''Dime to Retire'' is a 1955

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' cartoon directed by

Robert McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePa ...

. The cartoon was released on September 3, 1955, and stars

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character, character created for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American black duck, black ...

and

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created ma ...

Plot

Daffy works as an unscrupulous hotel-keeper and requires only a dime from Porky to stay at his hotel initially. He then proceeds to send various animals up to disturb Porky's sleep (in room #16) and makes Porky pay a fee per animal to get rid of them while Daffy slowly increases the fee amount as each new animal causes problems. It initially starts with Daffy sending a

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

to Porky's room via a

pneumatic tube Pneumatic tubes (or capsule pipelines, also known as pneumatic tube transport or PTT) are systems that propel cylindrical containers through networks of tubes by compressed air or by partial vacuum. They are used for transporting solid objects, a ...

; the mouse eats a stick of

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, lea ...

loudly thereby disrupting Porky's sleep. Porky calls for its removal, the extermination of which by

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

has a $5 pussy cat fee. The cat, which refuses to leave the bed, is then eliminated by a boxer dog for a fee of $10, which repeatedly box-punches Porky after Daffy sounds a hidden boxing bell for room #16. The dog is then evicted by a $26

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

, which tries to eat Porky; the lion is eradicated by an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

for a $72 fee; the elephant engulfs the whole room and is exterminated (driven off) by the celery-eating mouse for a $666 fee, thereby wrecking Porky's room in the elephant's panic and causing the whole loop to repeat. Eventually, Porky gets fed up with the lousy service and decides to leave without paying Daffy the initial room fee of 10¢. In response to Porky's "deadbeat" behavior, Daffy holds Porky's baggage which has Acme blasting powder in it, which Porky deliberately sets off shortly after he starts his car (the exhaust pipe lights the powder leaking from the briefcase) as Daffy walks inside the hotel. Just as Porky departs, the lit fuse follows Daffy into his hotel office; the hotel explodes and has to be closed for repairs. The short ends with Daffy asking the composer for “a little traveling music, please” (a reference to ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'') before running out of the now-ruined hotel and running away with his trade-mark laugh in pain as his tail feathers are on fire.

Home media

''Dime to Retire'' is available, uncensored and uncut, on the ''Looney Tunes Superstars-Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl'' DVD. However, it was cropped to widescreen, like in the theatrical release. It was also released on the VHS, ''Daffy Duck: Madcap Mania''.

References

External links

* {{Robert McKimson 1955 animated films 1955 short films 1955 films Looney Tunes shorts Films directed by Robert McKimson Daffy Duck films Porky Pig films Films set in hotels 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Films scored by Milt Franklyn 1950s English-language films