Farm Frolics (1941)

'Farm Frolics is a 1941 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon supervised by Bob Clampett. It was released on May 10, 1941. Voice Cast Mel Blanc as Farm Dog/Rosebud/Piggy Robert C. Bruce as the Narrator Public Domain Status & Preservation The cartoon fell into the public domain in 1970 in the United States when United Artists, the copyright owners to the Associated Artists Productions package, failed to renew the copyright in time. As such, unrestored copies can be seen on various public domain VHS and DVD sets. The public domain short was remastered on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc 3. 2022 Original Title Preservation On October 3, 2022, a YouTube user named Jerico Dvorak uploaded the original titles and opening and closing bullet-style sequences, as well as the scene with the grasshopper excised from the Blue Ribbon re-release. The video was made private on YouTube a few hours later. It was reuploaded one day later with approval from the Library of Congress. A YouTube user named Clem uploaded the original nitrate print a few days later. Differences from the Golden Collection Remaster In the original opening sequence, a hand wipes away the title card before drawing the farm landscape. The opening song is also sung to completion where it was truncated for the Blue Ribbon re-release. The sequence in which the grasshopper chews a tobacco-like substance and leans back to spit I out, only to say that the Hay's Office won't allow him to do so, was cut for the Blue Ribbon re-release. When the narrator is about to introduce the piglets for the first time, his quote "Here is a group of cute little piggies here in the mud" is abruptly cut at "mud". In addition, when the camera pan towards them, the scene abruptly cuts as well. This persists in the Golden Collection print, and likely was an editing error when the cartoon was originally released, as the Library of Congress print with the original titles has this error as well. Reception The Film Daily called the cartoon "good", saying, "There is no story to this Merrie Melodies but the comments of the animals as the audience is taken around the farm are highly amusing." Notes The vocal group heard at the beginning is the Sportsmen Quartet, who often harmonized in Warner Bros. cartoons of the period, later becoming the resident singing group on Jack Benny's radio and TV shows. It is also on 50 Classic Cartoons Volume 3. The cartoon was re-released issued into the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies program on November 15, 1949. Directed by Robert Clampett Story by Warren Foster Produced by Leon Schlesinger Music by Carl W. Stalling Animation by John Carey I. Ellis Color process Technicolor Production company Leon Schlesinger Studios Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Release date May 10, 1941 Running time 8:02 (original print) 7:21 (Blue Ribbon reissue) Language English' Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_Frolics