Summer is a time for picnics, but sometimes there's rain or ants! Luckily where I'm going to be this Father's Day, there's a pavilion and picnic benches (Our Church is having their annual picnic...I won't be making anything, a little bummed about the Cavs losing).
And yet...there's many cartoons that have picnics ruined by ants (Donald Duck "Tea for Two Hundred"), critters (Gandy Goose and Sourpuss "The Chipper Chipmunk"), and who can forget Yogi Bear who takes away the Pic-a-Nic Baskets?
I'm sure there's other cartoons that have picnics that weren't tarnished by rain or ants...
Picnic? As in the Felix the Cat cartoon "April Maze?" Felix has two kittens yowling from boredom, so Felix arranges a picnic basket, and off they go. But it starts raining because the clouds are feeling malicious, so they retreat back home. Satisfied that the fun is ruined, the clouds vanish. Felix and kittens foray again for a picnic outing, only this time, two cunning thieves abscond with the goodies. And worse: upon returning home, Felix is presented with another basket, which pours forth eight new kittens, each a miniature likeness to Felix. Felix facepalms.
The ants at the picnic bit was also used in episodes of the "The Flintstones" and "Hong Kong Phooey." Also, "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kids." Slightly less memorable was the Singalong Family episode "Nothing Like A Picnic," Mom and Dad decide to go on a honeymooners' picnic, but end up taking the kids and dog as well. The kids mess up the gears, the car goes in reverse, the rain comes, and a bull sends Dad sky high while he's trying to fix the car. Finally, everything works out--almost. The humans open the picnic basket and discover the dog's eaten all the food!
In Beach Combers (Lantz 1936) Oswald's picnic basket is targeted by ducklings.
There's also Orphan's Picnic, where the orphans cause lots of trouble for Donald.
There was a Garfield and Friends cartoon that had singing ants called "The Picnic Panic"!
And the ants have this to say...
ANTS:
Oh we're the ants who ruin your dinner
We're always here to mess up any day
When we're around every camper gets thinner
'Cause if we get the chance we will take your food away
PS-The Church Picnic was okay, but it didn't last that long hence it was Fathers Day and all...
There was also "The Picnic Panic," an episode of "The Thing" in which Benji and company had their picnic interrupted by the Yancy Street Gang.
The Fox and the Crow's first short "The Fox and the Grapes" features the Crow enticing the Fox with some grapes in order to make off with the fox's picnic lunch in return for them. Although the fox does eventually manage to obtain the grapes--they turn out to be sour.
Also, there was the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy "Here Thar Be Dwarves" in which Billy wants to go on a picnic, but Mandy, Grim and Billy's mother try to keep him from doing so because last time, a Sasquatch like monster interrupted it and ran off with Billy. Billy's dad however lets Billy go because he was the Sasquatch. Billy then heads off alone on his picnic only to encounter Yogi and Boo Boo--who look and act a lot like stoners!:happy:
Also, a Barney Bear short entitled "Barney's Hungry Cousin" has Barney have a picnic in a national park--of course, a native bear keeps stealing Barney's food.
One character that held a picnic specifically so that ants would invade is DePatie-Freleng's blue aardvark from The Ant and the Aardvark series that fleshed out The Pink Panther Show. "Where there's a picnic, there's bound to be ants."
I recall in an episode of Peabody and Sherman in which they meet Hans Christian Ørsted, they actually have a picnic in order to attract a storm--which they want so Hans Christian Orsted can perform his experiment.
