To Itch His Own is a 1958 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
Title[]
The title is a pun on the 1946 film To Each His Own.
Plot[]
Mighty Angelo is billed as "The World's Strongest Flea" by the urban circus at which he performs. However, when he decides to go on vacation, Angelo leaves the circus with a note saying, "Dear Sam, I've been working too hard so I'm going to take a rest on some nice quiet dog in the country. Yours truly, The Mighty Angelo. P.S. I'll fix the door when I get back. The M.A." He hops into the fur of a shaggy pooch sleeping on a suburban estate. When the pooch tries to scratch the flea off, Angelo stomps from within him, causing the dog to become startled, but eventually the pooch just accepts it and sleeps normally.
When a belligerent bulldog named Butcher disturbs the pooch's and Angelo's sleep by stealing the pooch's pillow, Angelo decides to fight the bulldog. The bulldog is befuddled by the unseen powerhouse that drops bricks on his head, pulls him through a knothole in a fence, and whacks him on his head and backside with a mallet. Thinking the pooch is responsible, he tries to get back by sending the pooch to the dogcatcher's truck once it passes by. In retaliation, Angelo takes a piece of plank, beats the dogcatcher in the rear and frames Butcher, hence resulting in the angered dogcatcher to take the bulldog away.
With Butcher out of the way, Angelo finally settles into the pooch, and sets up a TV satellite to watch Glassie on TV.
Television[]
- The Bugs Bunny Show: Episode 4 (1 November 1960) along with "Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z" and "Whoa, Be-Gone!"
- The Road Runner Show: Season 3, Episode 25 (19 February 1972) along with "Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner" and "Snow Business"
- Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends: Show # 65 (1990s) along with "Hare-abian Nights", "Bye, Bye Bluebeard" and a Hip Clip from "Don't Give Up the Sheep"
Availability[]
The Looney Tunes Video Show Volume 12
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- When this cartoon aired on the Latin American Turner-owned cable networks Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Tooncast, a brief shot showing a close-up of the dogcatcher's feet running to catch the unnamed dog was cut. Other airings of this short, such as in the United States and in other non-American countries, left this scene uncut.
Notes[]
- Glassie is a parody of the 1954 TV show Lassie.
- This is the debut of the character Mighty Angelo. He would not make another appearance until New Looney Tunes.
- Mighty Angelo would later co-star alongside a bulldog again in the New Looney Tunes episode "To Be the Flea, You Gotta Beat the Flea"; this time the bulldog is Marc Anthony. Coincidentally, both Mighty Angelo and Marc Anthony were originally created by Chuck Jones.
- This is the final short to be produced by Eddie Selzer.
- This was the final short on which Carl W. Stalling worked.
- Butcher the Bulldog, who previously appeared in "Mouse-Warming", returns in this short.
- The soundtrack to this cartoon, including the title card music, appears on The Carl Stalling Project-Music From Warner Bros. Cartoons 1936-1958 free of sound effects and voices.
- Footage from this short was shown in the 1980 film The Shining.
- Richard Thompson is credited as "R.L. Thompson".
Gallery[]
TV Title Cards[]
