roughly reproduce some of Martin's sounds, which became standard cartoon sound effects.

Transcript

Main article: You Don't Know What You're Doin'! (transcript)

Availability

Censorship

  • The redrawn version cuts the guard yelling "Mammy!" after Piggy's car covers him in exhaust soot.

Notes

  • This short has the first usage of the well-known "trombone gobble" sound effect.
  • This short marks the debut of Piggy and Fluffy, who were made as replacements to Foxy and Roxy.
  • This cartoon entered the public domain in 1959.

References

  • Schneider, Steve (1990). That's All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt & Co.
  • Beck, Jerry and Friedwald, Will (1989): Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2

External Links




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