Injun Trouble (1969 short)

Deprecated

We have moved to portable infoboxes using the new Template:Shorts

Please do not use this template anymore. It is left here for reference purposes.

Injun Trouble

Directed By: Robert McKimson Produced By: Bill L. Hendricks Released: September 20, 1969 Series: Merrie Melodies Story: Cal Howard Animation: Ted Bonnicksen Jim Davis Laverne Harding Ed Solomon Layouts: Jaime Diaz Robert Givens Backgrounds: Bob McIntosh Film Editor: Don Douglas Hal Geer Voiced By: Larry Storch Music: William Lava Starring: Cool Cat Preceded By: Bugged by a Bee Succeeded By: Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol 1/33 Injun Trouble (1969)

Injun Trouble is a 1969 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.

Title

The title is a play on the phrase "engine trouble," substituting "Injun" which is slang for "Indian" or Native American.

Plot

Cool Cat is driving to the town of Hotfoot one day, when his route happens to take him through a Indian reservation. Two scouts spot him and one of them gives chase, only to fall into a chasm when the weight of him and his horse causes the makeshift bridge to collapse (even though it had carried Cool Cat and his car without trouble). Cool Cat rescues them and continues his journey. Along the way, he encounters a man who tries to give his heavily obese daughter away, a more attractive woman that invites him for an "Indian Wrestle" (which turns out to be a fight with a man who is far larger than Cool Cat), a literal bareback rider and a Native American who uses a stenograph-like device to create smoke signals which read "COOL CAT GO HOME!"

Finally arriving in Hotfoot, Cool Cat spots two horses playing human shoes. After that, Cool Cat spots a "Topless Saloon" and heads in, but finds out that the only topless person in there is the bartender, a rather burly man. An outlaw named Gower Gulch then arrives and seemingly challenges Cool Cat to a duel, but then settles for a game of poker. Cool Cat gets a good hand with four Aces, only for Gulch to get a Royal Flush. Announcing that he is "cutting out," Cool Cat produces a pair of scissors and cuts a hole out of the background, which he then disappears into. He then reappears for a moment and ends the cartoon (and series) with the words "So cool it now, ya hear?"

Controversy

Owing to controversy over its stereotyping of Native Americans, with even the title bearing an offensive slur, and some racy jokes such as the "topless saloon", the cartoon has never been shown by United States television broadcasters (but with the exception of it airing on The Merrie Melodies Show), or released on video. While bootleg versions are available (most commonly with a time code on the print), it is one of the rarest of all Warner Bros. cartoons, owing to the relative unpopularity of cartoons from this era of the studio (unlike the "Censored Eleven," which were produced during the studio's heyday).

Notes

• It is noted for being the final cartoon in the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, ending a run which had lasted since 1930, which started with "Sinkin' in the Bathtub".
• This is the 2nd of the two only Cool Cat shorts to be directed by Robert McKimson, the first one being Bugged by a Bee, this is mostly due to the studio's closure shortly after the cartoon's release onto theaters.
• This is the final Merrie Melodies cartoon to be released during the Golden Age of American Animation, due to the studio's shutdown shortly after.
  • The previous short that was released before this cartoon, Bugged by a Bee, was the final Looney Tunes short to be released during the Golden Age of American Animation.
• The cartoon shares its name with an earlier short directed by Bob Clampett, which was filmed in black-and-white, but is not related to it.
• Warner Bros. cartoons would resume production in 1979, though they were released for television instead of theaters.

Gallery

TV Title Cards

The Merrie Melodies Show

External Links

• Matthew Hunter's DailyMotion commentary on "Injun Trouble"