The Gay Anties
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc.
- Distributor
- Warner Bros.
Synopsis
The black ants steal the picnic of a young couple in the 1890s. Other ant-stealing-food gags ensue.
Characters
Ants, Couple
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Isadore Freleng (as I. Freleng)
Producing
- Producer
- Edward Selzer
Writing
- Writer
- Tedd Pierce, Michael Maltese
Animation
- Animator
- Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy, Manuel Perez
Voices
- Voice
- Mel Blanc
Music
- Music
- Carl Stalling
Production notes
In September of 1943, beginning with A Feud There Was, Warner Bros. began re-releasing select color cartoons in their Blue Ribbon program. Typically the Blue Ribbon reissues received new opening sequences with Blue Ribbon title cards and standardized music. Cartoon production credits were also removed. Between ten and fifteen cartoons were released in any given year, with cartoons coming from as far back as 1935. The reissues continued until the close of the studio in the 1960's.
All Blue Ribbon cartoons were released as "Merrie Melodie" cartoons regardless of the original series. The first "Looney Tunes" short to be included in the Blue Ribbon series was The Hep Cat, which was added in 1949. The only current prints of many of these cartoons are the Blue Ribbon releases, although restoration of these cartoons with original elements and titles is always ongoing.
All Blue Ribbon cartoons were released as "Merrie Melodie" cartoons regardless of the original series. The first "Looney Tunes" short to be included in the Blue Ribbon series was The Hep Cat, which was added in 1949. The only current prints of many of these cartoons are the Blue Ribbon releases, although restoration of these cartoons with original elements and titles is always ongoing.
Pictures
Reviews
The Gay Anties
One of Freleng's superlative musical cartoons, it's also his most unheralded. Why?? The ants may be devilish, but there's a real work ethic behind their activities.
DAZZLINGLY INVENTIVE gags, dreamed up by Friz himself (despite the official credits, Mike Maltese & Tedd Pierce didn't write this cartoon at all--according to Leonard Maltin's "Of Mice & Magic," Freleng's musical cartoons were planned entirely by the director himself). Gorgeous animation from Gerry Chiniquy (the sandwich construction sequences; the lady ants' parasol dance; and the ants' triumphant gallop back into their hole), and also by Virgil Ross (the climactic "Time Waits For No One" number).
The Gay Anties
Another of Freleng's superlative musical cartoons, it's also the most unheralded by critics & buffs. Why?? The ants may be devilish, but there's a real work ethic behind their activities. Inventive gags, dreamed up by Friz himself (Pierce & Maltese really didn't write it at all--according to Leonard Maltin, Freleng said, "You couldn't work with a writer [on these musical cartoons] unless he understood the music as well as you did"). Gorgeous animation, too, from Gerry Chiniquy (the lady ants' parasol dance, the sandwich construction sequences, & the ants' triumphant gallop back into their hole) and equally fine animation by Virgil Ross (the climactic "Time Waits for No One" number).