The Dixie Fryer is a Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...

cartoon animated short starring Foghorn Leghorn. Released in 1960, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson

Robert McKimson

Robert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...

. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc

Mel Blanc

Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...

. The cartoon is also the second to feature the chicken hawks, "Pappy" and "Elvis," the first being the Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

 cartoon, "Backwoods Bunny

Backwoods Bunny

Backwoods Bunny is a Merrie Melodies cartoon short, released in 1959, which was written and directed by Robert McKimson. While Bugs Bunny takes a vacation in the Ozarks he is pursued by some famished buzzards named Pappy and Elvis...

," released a year earlier.

Plot

Foghorn Leghorn is seen flying south for the winter, though he is not actually flying himself but hitching a ride on a basket that is being pulled by a flock of birds. He then smells magnolia

Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....

 trees and figures that he is in the south, and hops out of the basket using an umbrella as a parachute

Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

, while also managing to bring a suitcase that contains a lounging chair and a mint julep

Mint Julep

The mint julep is a mixed alcoholic drink, or cocktail, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States.- Preparation :A mint julep is traditionally made with four ingredients: mint leaf, bourbon, sugar, and water. Traditionally, spearmint is the mint of choiceused in Southern states, and...

. In a tree, two hungry chicken hawks, "Elvis" and "Pappy", spot Foghorn Leghorn and announce that they will be having him for dinner. Following a pattern in previous Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, Foghorn soon realizes that the chicken hawks are not extending an invitation but want to eat him for dinner. Foghorn tries a series of maneuvers to evade the chicken hawks, including a pistol duel which ends up backfiring on him. Foghorn then leads his predators into a shack containing explosives and shuts the door. The chicken hawks cannot see and Foghorn steps out of the shack. Then Elvis stick his head out of the shack and asks Foghorn for a match. Foghorn obliges, the shack explodes, and the chicken hawks are blown back into their nest.

Though victorious, Foghorn isn't completely unscathed—all his tail feathers have been blown off, though he doesn't seem to notice this. He comments about getting back to enjoying his vacation, which he calls a "Southern exposure", blithely turning about to reveal his naked buttocks to the audience as the picture irises out.

Censorship

• On the syndicated Merrie Melodies show, the part where Elvis accidentally shoots Pappy in the head after Foghorn Leghorn yells, "Fire!" was replaced with a still shot of Foghorn Leghorn looking offscreen.
• On Nickelodeon's "Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon," the part where Foghorn Leghorn gets his beak shot off during the duel between Pappy and Elvis was cut, along with the part near the end where Pappy pokes Elvis in the eyes after Elvis comments that the peas in the can aren't "black-eyed" peas.
• The ABC version cuts out both of the scenes that were edited on "The Merrie Melodies Show" and "Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon".

Succession