An Itch in Time is a 1943 Merrie Melodies short directed by Bob Clampett.
Title[]
The title is a play on the phrase "a stitch in time saves nine."
Plot[]
Elmer Fudd is laughing while lounging in his easy chair and reading his comic book, while his dog is comfortably sleeping nearby in front of the fireplace. Eventually, A. Flea comes bouncing by. The flea is dressed as a hillbilly with a big straw hat and is carrying a satchel with the name "A. Flea" on it. He gets out his telescope and spots the dog. The flea whistles in excitement, screaming "T- Bone!" He sings, "There's food around the corner; there's food around the corner!" The flea begins to find a suitable portion of the dog for him to eat or work on, which in turn bothers the dog, and he begins to scratch and bite the flea. Elmer soon notices this and threatens to give the dog a bath if he witnesses him scratching again. The dog makes his promise. The flea still searches for meat and uses pickaxes, jackhammers, and even explosives while the dog tries to withstand the suffering pain, but finally yelps and runs around. After that Elmer advances on the dog, and gets a hold of him after the dogs says "Oh no, not that!" A door bangs, but the dog still holds on the doorknob. However, the flea manages to get on Elmer, causing him to scratch, and the dog proceeds to carry Elmer and give him a bath. He promptly slips on a soap bar on the floor and lands in the bath. The tub breaks, and the flea soon carries the two away on a plate, singing 'There will be no more meatless Tuesdays for me...' A cat witnesses it and says, "Now I've seen everything!" and commits suicide by shooting himself with a pistol.
Availability[]
Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Elmer Fudd Cartoon Festival Featuring "An Itch in Time"
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2, Side 5: Bob Clampett
Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 7: Welcome To Wackyland (1995 Turner dubbed version)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Four (with optional audio commentary by Bill Melendez and John Kricfalusi)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 2
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 2
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- The final gag where the cat shoots himself after seeing the flea carry Elmer and the dog on a platter has been cut on most TV airings, particularly on the American feeds of Cartoon Network (excluding The Bob Clampett Show broadcast) and Boomerang; older versions shown on TBS and TNT back when both of those channels aired pre-1948 Warner Bros. shorts, and, recently, MeTV (though MeTV has aired this short uncut). The oldest a.a.p. prints on syndicated TV channels and the Cartoon Festivals tape prints on the Turner networks edit the scene out with a fake "iris-out", while MeTV jump-cuts to the cat bouncing backwards, which makes the edit obvious. The 1995 USA Turner prints on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the United States use a fake dissolve then proceed to the ending card.[2]
Goofs[]
- When A. Flea begins to hop to Willoughby while singing "Food Around the Corner" the first time, his mouth does not move while he sings.
- The background does not zoom in when the scene cut zooms to Willoughby up close after A. Flea grinds his rump with a corkscrew.
- There is a brief moment on the cover of Elmer's comic book when Porky's mouth is opened and closed.
- When the cat scratches the dog, he has a white chest, but when he shot himself in the head, it is black.
Notes[]
- This is the only Elmer short from 1943 to remain under copyright; the others, "To Duck .... or Not to Duck" and "A Corny Concerto", are in the public domain.
- Despite this, it showed up on several public domain cartoon collections from the 1980s and 1990s.
- The surviving drawing of the original rings date the film MCMXLIV (1944), though the film came out in late 1943.
- This cartoon marks the debut of A. Flea.
- Throughout the film, Elmer is reading a Bugs Bunny/Porky Pig comic book.
- A. Flea's repeated song was covered by Green Day, with drummer Tre Cool singing the song which contains some slight lyric changes.
- The voice of A. Flea is uncredited and was provided by Sara Berner, except for the character screaming "T-Bone!" which was done by Mel Blanc. Blanc also performs the voice of the dog and cat. As usual, Arthur Q. Bryan is the voice of Elmer.
- After the flea's pile of dynamite goes off, the dog scampers around the room on his hindquarters, barking in pain, until he stops sharply in mid-run, looks at the audience and says, "Hey, I'd better cut this out, I may get to like it!", pants rapidly, then resumes. This gag was deliberately written to see if it would be removed by the Hays Office. It was ultimately not edited from the cartoon.
- A. Flea would make another appearance in the 1947 short "A Horse Fly Fleas" directed by Robert McKimson, in which the "A" in the flea's name is revealed to stand for "Anthony".
- In the 1995 Turner print, Elmer's shirt appeared greenish, making him more closely resemble how he looked in the 1930s. The restored version on DVD shows that the shirt was originally blue.
- Also regarding the 1995 Turner print, a short but slightly noticeable splice occurs during the opening titles after the WB shield zooms in.
- On a Cartoon Festivals VHS, this cartoon has the 1939-1940 Merrie Melodies opening music playing over the 1947-1948 WB opening shield and Blue Ribbon titles plastered over the original opening Color Rings, like the tape series' a.a.p print of "Daffy Doodles".
- According to Jerry Beck, the song "Food around the Corner" was written by Bob Clampett himself.
Gallery[]
.jpg "46434254 313671262554414 1075703696341336064 n (3).jpg (186 KB)")
