Fox-Terror is a 1957 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
Title[]
The title is a play on "fox terrier," a breed of dog.
Plot[]
A Fox scampers away from the henhouse when a young rooster rings the alarm bell. Barnyard Dawg arrives, but sees no fox, so he thinks the rooster just rang the bell because he wanted a drink of water. When he sees Foghorn Leghorn leave to go fishing, the fox disguises himself and suggests that he go hunting instead, and bring the dog with him. Foggy likes this idea, so he grabs a shotgun and ties a rope around Dawg's neck and drags him away. The fox heads for the henhouse, but the young rooster rings the alarm again. Dawg runs back, dragging Foghorn behind him, but again the fox scampers away. Dawg only sees the rooster ringing the bell and presumes he's just thirsty again.
The fox pretends to be a quiz show host and urges Foghorn to press a buzzer. However, the button is wired to a firecracker in Dawg's mouth. When it blows, the dog retaliates and presses the button again to detonate a cracker in the bird's beak. Meanwhile, the fox returns to the henhouse. The young rooster pulls the alarm, and the fox flees. Dawg arrives and, seeing no fox, dumps a whole bucket of water on the little rooster.
The fox unpacks a "Magic Folding Box" and lures Dawg into it with a bone. When the dog is inside, the fox folds the box into a tiny package, then disguises himself as a swami and sells it as a "lucky charm" to Foghorn, who is on his way to go fishing again. Foghorn throws it over his shoulder for luck, and it lands in the well. Dawg emerges battered and bruised, and he folds Foghorn into a tiny package and throws him into the well.
The young rooster pull the alarm again. Having had enough, Dawg plans to hit him with a mallet. However, the young rooster beat him to it, as he hits Dawg in the head as payback for dumping water on him earlier and for not listening to his warnings.
Dawg and Foghorn realize the fox has been tricking them with disguises, so they give him a taste of his own medicine. Foghorn and Dawg disguise themselves as horseback riders to outsmart the fox, ending with the fox getting blasted by pistols from the two and immediately running off. "I say we fixed that fox, and that's only the beginning." However, the young rooster doesn't think so, and flips the racing sheet to reveal "The End".
Censorship[]
The now-defunct WB channel edited out the scene when Foghorn and the barnyard dog spinning and shooting their respective duel guns at the fox.[3]
Availability[]
Looney Tunes Super Stars' Foghorn Leghorn & Friends: Barnyard Bigmouth (restored)
Looney Tunes Super Stars 3-Pack, Disc 2
Looney Tunes Super Stars Family Multi-Feature, Disc 2
- (2022) Blu-ray
Mostly Cinemascope and Technicolor (with original opening rings)
Streaming[]
Notes[]
- This was the last cartoon to be reissued in the Blue Ribbon program to lose its original rings. Unlike most reissues during this time, the original ending title was kept.
- This is one of the few Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg cartoons where both win at the end, along with "The High and the Flighty" and "Of Rice and Hen".
- "Fox-Terror" is one of the three Robert McKimson-directed shorts to have Michael Maltese as writer. It is one of the only two Foghorn Leghorn cartoons which Maltese ever wrote, the other one being "Weasel While You Work".
- On the Boomerang app, this cartoon's title doesn't have the hyphen, it uses a space instead.
- The cartoon's original opening rings were found on a 35mm print by Thunderbean, and was released on the Mostly Cinemascope and Technicolor Blu Ray.
- Despite this, the short was restored with the blue ribbon titles.
Gallery[]
References[]
| Foghorn Leghorn Cartoons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Walky Talky Hawky | |||
| 1947 | Crowing Pains | |||
| 1948 | The Foghorn Leghorn | |||
| 1949 | Henhouse Henery | |||
| 1950 | The Leghorn Blows at Midnight • A Fractured Leghorn | |||
| 1951 | Leghorn Swoggled • Lovelorn Leghorn | |||
| 1952 | Sock a Doodle Do • The EGGcited Rooster | |||
| 1953 | Plop Goes the Weasel! • Of Rice and Hen | |||
| 1954 | Little Boy Boo | |||
| 1955 | Feather Dusted • All Fowled Up | |||
| 1956 | Weasel Stop • The High and the Flighty • Raw! Raw! Rooster! | |||
| 1957 | Fox-Terror | |||
| 1958 | Feather Bluster • Weasel While You Work | |||
| 1959 | A Broken Leghorn | |||
| 1960 | Crockett-Doodle-Do • The Dixie Fryer | |||
| 1961 | Strangled Eggs | |||
| 1962 | The Slick Chick • Mother Was a Rooster | |||
| 1963 | Banty Raids | |||
| 1964 | False Hare | |||
| 1980 | The Yolks on You | |||
| 1996 | Superior Duck | |||
| 1997 | Pullet Surprise | |||
| 2004 | Cock-a-Doodle Duel | |||