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Bye, Bye Bluebeard is a 1949 Merrie Melodies short directed by Arthur Davis.

Title[]

The title is a play on the song "Bye Bye Blackbird", which is also played in the opening credits.

Plot[]

Porky eats large amounts of food to the rhythm of an exercise radio broadcast. A mouse sneaks up and tricks Porky into biting his own finger as a "finger sandwich" as a joke. Porky drives the mouse off; but then he is suddenly startled by a radio announcement stating that killer Bluebeard is at large. Porky locks up his house against said criminal.

The mouse then bullies Porky by disguising himself as Bluebeard and threatening Porky until he offers him some food. As Porky is busy getting the mouse a drink, he is alerted by a radio newsflash that gives Bluebeard's height as six feet eleven inches. Porky then measures the rodent as three inches, and realizes that he has been tricked. The mouse runs from Porky until Porky eventually pulls out the real Bluebeard, an anthropomorphic wolf measuring 6'11" with brown fur and a blue beard, by accident from under the table. The mouse then harasses Bluebeard as he is eating while Porky is strapped to a rocket; the mouse then harasses Bluebeard while he is trying to eat by saying he is his conscience. The harassment continues and ends with Bluebeard getting hit five times by the mouse with pies to the face in various ways. Meanwhile, Porky stops the fuse on the rocket and Bluebeard ties Porky to a chair while working on another way to kill him. The mouse watches as Porky is begging for his life while Bluebeard builds a guillotine. Despite their animosity, the mouse helps Porky. Just as Porky is about to be executed, the mouse rings a dinner bell and serves Bluebeard a platter of lit bombs. Thinking they're popovers, he quickly gobbles them down. They don't sit well in his stomach, so he rushes to the bathroom and mixes everything in the medicine cabinet into a seltzer, but before he can quaff it, they explode.

Later, Porky and the mouse are happily eating to the rhythm of an exercise radio broadcast, Porky no longer having a problem with the mouse due to him having saved his life. The mouse pats his belly, fat and happy.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

Both Nickelodeon and The WB channel airings of this cartoon delete two scenes:

  • A short shot of Bluebeard putting Porky in the guillotine (which occurs after the part where the mouse flips a coin on whether or not he should rescue Porky), due to violence and threat.
  • The scene of Bluebeard (after eating mini-bombs disguised as popovers) rushing to the medicine cabinet and mixing the contents of every bottle in a cup to drink before the explosion happens, due to concerns from both channels' censors that impressionable little kids would imitate this. Both channels edit this scene to make it look like Bluebeard ate the bombs and exploded.[3][4]

Notes[]

  • This is one of the few cartoons originally released before 1950 to be reissued in the 1959-64 period. As with most cartoons re-released in this period, the original opening and ending titles are replaced with the reissue Color Rings, but the original credits remained.
    • The original opening and ending titles were orange rings with a blue background.
  • This is one of the few cartoons that was re-released without a visible production code on the reissue opening target rings.
  • Due to budget problems at Warner Bros., this was the last cartoon Davis directed in his own unit before it dissolved shortly after production finished. Most of his crew got laid off, moved to other units in the studio, or voluntarily moved to other studios. Davis would work in Freleng's unit as an animator until he left for Hanna-Barbera in 1960. (While at Hanna-Barbera, he directed one more short as a favor for Freleng, "Quackodile Tears") After leaving Hanna-Barbera, Davis briefly moved to Walter Lantz Studios, before rejoining Freleng at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.
  • Among the contents of the medicine cabinet are all inside-jokes of the Warners crew; Frizby Miniatures (named after director Friz Freleng), Maltese Minestrone (after screenwriter Michael Maltese), Ted Pierce's Medicine (after screenwriter Tedd Pierce), Dr. Foster's Panace (after screenwriter Warren Foster), and Jones Laxitive (after director Chuck Jones).
  • This is the first short written by Sid Marcus.

Gallery[]

References[]

Porky Pig Cartoons
1935 I Haven't Got a HatGold Diggers of '49
1936 Plane DippyAlpine AnticsThe Phantom ShipBoom BoomThe Blow OutWestward WhoaFish TalesShanghaied ShipmatesPorky's PetPorky the Rain-MakerPorky's Poultry PlantPorky's Moving DayMilk and MoneyLittle Beau PorkyThe Village SmithyPorky in the North WoodsBoulevardier from the Bronx
1937 Porky the WrestlerPorky's Road RacePicador PorkyPorky's RomancePorky's Duck HuntPorky and GabbyPorky's BuildingPorky's Super ServicePorky's Badtime StoryPorky's RailroadGet Rich Quick PorkyPorky's GardenRover's RivalThe Case of the Stuttering PigPorky's Double TroublePorky's Hero Agency
1938 Porky's PoppaPorky at the CrocaderoWhat Price PorkyPorky's Phoney ExpressPorky's Five & TenPorky's Hare HuntInjun TroublePorky the FiremanPorky's PartyPorky's Spring PlantingPorky & DaffyWholly SmokePorky in WackylandPorky's Naughty NephewPorky in EgyptThe Daffy DocPorky the Gob
1939 The Lone Stranger and PorkyIt's an Ill WindPorky's Tire TroublePorky's Movie MysteryChicken JittersPorky and TeabiscuitKristopher Kolumbus Jr.Polar PalsScalp TroubleOld GloryPorky's PicnicWise QuacksPorky's HotelJeepers CreepersNaughty NeighborsPied Piper PorkyPorky the Giant KillerThe Film Fan
1940 Porky's Last StandAfrica SqueaksAli-Baba BoundPilgrim PorkySlap Happy PappyPorky's Poor FishYou Ought to Be in PicturesThe Chewin' BruinPorky's Baseball BroadcastPatient PorkyCalling Dr. PorkyPrehistoric PorkyThe Sour PussPorky's Hired HandThe Timid Toreador
1941 Porky's Snooze ReelPorky's Bear FactsPorky's PreviewPorky's AntA Coy DecoyPorky's Prize PonyMeet John DoughboyWe, the Animals - Squeak!The Henpecked DuckNotes to YouRobinson Crusoe Jr.Porky's Midnight MatineePorky's Pooch
1942 Porky's Pastry PiratesWho's Who in the ZooPorky's CafeAny Bonds Today?My Favorite Duck
1943 Confusions of a Nutzy SpyYankee Doodle DaffyPorky Pig's FeatA Corny Concerto
1944 Tom Turk and DaffyTick Tock TuckeredSwooner CroonerDuck Soup to NutsSlightly DaffyBrother Brat
1945 Trap Happy PorkyWagon Heels
1946 Baby BottleneckDaffy DoodlesKitty KorneredThe Great Piggy Bank RobberyMouse Menace
1947 One Meat BrawlLittle Orphan Airedale
1948 Daffy Duck Slept HereNothing but the ToothThe Pest That Came to DinnerRiff Raffy DaffyScaredy Cat
1949 Awful OrphanPorky ChopsPaying the PiperDaffy Duck HuntCurtain RazorOften an OrphanDough for the Do-DoBye, Bye Bluebeard
1950 Boobs in the WoodsThe Scarlet PumpernickelAn Egg ScrambleGolden YeggsThe DuckstersDog Collared
1951 The Wearing of the GrinDrip-Along DaffyThe Prize Pest
1952 Thumb FunCracked QuackFool Coverage
1953 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
1954 Claws for AlarmMy Little Duckaroo
1955 Jumpin' JupiterDime to Retire
1956 Rocket SquadDeduce, You Say
1957 Boston Quackie
1958 Robin Hood Daffy
1959 China Jones
1961 Daffy's Inn Trouble
1965 Corn on the Cop
1966 Mucho Locos
1980 Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
1996 Superior Duck
2004 My Generation G...G... Gap
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