''Fox-Terror'' is a 1957

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 ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' animated short 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 May 11, 1957, and features

Foghorn Leghorn Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the golden age of A ...

and the

Barnyard Dawg Barnyard Dawg is a '' Looney Tunes'' character. A feisty 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. Dawg also feuds with othe ...

. The title is a play on the dog breed name "

Fox Terrier Fox Terriers are two different breeds of the terrier dog type: the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier. Both of these breeds originated in the 19th century from a handful of dogs who are descended from earlier varieties of British terr ...

." By the time of this cartoon's release, the Stephen Foster song "

Camptown Races "Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races" (popularly known simply as "Camptown Races") is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). () It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, and Benteen published ...

" has been established as Foghorn Leghorn's theme; in other cartoons Foghorn normally hums the verse, but in this cartoon he sings specially-written lyrics about fishing. The cartoon also briefly paid homage to the then-wildly popular genre of television quiz shows, particularly ''

The $64,000 Question ''The $64,000 Question'' was an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the ...

'' which, like many other quiz shows of the day, would soon become embroiled in

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

and be taken off the air a year later.

Plot

A fox scampers away from the henhouse when a young rooster rings the alarm bell.

arrives, but sees no fox, so he thinks the rooster just rang the bell because he wanted a drink of water. When he sees

leave to go fishing, the fox disguises himself and suggests that he go hunting instead and bring the dog with him. Foggy likes this idea, so he grabs a shotgun and ties a rope around Dawg's neck and drags him away. The fox heads for the henhouse, but the young rooster rings the alarm again. Dawg runs back, dragging Foghorn behind him, but again the fox scampers away. Dawg only sees the rooster ringing the bell and assumes he's just thirsty again. The fox then pretends to be a

quiz show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...

host, pushing Foghorn into an

isolation booth An isolation booth is a cabinet used to prevent a person or people from seeing or hearing certain events, usually for television programs or for blind testing of products. Its most visual use is on game shows, where an isolation booth (either po ...

and asking him the "$64 Million Question", "What poem mentions the colors red and blue?"; the fox instructs Foghorn to push a buzzer in the booth when he comes to 'red' and press it again when he comes to 'blue'. Foghorn guesses "Roses are red..", pushing the buzzer once, detonating one of two firecrackers in Dawg's mouth (causing him to lose three of his teeth), but Dawg, walking off-camera, grabs the buzzer and guesses the other half of the question, "..and violets are blue!", pressing the buzzer the second time, setting off the other firecracker that he stuffed in Foghorn's mouth. Meanwhile, the fox returns to the henhouse. The young rooster again pulls the alarm, and the fox flees before Dawg arrives. Again, seeing no fox, Dawg dumps a whole bucket of water on the little rooster. The fox unpacks a "Magic Folding Box" and lures Dawg into it with a bone. When the dog is inside, the fox folds the box into a tiny package, then disguises himself as a swami and sells it as a "lucky charm" to Foghorn, who is on his way to go fishing again. Foghorn throws it over his shoulder for luck and it lands in the well. Dawg emerges battered and bruised and he folds Foghorn into a tiny package and throws him into the well. The young rooster pulls the alarm again. Having had enough, an enraged Dawg tries to hit him with a mallet. However, the young rooster beat him to it, as he hits Dawg in the head as payback for dumping water on him earlier. Luckily, Dawg and Foghorn realize the fox has been tricking them both with disguises and ruses, and the two decide to join forces and give the fox a taste of his own medicine.

Home media

''Fox-Terror'' is available on '' Looney Tunes Super Stars' Foghorn Leghorn & Friends: Barnyard Bigmouth''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox-Terror 1957 animated films 1957 short films 1957 films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Films directed by Robert McKimson Films scored by Carl Stalling Films scored by Milt Franklyn Animated films about foxes Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Films produced by Edward Selzer 1950s English-language films Foghorn Leghorn films Barnyard Dawg films

Plot

See also

Home media

References

External links