''Yankee Dood It'' is a 1956

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 ...

'' theatrical cartoon short directed by

Friz 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 '' ...

and written by

Warren Foster Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer, cartoonist and composer for the animation division of Warner Brothers and later with Hanna-Barbera. Early life He was born in Brooklyn, New York to Marion B. Fos ...

. The short was released on October 13, 1956 and features

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 ...

. The title is a pun on

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

's famous "I Dood It" line from the Mean Widdle Kid routine. ''Yankee Dood It'' was the last of three cartoons to be underwritten by the

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support or ...

, which also underwrote ''

By Word of Mouse By or BY may refer to: Places * By, Doubs, France, a commune * By, Norway, a village Codes * Belarus ISO country code ** .by, country-code top-level domain for Belarus * Burundi FIPS Pub 10-4 and obsolete NATO digram country code * TUI Air ...

'' and '' Heir-Conditioned''. All three are available on the second disc of '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6''. This cartoon is also one of the few cartoons where the character

Sylvester the Cat Sylvester Pussycat, Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic tuxedo cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appea ...

has no speaking lines (except for "Ah-ha!" and "Sufferin' Succotash").

Plot

The cartoon short is based on the

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

The Elves and the Shoemaker "The Elves and The Shoemaker" (German: ''Die Wichtelmänner'') is a set of fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 39) about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young helpful elves. The original story is the first o ...

'', set 150 years after that story took place (in the early 19th century).If the cartoon was made in 1956 (or produced between 1954 and 1956), 150 years before that would be 1804-1806

is the progressive King of industrial Elves. He is doing

roll call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

, only to discover that some of his elves are missing. His elf helper tells him that the elves are helping an outmoded shoemaker, but Elmer points out that it's the 20th century. He tells his elf helper to get the elves back or he will mark them

AWOL Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

, just before telling the elf helper that if he is turned into a mouse, he must say "

Rumpelstiltskin "Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; german: Rumpelstilzchen) is a German fairy tale. It was collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about a little imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a g ...

". At the shop, the elf helper tells the shoemaker that he must take the elves back, but the shoemaker wants to stay in business. Unfortunately, his pet cat,

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

, uses the magic word, "

Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat (; alternatively spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; ; el, Ἰωσαφάτ, Iosafát; la, Josaphat), according to 1 Kings 22:41, was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, in succession to his father ...

" to turn Elmer's elf helper into a mouse and chases him around the shoemaker's shop. Saying "Rumpelstiltskin" changes him back to an elf, much to the disgust of Sylvester, who puts the elf helper down. The shoemaker puts Sylvester up so that he cannot interfere. Elmer comes to the shop and explains the role of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...

to the shoemaker, who then agrees to use this knowledge to stay in business; he advises the shoemaker to invest his profits back into the business instead of pocketing them for himself. (At the time, marginal income taxes in the United States were over 90% for those in the highest income tax bracket, strongly discouraging business owners from pocketing their profits.) Four months later, the shoemaker's little shop has literally become a shoe

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

. Elmer comes back to see how the shoemaker was " pwogwessing," and the shoemaker says that he has gotten over 500 employees and next month his business will be expanding. This reminds him to come up with a name for his new

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

line up, and he comes up with the new name: "Jehoshaphat Boots!" This turns Elmer into a mouse, who forgets that "Rumpelstiltskin" is the

magic word Magic words are often nonsense phrases used in fantasy fiction or by stage magicians. Frequently such words are presented as being part of a divine, adamic, or other secret or empowered language. Certain comic book heroes use magic words to activ ...

, and runs as Sylvester decides to chase him out of the factory and into the distance just as the cartoon ends with Elmer finally saying "Wumpewstiwtskin!"

References

External links

* Tim Cavanaugh
Reason Magazine - Elfinomics
Discussion of economic content of cartoon * {{Friz Freleng 1956 films 1956 short films 1956 animated films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Sponsored films Films based on Grimms' Fairy Tales Films based on fairy tales Elmer Fudd films Sylvester the Cat films Films set in the 20th century Animated films about magic Films about shapeshifting Short films directed by Friz Freleng Films scored by Milt Franklyn Films produced by Edward Selzer Films about elves Films about kings 1950s English-language films