Wagon Heels | |
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Directed by | Robert Clampett |
Written by | Warren Foster Michael Sasanoff |
Starring | Mel Blanc |
Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
Animation by | Rod Scribner Manny Gould I. Ellis C. Melendez |
Layouts by | Thomas McKimson |
Backgrounds by | Michael Sasanoff |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 7:11 |
Language | English |
Wagon Heels is a 1945 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Bob Clampett.[1] The short was released on July 28, 1945, and stars Porky Pig.[2]
Porky Pig leads a wagon train to California, keeping an eye out for the formidable Native American, Injun Joe. Along the way, they encounter the goofy hillbilly Sloppy Moe, who has a secret he will not reveal until the crucial moment. When Sloppy finally reveals that Injun Joe is ticklish, chaos ensues as Moe tickles the chief, causing him to fall off a cliff and stretch the U.S. from coast to coast. The narrator ends the tale by celebrating Porky and Sloppy Moe as heroes, with Moe tickling a giggling Porky.
The cartoon is a color remake of the Looney Tunes black-and-white short Injun Trouble (1938). All voices except narration and Sloppy Moe are performed by Mel Blanc, whose screen credit is his first in a non-Bugs Bunny cartoon. In addition to the usual Native American stereotype music, Carl Stalling's underscore frequently plays segments of the American Civil War tune, "Kingdom Coming", even converting it to a minor key in one segment. "Oh! Susanna" is also heard repeatedly in the underscore.
The cartoon has been criticized for its stereotypical and insensitive depictions of Native Americans.[3][4]
The film is set during the California Gold Rush, and depicts Porky Pig leading a wagon train to California. He is opposed by Injun Joe, a Native American chief who has claimed any area to the west of the Eastern Seaboard as his own.
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