''Detouring America'' is a 1939

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 ...

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 directed by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

. The short was released on August 26, 1939.

Plot

A tour of the United States, with recurring checks on the progress of the human fly climbing the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

. Also featured are jokes and gags on the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

, the Wyoming prairies, Alaska, a California prospector, Sioux Indians and a Jerry Colonna-esque (literal) Texas cow-puncher.

Home media

*LaserDisc – ''

The Golden Age of Looney Tunes ''The Golden Age of Looney Tunes'' is a collection of LaserDiscs released by MGM/UA Home Video in the 1990s. There were five sets made, featuring a number of discs, and each disc side represented a different theme, being made up of seven cartoon ...

'', Volume 5, Side 2 (USA 1995 Turner print) *DVD – ''

Each Dawn I Die ''Each Dawn I Die'' is a 1939 Crime film, gangster film directed by William Keighley and starring James Cagney and George Raft. The plot of ''Each Dawn I Die'' involves a crusading reporter who is unjustly thrown in jail and befriends a famous gan ...

'' (USA 1995 Turner print added as a bonus)

Censorship

*Two scenes are excised from the cartoon when aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

United States television networks due to ethnic stereotyping against Native Americans and Inuit. They are: :*The scene with a poor, black hitchhiker at the North Pole, who sings " Carry Me Back to Ol' Virginny". Then, an Eskimo sends him back by taking him all the way back to the Virginia state line. :*The scene with an Indian mother dealing with her dopey, oversized, adult son she's carrying on her back.

References

1939 animated films Films directed by Tex Avery Merrie Melodies short films 1939 films Films scored by Carl Stalling Vitaphone short films 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films {{MerrieMelodies-stub