Title - Ready, Woolen, and Able
Director - Chuck Jones
Released - 1960
Reason for Placement --
As I stated before in a previous post, I had a pretty hard time originally telling the difference between Ralph Wolf and Wile E. Coyote, mostly because a few of the Ralph Wolf/Sam Sheepdog shorts were on my WEC/RR tapes. However, looking back on it, I think this was the short that always confused me into thinking that Ralph and Wile E. were the same character... which is also probably why I loved this short so much as a kid!
The premise is the same as other Ralph/Sam shorts: they punch the clock, Ralph tries to steal sheep, and Sam has to guard them. But the gags in this one really reminded me of Wile E.; for example, there is one part where Ralph decides to put a pair of bed springs on his feet so he can jump over Sam and get to the sheep. We have a few moments where he tries to get the springs under control, only to keep falling on his face. Watch that scene and tell me that doesn't remind you 100% of everyone's favorite coyote!
Still, I have to go with the final scene for my reasoning behind choosing this short. Ralph uses a trapeze to swing over Sam, but when he gets to the cliffside the sheep was sitting on... he finds Sam again. A little confused, Ralph climbs up the trapeze, and finds Sam sitting up there, holding the trapeze! He goes back down to his seat, and there's Sam again! He jumps from the trapeze into the water below, and as he falls he sees Sam no less than 6 times before he hits! He goes underwater... OK, I think by this point you get the point. Ralph makes it to a beach, which is for some reason, filled with at least two dozen Sams! Fade-in to the end of the day, Sam is going home, and Ralph is being led away in an ambulance, tied up in a straight-jacket. They never explain what exactly happened or if Ralph is actually going nuts, but frankly, we don't care, we enjoy the ending all the same.
Tex Avery gag strikes again...Morgan Freeman would do this in live action in Universal's hit live sequel to the Jim Carrey hit "Bruce Almighty" entitled "Evan ALmighty" [and "Zombieland" and "House Bunny" costar Emma Stone in WB/New Line's recent hit "Ghosts of girlsfriend past"]. Too many to mention, but even Felix the Cat--the then current "Trans Lux" one--himself did that appearing everywhere bit..
ReplyDeleteNeat use of the latterday siren sound effect near the dissolve to final gag..