''Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!'' is a 1931

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. Di ...

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 ...

'' cartoon short directed by

Rudolf Ising Rudolf Carl Ising (August 7, 1903 – July 18, 1992) was an American animator best known for collaborating with Hugh Harman to establish the Warner Bros. and MGM Cartoon studios during the early years of the golden age of American animation. In ...

. The short was released on September 5, 1931, and features Foxy, an early ''Merrie Melodies'' star. This is one of only three Merrie Melodies cartoons to star Foxy; the other two are ''

Lady, Play Your Mandolin! ''Lady, Play Your Mandolin!'' is the first Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Rudolf Ising of Harman and Ising. The short was released in August 1931, and stars Foxy, a character who appeared in three 1931 shorts. Overvi ...

'' (August 1931) and '' One More Time'' (October 3, 1931). This short is a remake of '' Trolley Troubles'', a Disney short featuring

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 19 ...

in whose creation Harman had once been involved. For the first time in a Warner Bros. cartoon, the short uses a gag suggested by

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

that has characters from the trolley's advertising posters come to life and perform a bit of business. This type of gag would become a recurring element across ''Merrie Melodies''.

Synopsis

Foxy is a trolley

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whose problems include a fat lady hippo who can't fit into the trolley and a set of wheels that detach from the trolley car when Foxy gets the trolley moving. Foxy picks up Roxy and gives her a ride, but along the way, the car is blocked by a

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

wearing a dress and glasses, who won't get off the track. A group of nearby

hobo A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. E ...

s sing the title song while Foxy tries to move the cow; he finally runs the car underneath the cow and goes on his way. The trolley then goes down a hill and runs out of control; Foxy tries to stop it, but the

brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

s don't work. Finally, the trolley runs off of a cliff, throwing Foxy right into the camera... and then he falls from bed, waking up from what has turned out to be just a

nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

. The

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

by his bed is playing the title song, and the annoyed Foxy smashes the radio with a bedpost upon hearing it.

The song

In 1931, English bandleader Billy Cotton

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

the song. It was used in the finale of

Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He first came to public attention as the director of the action-adventure romantic comedy ''Romancing the Stone'' (1984), the science-fiction comedy ''Back to the Future'' film tr ...

' 1988 film ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

'', segueing into

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 ...

's famous "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!". In 2013, actor

Christoph Waltz Christoph Waltz (; born 4 October 1956) is an Austrian-German actor. Since 2009 he has been primarily active in the United States. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two British Academy Film Awards and two Sc ...

sang "Smile, Damn You, Smile" during his hosting duties on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

''.

Colorization

In 1992, a colorized version was commissioned by Ted Turner. Due to the technological limitations of the time, the colorization process was done by tracing the original animation and then coloring it in. The colorization was completed in South Korea.

Home media

* DVD - ''Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6'' * DVD - ''Return of the 30s Characters''

Streaming

* HBO Max

References

External links

*
''Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!''
at the Big Cartoon DataBase * {{Harman and Ising 1931 films 1931 animated films Merrie Melodies short films American black-and-white films Remakes of American films Films about dreams Films scored by Frank Marsales Animated films about foxes Films directed by Rudolf Ising Foxy (Merrie Melodies) films Rail transport films Short film remakes 1931 songs 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1930s English-language films