''I Haven't Got a Hat'' is a 1935

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

, directed by Isadore Freleng for

Leon Schlesinger Productions Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it w ...

as part of the ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'' series. Released on March 2, 1935, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of several Warner Bros. cartoon characters, most notably future cartoon star

Porky Pig Porky Pig is a cartoon 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 man ...

. Beans the Cat, a minor ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' star in 1935-1936, also made his first appearance in this cartoon. ''I Haven't Got a Hat'' was one of the earliest

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

''Merrie Melodies'', and (because of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

's exclusive deal with Technicolor at the time) was produced using Technicolor's two-color process (red and green) instead of its more expensive and advanced three-strip process.

Plot

The local schoolteacher Miss Cud introduces a school musical and recital. The show begins with a frantically stuttering Porky Pig's dramatic rendition of " The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere", which ends up with Porky being chased away from friendly stray dogs. The show continues on with Little Kitty trying to recite "

Mary Had a Little Lamb "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is an English-language nursery rhyme of nineteenth-century American origin, first published by American writer Sarah Josepha Hale in 1830. Its Roud Folk Song Index number is 7622. Background The nursery rhyme was firs ...

", but she forgets her lines, despite Miss Cud's attempts to help her out. Two cute puppies Ham and Ex then sing a humorous love song "I Haven't Got a Hat", which earns them a standing ovation from the audience. Meanwhile, during the show, Beans the Cat is getting increasingly frustrated by Oliver Owl, who refuses to share a bag of candy with him. Oliver is called to the stage for a piano piece, and he plays a simple beginner's piece. Out for revenge, Beans sneaks outside, and reaches through the window to place a dog and a cat inside the piano. The result appears to be that Oliver plays a magnificently difficult piece, and the crowd applauds, but then the dog and cat run out of the piano, earning jeers from the audience. Beans and Oliver then lash out at each other, but only manage to get covered in paint and fountain pen ink in the end, and they both shake hands afterwards.

Production notes

Inspired by the

Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' live-action shorts, the short introduces several new characters as

grade school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

students in the hope that some would catch on. The stuttering Porky Pig, who debuts in this cartoon, was the breakout star.

References

External links

* *
I Haven't Got a Hat
' at the

Big Cartoon Database The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was 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 f ...

{{Beans the Cat in animation 1935 films 1935 comedy films 1930s color films Films scored by Bernard B. Brown Films scored by Norman Spencer (composer) Short films directed by Friz Freleng Beans the Cat films Porky Pig films Animated films set in schools Merrie Melodies short films Animated films about cats Animated films about birds Animated films about dogs 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1935 animated short films

Plot

Production notes

References

Further reading

External links