Ghost Wanted

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Ghost Wanted

Directed By: Charles Jones Produced By: Leon Schlesinger Henry Binder (uncredited) Released: August 10, 1940 Series: Merrie Melodies Story: Dave Monahan Tedd Pierce (uncredited) Animation: Bob McKimson Ken Harris (uncredited) Rudy Larriva (uncredited) Layouts: John McGrew (uncredited) Backgrounds: Paul Julian (uncredited) Film Editor: Treg Brown (uncredited) Voiced By: Tex Avery (uncredited) Music: Carl W. Stalling Starring: Little Ghost Big Laughing Ghost Preceded By: A Wild Hare Succeeded By: Patient Porky File:Merrie Melodies - Ghost Wanted Ghost Wanted -Merrie Melodies

Ghost Wanted is a 1940 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot

In his house, a little ghost is reading a book titled How to Haunt Houses, which shows various recommended haunting positions that are usually successful for ghosts. He tries out a few of the positions by posing and then reads the Haunt Ads in the Saturday Evening Ghost (dated Saturday December 13, 1939).

He comes across a haunting job that doesn't require experience at the address of 1313 Dracula Drive that he likes. He changes from his white "suit/sheets" into a new light blue colored "suit" and white hat, and is invisible for the interim between changing "suits". Even though he can pass through closed doors like an ordinary ghost, he prefers opening them while passing through.

He arrives at the house at 1313 Dracula Drive, which is on a mountain, and tries out for the house-haunting job, but winds up getting terrorized by a bigger ghost interviewing him for the position.

The ghost terrorizes him by yelling boo and scaring him, sending him a Ghostal Telegraph that says "Boo!", and dropping a lit firecracker that resembles an M-80 that the little ghost just barely runs away from.

The bigger ghost's plans backfire on him when the fuses of the fireworks he put in his "back pocket" are ignited by the lit match he dropped and send him flying throughout the house after the little ghost and ultimately into a well somewhere outside the haunted house.

Availability

• (1992) LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 4, Side 2

Censorship

• Airings on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the United States cut a short scene of Big Ghost suggesting Little Ghost smoking cigarettes and a shot of Old Ghoul Cigarettes, although the scene where the Big Ghost smokes the cigarette and blows out a puff of smoke that reads "BOO" is left in.

Notes

• According to the ToonHeads episode "One Toon Wonders", the unnamed little ghost from this cartoon inspired the creation of the Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons by rival studio Famous Studios (formerly Fleischer Studios, at the time this cartoon was made) in 1945 , even though the Casper character was originally created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo for a 1939 children's book named The Friendly Ghost.
• The little ghost does not speak in this short, instead relying entirely on pantomime, similar to Chuck Jones' other Disney-esque characters Inki and The Two Curious Puppies.

Gallery

Title Card (1995 NTSC Dubbed Version)

The little ghost doing a haunt pose in his white suit

The little ghost leaves his house in his white hat after locking his door.

The little ghost meets the big ghost, who is invisible and is wearing a hat, at the interview and is offered an Old Ghoul brand cigarette.

The big ghost gets fireworks from a dresser filled with Scare Devices & puts them in his back pocket.

The little ghost with the lit M-80 behind him, just before running away from it

The two ghosts from this short appear on this 1998 Looney Tunes window decoration