''Lady, Play Your Mandolin!'' is the first 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 Rudolf Ising of Harman and Ising. The short was released in August 1931, and stars Foxy, a character who appeared in three 1931 shorts.

Overview

The cartoon features Foxy as a

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

. He visits a local saloon which is disguised as a café, reflecting that when this cartoon was made,

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

was law of the land in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Also, as a reflection of Prohibition, liquor bottles have

skull and crossbones A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a ''memento mori'' on tombstones. ...

labels. His horse soon finds himself drunk and begins to hallucinate wildly. Similarly to Foxy, the cartoon features a female fox character that is very reminiscent of

Minnie Mouse Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a bow, polka-dotted dress, white bloomers, and low-heeled shoes occasional ...

. As was typically the case with the early entries in the ''Merrie Melodies'' series, one purpose of the cartoon was to promote a Warner-owned popular song. The title theme, written by

Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian and actor. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for rec ...

with lyrics by

Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for T ...

, was a 1930 #5 pop hit sung by

Nick Lucas Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese (August 22, 1897 – July 28, 1982), known professionally as Nick Lucas, was an American jazz guitarist and singer. Known as the Crooning Troubadour, he was the first jazz guitarist to record as a soloist. His p ...

and released by

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing prod ...

, which had been purchased by Warner Bros. the previous year (Another recording, by the Havana Novelty Orchestra was released the same year on RCA's

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

). In the short, it is sung by a female fox character who would later become Foxy's girlfriend, Roxy. The credited animators were Rollin "Ham" Hamilton and Norm Blackburn (plus uncredited animation by

Isadore Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and ...

Robert 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 '' ...

(his first cartoon at WB according to some sources) and

Carman Maxwell Carman Griffin Maxwell (December 27, 1902 – September 22, 1987) was an American animator and voice actor. Maxwell was born in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and later moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He began his career at Walt Disney, where Maxwe ...

) with a musical score and direction of the Abe Lyman (Brunswick Recording) Orchestra by

Frank Marsales Frank Alfred Marsales (31 August 188614 August 1975) was a Canadian composer best known for his work scoring many classic animated films by Warner Bros. Cartoons in the 1930s. He also worked with Walter Lantz Studios in the mid to late 1930s. ...

. Rudolf Ising provides the voice of Foxy, while Harman-Ising regular Rochelle Hudson as well as Abe Lyman (and probably members of his band) provide the other voices.

Home media

The cartoon is available as an extra on the '' Little Caesar'' DVD and Blu-ray. It is also available on the DVD 'Attack of the '30's Characters', albeit in an unrestored form. In 2003, it was included within bonus features on Disc 3 of the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1''.

References

External links

*
''Lady, Play Your Mandolin!''
at the

Big Cartoon Database The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

''Lady, Play Your Mandolin!'' Sheet Music
at the Mississippi State University Digital Library
''Lady, Play Your Mandolin!''
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

1931 films 1931 animated films 1931 Western (genre) films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films American black-and-white films Films scored by Frank Marsales Animated films about foxes Films directed by Rudolf Ising Foxy (Merrie Melodies) films Films set in Mexico American Western (genre) films Animated films about animals 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1930s English-language films {{MerrieMelodies-stub