Who's Who In The Zoo
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''Who's Who in the Zoo'' is a 1942
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
Norman McCabe Norman McCabe (February 10, 1911 – January 17, 2006) was an English-born American animator who enjoyed a long career that lasted into the 1990s. Early career McCabe was born in England and raised in the United States. He soon developed a ...
. The short was released on February 14, 1942.


Plot

''Who's Who in the Zoo'' is one of the cartoons that Warner would occasionally produce, particularly in the World War II era, that featured a series of loosely related gags, usually based on outrageous stereotypes and plays on words, as a narrator (in this case
Robert C. Bruce Robert Cameron Bruce Jr. (October 6, 1914 – August 24, 2003) was an American voice actor and the son of Robert Cameron Bruce (1887–1948) who was a cinematographer and documentary producer. He was the narrator for a number of Warner Bros. car ...
) describes the action. The plot is substantially similar to that of 1939's ''
A Day at the Zoo ''A Day at the Zoo'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon supervised by Tex Avery. The short was produced in 1938 and released on March 11, 1939 and features an early version of Elmer Fudd. Plot This is one of the cartoons that Wa ...
'', except that
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 ...
(voiced by
Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
as usual) appears as the zookeeper of the "
Azusa Azusa may refer to: Relating to California From a Native American language, likely Tongva language, Tongva ''Asuksagna:'' *Azusa, California, a city in the United States *Azusa Pacific University, a Christian-based institution in Azusa, California ...
Zoo," and that the now-discontinued
Elmer Fudd Elmer J.''Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheo ...
is absent. Some excerpts: *In a comic "
triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...
", a timber wolf is shown, then a gray wolf, then a "
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
wolf" (a frequent reference in the 1940s WB cartoons). *Other creatures include a "missing
lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...
", a "
tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...
and the hair", "March
hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s" who march to a drumbeat, a down-on-his-luck "bum
steer Steer, Steers or Steering may refer to: Animals * Steer or bullock, castrated male cattle * Ox, a steer used as a draft animal People * Steer (surname) * Steers (surname) Places * Steer Creek (West Virginia), a tributary of the Little K ...
", an Indian
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 ...
attired as an American Indian, and a
bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
wearing a toupee. *There is also a running joke about a
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 ...
who is awaiting the arrival of the ice cream truck. *An Alaskan Bear who's known for hugging its prey to death picks up and starts hugging a defenseless sheep. When the narrator begs the bear to stop hugging the sheep, the sheep responds, in a feminine voice sounding like
Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Ad ...
: "Oh, for goodness' sake, mind your own business!" *A group of seals that the narrator says only eat fresh mountain trout. Porky attempts to feed them a mackerel instead, claiming it to be indistinguishable, but a seal plants a sign saying "No substitutes accepted". *Some gags reference the then-ongoing
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 ...
, including a
black panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
drinking cream from its dish, then noticing the dish is aluminum and throwing it into a scrap pile, a reference to the Salvage for Victory campaign; as well as a distressed
rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
father of dozens of babies given a note from the government to "increase your production 100%," as the song "What's The Matter with Father" plays in the background.


See also

*
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949) This is a listing of all the animated shorts released by Warner Bros. under the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' banners between 1940 and 1949. A total of 307 shorts were released during the 1940s. 1940 1941 1942 This year ma ...
*
List of Porky Pig cartoons This is a list of all cartoons featuring Porky Pig. Directors are listed in parentheses. Porky Pig shorts 1935 * ''I Haven't Got a Hat'' (March 2, 1935) - "Merrie Melodies" series, Porky's first appearance (Friz Freleng) * ''Country Mouse'' (Ju ...


References


External links

* * 1942 films 1942 animated films 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films American black-and-white films Looney Tunes shorts Films directed by Norman McCabe Films scored by Carl Stalling Porky Pig films Animated films about wolves Animated films about cats Films about turtles Animated films about rabbits and hares Animated films about cattle Animated films about elephants Animated films about birds Animated films about lions Animated films about bears Animated films about sheep Animated films set in zoos 1940s English-language films {{looney-tunes-stub