Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The 50 Greatest Cartoons: 49


The Dover Boys at Pimento University" or "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall" (better known as simply The Dover Boys) is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released by Warner Bros. on September 19, 1942. The cartoon is a parody of the Rover Boys, a popular juvenile fiction book series of the early 20th century. Jones would later remark that The Dover Boys was the first cartoon of his he found to be funny. In 1994, the cartoon was voted #49 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.






The three Dover Boys, Tom, Dick and Larry (a play on both the Rover Boys' names "Tom, Sam and Dick" and the generic reference "Tom, Dick and Harry") are having a day out with "their" fiancée, "Dainty" Dora Standpipe (a pun on the name of the eldest Rover's fiancée "Dora Stanhope").

The Boys are called upon to rescue Dora when she is kidnapped by stock villain "The Nefarious" Dan Backslide, a pun on the name of the Rover Boys series villain "Dan Baxter". The "former sneak of Roquefort Hall," his feelings for Dora are summed up in his comment, "How I love her! ... father's money!" Backslide steals a conveniently placed, abandoned runabout, kidnaps an oblivious Dora while she and the Dover Boys are playing hide-and-seek, takes Dora to a remote mountain cabin, but discovers that despite appearances, Dora is anything but "dainty"; she proceeds to give him quite a beating while still acting the damsel in distress — crying for help and pounding on the door and on Backslide — until Backslide is also crying out for help from Tom, Dick and Larry.




Enjoy :)

18 comments:

  1. Oh, I've seen this before! I really enjoyed it though, if I remember rightly.

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  2. Can you post more than one a day :)

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  3. @lex guess i could :P do you mean on cartoons or posts :D?

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  4. Never seen this one before, but might I just add, I love the way old cartoons used to start with the credits and music! Nice post :D

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  5. Never seen this cartoon before. Or heard of it.

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  6. Don't think I've ever seen these. They look good though.

    Don't forget to check and support often your local information hot-spot lifeformation.blogspot.com!

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  7. I had never stumbled upon this cartoon to the best of my memory, however it was pretty darn funny. Thanks for posting it.

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  8. It sounds very faintly familiar, and I recognize it a little, but I can't remember it. :/

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  9. i feel slightly embarrassed that i've never heard of this before.

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