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Rover's Rival is a 1937 Looney Tunes short directed by Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones.

Plot[]

Porky is reading a book of interesting dog tricks, and he grabs an object to go and try one with Rover. He has Rover come out of his dog house, revealing just how old Rover truly is.

Porky tries to teach Rover a few tricks, like sitting up and rolling over, though Rover has trouble hearing. A young puppy happens to see them, and he approaches to check things out. Porky tries to make Rover jump through a hoop, which he fails miserably, and the young puppy barks at him while Rover is in a daze. He insults Rover, but Porky doesn't seem to hear it and instead tries to play with Rover by using a rubber ball. Rover scolds the young puppy, and he attempts to catch the ball. But the puppy throws a giant pumpkin, causing it to land in Rover's mouth!

The puppy shows all of the tricks he can do with the ball before insulting Rover more. Porky scolds the puppy and tells him that Rover is sensitive, but the puppy doesn't seem intimidated by this and makes fun of Porky, which upsets him too. Porky then finds a trick for Rover, and he shows that all he has to do is fetch the stick. The puppy counts how long it takes Rover, then quickly dashes over to the stick before Rover can grab it.

Porky tells the puppy it is Rover's turn, but this time Rover ends up dropping his teeth on the stick!

The puppy fetches them both, and when Porky tosses it, he grabs the Puppy to make sure Rover can get it. Unfortunately, Rover accidentally grabs a stick of dynamite, mistaking it for the stick. Porky then panics upon realizing what it was, causing the puppy to fly after the stick. Rover quickly looks up the word "Dynamite" while the puppy keeps bringing the explosive stick back, apparently not knowing its a bad object. Each time Porky tosses it, the puppy throws them back at Porky until he can no longer rid of them. The puppy then asks for a match, so that he may blow up Porky.

But before they explode Porky runs away and the puppy keeps bringing the dynamite back to him. Rover finally manages to find the word Dynamite and rushes back outside to find the puppy mocking Porky. Rover grabs the dynamite and runs away with it, but the Puppy resumes trying to bring them back until Rover finally has had enough and rips them from his teeth (which the puppy picked up, yet again). He then runs in the distance to try to rid of it as the puppy attempts going after him again, but is stopped when Rover's teeth grab onto him from the branch. Rover comes back to shake Porky's hand and runs away again. Just as the explosives go off.

Porky panics as the Puppy apologizes to Rover and even calls him the best stick-fetcher there ever was, and Rover suddenly sprouts up and asks if he meant it.

Caricatures[]

  • Bert Gordon's Mad Russian character saying "Do you mean it?"

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • In the redrawn version of this cartoon that aired in Nickelodeon's compilation show, Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon, the young puppy calling Rover an "old antique" seems to have been partially muted, though it is unknown whether this was an intentional cut or if it was a sound mistake that was never fixed.[4]

Notes[]

  • This is the first Looney Tunes short to feature its current theme, "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", and feature the end card with Porky tearing through the drum to stutter "Th-th-th-that's all folks!", which would last all the way to 1946. There was also a short-lived variation with Bugs Bunny tearing through the drum, snacking on a carrot, and saying, "And dat's de end!".
  • Porky is reading “New Tricks to Teach Your Dog” by Clawed Meatty. This is a reference to Clyde Beatty, who had a four decade career as a legendary lion tamer and animal trainer.
  • The 1990s "computer colorized" television print of this short features an error. After the WB shield zooms in, The bylines "VITAPHONE" and "Presents," copyright info, and Vitaphone production number do not appear until the crossfade into the 1937 Looney Tunes title card. The HBO Max restored print does not have the WB shield zoom in, and the bylines are already on the screen. In the Porky Pig 101 DVD, which uses an interpositive, unrestored print, the first few seconds of the opening titles are cut off.

Gallery[]

References[]

Eternal Links[]

"Rover's Rival" (computer colorized) at internet archive

Porky Pig Cartoons
1935 I Haven't Got a HatGold Diggers of '49
1936 Plane DippyAlpine AnticsThe Phantom ShipBoom BoomThe Blow OutWestward WhoaFish TalesShanghaied ShipmatesPorky's PetPorky the Rain-MakerPorky's Poultry PlantPorky's Moving DayMilk and MoneyLittle Beau PorkyThe Village SmithyPorky in the North WoodsBoulevardier from the Bronx
1937 Porky the WrestlerPorky's Road RacePicador PorkyPorky's RomancePorky's Duck HuntPorky and GabbyPorky's BuildingPorky's Super ServicePorky's Badtime StoryPorky's RailroadGet Rich Quick PorkyPorky's GardenRover's RivalThe Case of the Stuttering PigPorky's Double TroublePorky's Hero Agency
1938 Porky's PoppaPorky at the CrocaderoWhat Price PorkyPorky's Phoney ExpressPorky's Five & TenPorky's Hare HuntInjun TroublePorky the FiremanPorky's PartyPorky's Spring PlantingPorky & DaffyWholly SmokePorky in WackylandPorky's Naughty NephewPorky in EgyptThe Daffy DocPorky the Gob
1939 The Lone Stranger and PorkyIt's an Ill WindPorky's Tire TroublePorky's Movie MysteryChicken JittersPorky and TeabiscuitKristopher Kolumbus Jr.Polar PalsScalp TroubleOld GloryPorky's PicnicWise QuacksPorky's HotelJeepers CreepersNaughty NeighborsPied Piper PorkyPorky the Giant KillerThe Film Fan
1940 Porky's Last StandAfrica SqueaksAli-Baba BoundPilgrim PorkySlap Happy PappyPorky's Poor FishYou Ought to Be in PicturesThe Chewin' BruinPorky's Baseball BroadcastPatient PorkyCalling Dr. PorkyPrehistoric PorkyThe Sour PussPorky's Hired HandThe Timid Toreador
1941 Porky's Snooze ReelPorky's Bear FactsPorky's PreviewPorky's AntA Coy DecoyPorky's Prize PonyMeet John DoughboyWe, the Animals - Squeak!The Henpecked DuckNotes to YouRobinson Crusoe Jr.Porky's Midnight MatineePorky's Pooch
1942 Porky's Pastry PiratesWho's Who in the ZooPorky's CafeAny Bonds Today?My Favorite Duck
1943 Confusions of a Nutzy SpyYankee Doodle DaffyPorky Pig's FeatA Corny Concerto
1944 Tom Turk and DaffyTick Tock TuckeredSwooner CroonerDuck Soup to NutsSlightly DaffyBrother Brat
1945 Trap Happy PorkyWagon Heels
1946 Baby BottleneckDaffy DoodlesKitty KorneredThe Great Piggy Bank RobberyMouse Menace
1947 One Meat BrawlLittle Orphan Airedale
1948 Daffy Duck Slept HereNothing but the ToothThe Pest That Came to DinnerRiff Raffy DaffyScaredy Cat
1949 Awful OrphanPorky ChopsPaying the PiperDaffy Duck HuntCurtain RazorOften an OrphanDough for the Do-DoBye, Bye Bluebeard
1950 Boobs in the WoodsThe Scarlet PumpernickelAn Egg ScrambleGolden YeggsThe DuckstersDog Collared
1951 The Wearing of the GrinDrip-Along DaffyThe Prize Pest
1952 Thumb FunCracked QuackFool Coverage
1953 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
1954 Claws for AlarmMy Little Duckaroo
1955 Jumpin' JupiterDime to Retire
1956 Rocket SquadDeduce, You Say
1957 Boston Quackie
1958 Robin Hood Daffy
1959 China Jones
1961 Daffy's Inn Trouble
1965 Corn on the Cop
1966 Mucho Locos
1980 Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
1996 Superior Duck
2004 My Generation G...G... Gap
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