Dough Ray Me-ow

Dough Ray Me-ow

Directed By: Arthur Davis Produced By: Eddie Selzer (uncredited) Released: August 14, 1948 Series: Merrie Melodies Story: Lloyd Turner Animation: Basil Davidovich Don Williams J.C. Melendez Emery Hawkins Layouts: Don Smith Backgrounds: Philip DeGuard Film Editor: Treg Brown (uncredited) Voiced By: Mel Blanc Music: Carl Stalling Starring: Louie the Parrot Heathcliff Dog Preceded By: You Were Never Duckier Succeeded By: Hot Cross Bunny

Dough Ray Me-ow is a 1948 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Arthur Davis.

Plot

Heathcliff the cat relies on fellow parrot and household pet Louie for help in everything from getting his paw out of a mousetrap to reminding him, "You forgot to breathe again, stupid!" One day, Heathcliff finds a written will and asks Louie to read it. The beleaguered parrot discovers that Heathcliff will inherit the estate. However, if something happens to him, then the parrot becomes next in line for the money. All good intentions are now down the drain as the wily parrot tries to destroy the unsuspecting cat, who's too stupid to realize it.

Availability

• (1994) LaserDisc - Guffaw and Order: Looney Tunes Fight Crime (unrestored)
• (2006) DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4, Disc 4 (restored; with optional audio commentary by Jerry Beck)
• (2012) Blu-ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 2 (same print as the Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume 4)
• (2013) DVD - Best of Warner Bros. 50 Cartoon Collection: Looney Tunes
• (2020) Streaming - HBO Max (same print as the Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume 4)

Censorship

• When this short aired on FOX's The Merrie Melodies Show and on Nickelodeon's Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon, two scenes of dangerous, imitable activity were edited:^[1]
  • Louie the parrot tricking Heathcliff into sticking electric wires in his ears by saying it's a radio, only for Heathcliff to actually get radio transmissions through his ears (while Louie does the same thing and gets electrocuted)
  • Louie then tricks Heathcliff into walking along railroad tracks with a can over his head -- and Heathcliff derailing the train and somehow surviving.

Notes

• The original closing titles are presumed to be lost, as the short's restored copy only exists with the 1957-59 Merrie Melodies closing titles.
• In 2003, Heathcliff the cat makes a cameo appearance at the end of the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
• Heathcliff was originally going to appear in the Looney Tunes Cartoons short "Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!", but was cut.^[2]

References