An Itch in Time

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An Itch in Time

Directed By: Robert Clampett Produced By: Leon Schlesinger Released: December 4, 1943 Series: Merrie Melodies Story: Warren Foster Animation: Bob McKimson Layouts: Earl Klein Backgrounds: Michael Sasanoff Film Editor: Treg Brown Voiced By: Mel Blanc Sara Berner Arthur Q. Bryan Music: Carl W. Stalling Starring: Elmer Fudd A. Flea Dog Cat Preceded By: Daffy - The Commando Succeeded By: Puss n' Booty

An Itch in Time is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Bob Clampett and starring Elmer Fudd and a dog which looks very similar to, if not a modified Willoughby the Dog.

Plot

Elmer Fudd is laughing while lounging in his easy chair and reading his comic book, his dog comfortably nearby sleeping in front of the fireplace. All is peaceful until a flea comes bouncing by. (The flea is dressed in a farmer's-type outfit with a big sombrero and is carrying a satchel with the name "A. Flea" on it). He gets out his telescope and spots the dog. (We see a big shot of the dog's butt and the flea whistles in excitement, screaming "T- Bone!" He then sings, "There's food around the corner; there's food around the corner!") The flea then begins to find a suitable portion of the dog for him to eat or work on, which in turn bothers the dog and then 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!...' and we heard a door bang 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 kitchen sink. The flea soon carries the two away on a plate, singing 'There will be no more meatless Tuesdays for me...' And then a cat witnesses it and says, 'Now I've seen everything!' and commits suicide by shooting himself with a pistol.

Credits

Supervision: Robert Clampett Story: Warren Foster Animation: Bob McKimson & Rod Scribner Music: Carl W. Stalling

Notes

• This is the only Elmer cartoon from 1943 to remain under copyright; the others, "To Duck or Not to Duck" and "A Corny Concerto", are in the public domain. However, only the Blue Ribbon version is copyrighted; the original version is considered public domain.
• 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. 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!", then resumes. This gag was deliberately written to see if it would be removed by the Hays Office. Surprisingly, it remained in the cartoon unedited.
• There is one brief moment on the cover of Elmer's comic book when Porky's mouth is opened and closed.
• A. Flea would make another appearance in 1947's 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 "dubbed version" (and presumably other TV prints), Elmer's shirt appeared greenish (similar to the shirt color of his prototype Egghead). The restored version on DVD shows that the shirt was originally blue.
• 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".

Censorship

• The end 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 Cartoon Network (excluding The Bob Clampett Show broadcast), Boomerang, TNT, and TBS. While the older transfers (oldest a.a.p. prints on syndicated TV channels and then the Cartoon Festivals tape prints on the Turner networks) edit the scene out with a fake "iris-out", the 1995 dubbed version seen on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the United States uses a fake dissolve to the dubbed version outro card.

Availability

• VHS - Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Elmer Fudd Cartoon Festival Featuring "An Itch in Time"
• Laserdisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2, Side 5: Bob Clampett
• DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Four
• Blu-Ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 2

External links

• An Itch in Time at the Internet Movie Database
• An Itch in Time at the Big Cartoon DataBase

• An Itch in Time