Credits:
Supervision by - Rudolf Ising
Drawn by - Isadore Freleng, Paul Smith
Musical Score by - Frank Marsales
Summary:
Goopy the court jester
entertains the king; dispatches black knight.
Description:
The setting is a medieval
castle, where the drawbridge lowers to reveal the royal trumpeter as he
signals the arrival of the king. The portly hog of a king rides into his
castle on a donkey, who shoves the king off and smacks his majesty's bottom
with his ears. The king strolls through his castle, as his admirers shout
"Long Live the King!" "But where's the queen?" he
asks, and the question is passed down by half a dozen knights (including
a Jewish one), until a trio of dogs begin singing the title tune to the
king. During the song, an armored dog fumigates himself for fleas. The
following actions are then described in song: the Queen does some knitting
in the parlor; the princess rivets some nails into the seat of her father's
armor; the feline pages press the armor with a steamroller; the king enters
the court and reveals his herald to be pants-less; and the king sits on
his obedient throne and summons the jester. Goopy enters in full jester
regalia and starts singing about "Old King Cole", who "called
for his crooners three: Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee!". Up
pops a Rudy Vallee-in-a-box, who begins crooning "I Will Gather Stars
Out of the Blue for You". The king bonks Rudy in the head with his
scepter, then shouts "I'd rather hear Amos 'N Andy!". Goopy
obliges with an impression of the famous radio duo, then dances off down
the hall. He comes to a door marked "Ye Royal Chamber" and puts
his ear up against it. A man comes out and asks "Are ya listenin'?".
Goopy replies, "Yeah, I'm Walter Winchell!". A quartet of bottles
nearby begin to sound off, and Goopy runs into the camera shouting "Okay
Chicago!". Goopy dances on and taps on the king's spittoon and bedpan
with his feet, while elsewhere an armored mouse confronts a cat. The villain
finally enters, slamming the door on one of the heralds and busting his
trumpet. This villain's spit is so powerful that it turns one suit of
armor into a suit of bones! He spots the princess singing nearby, then
sneaks up and snatches her from behind. Goopy comes to her rescue, engaging
the villain in a swordfight. Goopy crashes into a shelf, dropping pots
and pans on him which somehow come together as a makeshift suit of armor.
The villain socks Goopy, and this time a stuffed goat head falls onto
our hero. Goopy charges into the villain, shattering his armor into dozens
of pieces, thus revealing the skinny long-underwear clad fellow underneath.
The villain gathers up the armor in his helmet, shakes it vigorously,
pours out the reconstituted suit, jumps in through the hatch and runs
off.
Notes:
- Obscure gags:
--"Amos and Andy" was an immensely popular radio program in
the 1930s.
--"Are you listening?" was a phrase used by popular radio
personality Ben Bernie. A biography of Bernie can be found at The
Jazz Age site.
--Walter Winchell was a popular gossip columnist for newspapers and
radio. "Okay Chicago" was one of the phrases associated with
him. For more on his appearances in WB cartoons, refer to his entry
in The Warner Bros. Cartoon
Companion.
--Ben Bernie and Walter Winchell were supposedly feuding in the 1930s,
which explains the references to them both in this cartoon.
[JB, JC,
WBCC]
Memorable
Scenes:
Video
Availability:
VHS: Inside
Termite Terrace, Vol. 1
Laserdisc: Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 4
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