''Meatless Tuesday'' is a 1943

Andy Panda Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947, and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The title ...

cartoon produced by Walter Lantz Productions. It was directed by

James Culhane James H. "Shamus" Culhane (November 12, 1908 – February 2, 1996) was an American animator, film director, and film producer. He is best known for his work in the Golden age of American animation. Career Shamus Culhane worked for a number o ...

and was released on October 25, 1943. It is the second and last cartoon to pair Andy with Charlie Chicken. The title is a reference to Meatless Monday, which is a popular campaign during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

that encourages people to save and ration meat for the war effort.

Plot

Taking place entirely in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

, Andy Panda is going through a cookbook looking for something to prepare on a Meatless Tuesday when he hears a rooster crow outside, asking him to have roast chicken for supper, but the farmyard rooster isn't cooperating. Andy pursues the rooster to a chicken coop, where he locks himself inside. He tries a few other methods to get the rooster out, like using bird seeds and prying the coop door open, but none of them appear to work. Andy then uses a shovel to dig his way into the coop, but the rooster and the other hens repositioned the coop above a fountain, leading Andy to be splashed out of the earth and into his cellar. Andy emerges from the cellar with an axe and begins chasing the rooster once more. He eventually catches up with him and prepares to sever his head from his neck, but he hesitates. The rooster responds by blindfolding Andy, who then proceeds to hack off his head. The axe blade, however, flies away from the handle and lands in the rooster's neck. With the upper hand, the rooster pursues Andy up a telephone pole, which he then chops down into Andy's garden. The rooster lets out another crow, and the hens around him applaud him, only to be whacked with a

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

by Andy in return.

Home media

* ''Walter Lantz Presents: The World of Andy Panda'' (VHS; Universal/MCA) * ''Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 6'' (DVD;

Columbia House Columbia House was an umbrella brand for Columbia Records' mail-order music clubs, the primary iteration of which was the Columbia Record Club, established in 1955. The Columbia House brand was introduced in the early 1970s by Columbia Records ...

)

Analysis

''Meatless Tuesday'' is the first Andy Panda short directed by James "Shamus" Culhane. Culhane himself was uninterested of Andy's character at the time, describing him as "too goddamn sweet and cuddly" in his autobiography, ''Talking Animals and Other People'', and preferred to direct the cartoon in a break-neck pace compared to

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the cart ...

more sluggish pacing in his cartoons. This is also the second to last cartoon to star Charlie Chicken. Although unnamed in this short, Charlie would be a prominent sidekick to Andy in the ''Andy Panda'' comic series.

References

External links

* * {{BCDB title, 2801 Animated films without speech 1943 animated films 1943 films 1940s American animated films Andy Panda films Films directed by James Culhane