Lost and Foundling is a 1944 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
Title[]
The title is a play on "lost and found," substituting "found" for "foundling," a term for an infant that has been abandoned by its biological parents and cared for by others.
Plot[]
Sniffles hatches an egg that he found at his home. He names the chick "Orville" and raises him as his own. Much to his shock, he discovers that it's really a mouse-eating hawk. Orville finds out as well, but upon realizing that Sniffles has raised him from egghood, Orville can't bear to bring himself to eat Sniffles, until he notices this in a book that falls right in front of him: A CERTAIN SUPERIOR HAWK DOES NOT EAT RODENTS - THIS HAWK IS EASILY IDENTIFIED BY A SMALL RED SPOT UNDER HIS RIGHT WING. Much to the relief of both Orville and Sniffles, Orville doesn't have to eat Sniffles if he has a red spot under his right wing - which is proven to be true. Sniffles continues to give Orville piggyback rides, unaware that Orville had faked the red dot under his wing using some red paint tucked in his tail feathers.
Availability[]
Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Sniffles the Mouse Cartoon Festival Featuring "Sniffles Bells the Cat"
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes: Vol. 2, Side 4: Chuck Jones
Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection, Disc 1
Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection, Disc 1
Streaming[]
Notes[]
- According to Cartoon Research, the original titles had the song "Time Waits for No One" playing over them.[3]
- Sniffles has a closet labelled "Sniffles Baby Clothes" full of diapers, highlighting the character's childlike nature.
- The labels of two bottles read GRIB and BROEK respectively, the surname of Robert Gribbroek.
- During the montages of Sniffles giving Orville piggyback rides, Orville references The Lone Ranger's quote "Hi-Yo Silver!", complete with "William Tell Overture" (appropriate for a Western theme) playing over these montages.
- There are a total of five of these montages; with two of them taking place in spring, and one each taking place in summer, fall and winter.
- This is the only cartoon in The Golden Age of Animation where Sniffles wears a blue shirt instead of his red or green shirts, although he retains his red scarf.
- While the short was produced by Eddie Selzer, the lobby card bills this short as a Leon Schlesinger production.
- While the short was re-released into the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies program, the original ending titles with the rare byline "Produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons Inc." were kept.
- Along with "Trap Happy Porky", this is one of two re-releases in the Blue Ribbon program to have the 1945-55 rendition of Merrily We Roll Along play alongside the title of the short.
Gallery[]
References[]