''Injun Trouble'' is a 1969 ''
Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by
Robert McKimson.
The cartoon was released on September 20, 1969, and features
Cool Cat. It is noted for being the last cartoon in the original ''Merrie Melodies'' series, ending a run that had continued since 1931. Additionally, this was the 1,000th cartoon short released by
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 ...
This cartoon was the last ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon until 1979's ''The Fright Before Christmas'', as well as the last Warner Bros. cartoon produced until 1979. This cartoon was also the last Warner Bros. cartoon to be produced by
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation before the studio shut down on October 10, 1969 when
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was a short-lived American entertainment company active from 1967 until 1969.
History
Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack L. Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures for $32 million in November 19 ...
was owned by
Kinney National Company
Kinney National Service, Inc. (later known as Kinney Services, Inc.) was an American conglomerate company from 1966 to 1972. Its successors were National Kinney Corporation and Warner Communications, Time Warner, AOL Time Warner, and WarnerMedia ...
until
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...
reopened its animation department on March 15, 1980. The cartoon shares its name with an
earlier short directed by
Bob Clampett, which features Porky Pig.
Synopsis
Cool Cat is driving to the town of Hotfoot, when his route happens to take him through an
Indian reservation. Two scouts spot him and one of them gives chase, only to fall into a chasm when the weight of him and his horse causes the makeshift bridge to collapse. As Cool Cat drives along, he encounters more Native Americans in the following scenarios:
* Cool Cat is first stopped by a Native American man who gives his obese daughter away, much to Cool Cat's frustration.
* Although the next two Native Americans are not seen by Cool Cat, the first attempts to paint a stripe on his teepee, but quits in frustration after he finds that he failed to paint it in a complete circle. The second paints a face on an aluminum pail and puts it over his head, calling himself a "pail-face".
* Cool Cat finds a bow and arrow on the ground, and he uses the bow to fire the arrow into the sky. An agitated Native American man with an arrow in his scalp approaches Cool Cat, and punches him in the nose.
* A Native American uses a
stenograph-like device to create smoke signals that read "Cool Cat go home."
* Cool Cat is then stopped by a more attractive woman that invites him for an "Indian Wrestle" - which turns out to be a fight with a man who is far larger than Cool Cat.
* Cool Cat is stopped by a
Groucho Marx imitator who asks him, "Why?". Cool Cat remarks that he thought Native Americans asked "how". The Native American pulls out a cigar, remarks "Me know how, now I wanna know why.", and walks away.
* Cool Cat is stopped by one last Native American who asks him to hold his shirt. When Cool Cat asks why, the Native American states he is literally riding "bareback".
Finally arriving in Hotfoot, Cool Cat spots two horses playing with human shoes, a "Horse Doctor" who really is an
equine
Equinae is a subfamily of the family Equidae, which have lived worldwide (except Indonesia and Australia) from the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene (16 million years ago) onwards. They are thought to be a monophyletic grouping.B. J. Ma ...
, and a showdown between two gunslingers that ends with one's belt being shot, causing his pants to drop. After that, Cool Cat spots a "Topless Saloon" and heads in, but finds out that the only topless person in there is the bartender, a rather burly man. An outlaw named Gower Gulch then arrives and seemingly challenges Cool Cat to a duel, but then settles for a game of poker. Cool Cat gets a good hand with four Aces, only for Gulch to get a Royal Flush and subsequently pull out his
six shooter. Announcing that he is "cutting out," Cool Cat produces a pair of scissors and cuts a hole out of the background, which he then disappears into. He then reappears for a moment and ends the cartoon (and the original series' run) with the words "So cool it now, ya hear?"
Controversy
Owing to controversy over its stereotyping of Native Americans (and some racy puns such as "Indian wrestling" with a curvy Native American woman and the "topless saloon", along with the use of the ethnic slur "Injun" and being used as the reel's title), the cartoon has never been shown by U.S. television broadcasters such as
Cartoon Network, or released on video. While bootleg versions are available (most commonly with a timecode on the image), it is one of the rarest of all Warner Bros. cartoons,
The Most Obscure Warner Bros. Cartoons of All Time
, accessed January 7, 2008 owing to the relative unpopularity of cartoons from this era of the studio (unlike the "Censored Eleven
The Censored Eleven is a group of '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons originally produced and released by Warner Bros. that were withheld from syndication in the United States by United Artists (UA) since 1968. UA owned the dis ...
," which were produced during the studio's heyday).
References
External links
*
{{Warner Bros. animation and comics
1969 animated films
1969 short films
Merrie Melodies short films
Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films
Films directed by Robert McKimson
Films scored by William Lava
Films about Native Americans
Native American comedy films
Animated films about animals
Films about tigers
1960s Warner Bros. animated short films
Race-related controversies in film
American animated short films
1960s English-language films