''Boyhood Daze'' is a 1957 Warner Bros. ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American 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 1970s to the ...

'' cartoon directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

. The script was written by

Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American story man for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director Chuck Jones, notably " ...

, and the film score was composed by

Milt Franklyn Milton J. Franklyn (born Milton Julius Frumkin; September 16, 1897 – April 24, 1962) was an American musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoons. Career Franklyn was born in New York City Se ...

. The film was produced by

Edward Selzer Edward Selzer (January 12, 1893 – February 22, 1970) was an American film producer and publicist who served as head of Warner Bros. Cartoons from 1944 to 1958. He served in the US Navy and fought as a Golden Gloves boxer. He won a boxing exhibi ...

. The voices were provided by Dick Beals,

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...

and Marian Richman. It contains the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

element of an alien invasion. The short was released on September 20, 1957, and features young boy Ralph Phillips. Following ''

From A to Z-Z-Z-Z ''From A to Z-Z-Z-Z'' is a 1954 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' animated cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 16, 1954, and stars Ralph Phillips. Written by Michael Maltese and produced by Edward Selzer, it was a ...

'' (1954), it is one of two cartoons in which he stars.

Plot

The cartoon starts with a baseball going through a window, breaking it, and Ralph exclaiming: "Ohhh nooo!" His mother sends him up to his bedroom until his father gets home. Up in his room, he broods over his mistake and tries to imagine himself as a hero, first by imagining himself as a famous explorer in Africa to rescue his parents from a native tribe, then tells his father to go to his room for playing in Africa and tells his mother his insurance will cover the window and to buy a catcher's mitt with the rest. He is then seen making paper airplanes, and wishing he was a "jet ace or something." He then is imagining himself as an

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

pilot who thwarts a Martian invasion and is a national hero. His third dream occurs after he hears his dad come home and can hear the distant talking of both of his parents. His imagines himself as a convict in a jail cell. A whispering voice repeats: "They're coming to get'cha, Phillips. They're coming to get'cha." He steps down, crushes out a cigarette he was apparently smoking, and faces the door like a man. The cell door opens and a silhouetted person with a booming voice says: "You're going to have to pay for this, Ralph Phillips!" Back in reality, it turns out to be his rather gentle-demeaning father who informs Ralph that the window repair is coming out of his allowance, then lets him go outside to play. As he runs back outside with a baseball bat and glove, he stops when he sees a cherry tree in the yard, then notices a

hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', ' axe' of Germanic origin) is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side. Hatchets may also be us ...

. In the next scene he is walking towards the tree with the hatchet, and he turns into a young

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

as the cartoon irises out.

Reception

''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' reviewed the short on August 21, 1957: "This shows the vivid creation of Ralph, a little boy send to bed for being naughty... The ultra-modern drawings are excellent, but this is not very funny."

Home media

*VHS - Looney Tunes Collectors Edition Volume 2: Running Amuck *Laserdisc - Looney Tunes: Assorted Nuts *DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6 (bonus feature)

References

External links

* *
Ralph Phillips
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on November 4, 2016. {{Chuck Jones 1950s English-language films 1957 animated films 1957 short films 1950s science fiction films Alien invasions in films Films set in Africa Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Films scored by Milt Franklyn Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Films about children Films about dreams Films about the United States Air Force Mars in film Cultural depictions of George Washington Films produced by Edward Selzer American animated short films

Plot

Reception

Home media

See also

References

External links