The Dover Boys
Encyclopedia
"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 cartoon is one of a handful from WB to enter the public domain
, due to United Artists
- which had bought Associated Artists Productions
(later absorbed into WB's own television unit
) - not renewing the copyright.
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
(while loudly declaring that he will), 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.
When the Dover Boys finally arrive, they lay a few punches on the barely conscious Backslide before managing to knock each other out as Backslide collapses to the floor beneath their swinging fists. Dora is then escorted away by an odd man in an old-fashioned bathing suit who was a running gag
throughout the cartoon, appearing periodically to interrupt the story by walking up, jumping in place, and moving on to the tune of Ed Haley
's "While Strolling Through the Park One Day". He and Dora repeat these movements as they walk and hop off into the sunset.
The Boys are from Pimento University ("good ol' P.U.
") and from time to time lapse into their "alma mater
", sung to the tune of George Cooper and Henry Tucker's "Sweet Genevieve" ("Pimento U., old sweet P.U.", etc.)
studio. In addition, the short is among the earliest Schlesinger/Warner Bros. cartoons to utilize "smear" animation, where characters move with sudden bursts of speed depicted with only a frame or two of a smeared image between two extreme poses. Jones would go on to use similar animation techniques in later cartoons he directed starring Bugs Bunny
and Daffy Duck
. Stylized animation would later be made famous by the artists at startup animation studio UPA
, for which Jones moonlighted to direct the political film Hell-Bent for Election
in 1944.
According to Jones, Schlesinger and the Warner Bros.
studio executives were less than pleased when they screened The Dover Boys, and went through the process of attempting to fire him, despite the fact that the studio wanted him to abandon his Disney-like animation (this cartoon might have been seen as going too far to do so). A replacement for Jones could not be easily found, so he was kept aboard.
Although voice credits from Warner Bros. cartoons are not easy to find beyond Mel Blanc, it is assumed that John McLeish voiced the part of the narrator (he performed a similar role as the stately, unctuous narrator on several Goofy
shorts for the Disney studio). The voice of Tom Dover was performed by long-time Termite Terrace writer Tedd Pierce
, who also provided the story. Vocal harmonies were provided by The Sportsmen Quartet. Dan Backslide was a caricature of Jones' animator Ken Harris
.
and WB network
series Animaniacs
, alongside Slappy Squirrel in "Frontier Slappy", the Warners in "Magic Time" and in Wakko's Wish
. A short clip of this cartoon is featured in the opening credits of "Less Than Hero
", an episode of another Fox TV show, Futurama
. They also appeared cheering in the stands late in the mixed animation/live action movie Space Jam
.
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 produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions
Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical...
and directed by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
. It was released by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
on September 19, 1942. The cartoon is a parody of the Rover Boys
Rover Boys
The Rover Boys Series for Young Americans was a popular children's book series of the early 20th century credited to "Arthur M. Winfield", a pseudonym for Edward Stratemeyer. A total of 30 titles were published between 1899 and 1926 and the books remained in print for years forward.The original...
, 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 cartoon is one of a handful from WB to enter the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
, due to United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
- which had bought Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
(later absorbed into WB's own television unit
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
) - not renewing the copyright.
Summary
Tom, Dick and Harry
The phrase "Tom, Dick and Harry" is a placeholder for multiple unspecified people; "Tom, Dick or Harry" plays the same role for one unspecified person. The phrase most commonly occurs as "every Tom, Dick and Harry", meaning everyone, and "any Tom, Dick or Harry", meaning anyone, although Brewer...
") 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
Stock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
"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
Runabout (car)
Runabouts were a popular car body style at the beginning of the 20th Century. They were small, inexpensive, open cars. Most runabouts had just a single row of seats, providing seating for two passengers. Many also had a tonneau at the rear to provide optional seating for four or five...
(while loudly declaring that he will), 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
Damsel in distress
The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
— crying for help and pounding on the door and on Backslide — until Backslide is also crying out for help from Tom, Dick and Larry.
When the Dover Boys finally arrive, they lay a few punches on the barely conscious Backslide before managing to knock each other out as Backslide collapses to the floor beneath their swinging fists. Dora is then escorted away by an odd man in an old-fashioned bathing suit who was a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
throughout the cartoon, appearing periodically to interrupt the story by walking up, jumping in place, and moving on to the tune of Ed Haley
Ed Haley
James Edward "Ed" Haley was a blind professional American musician and composer.- Biography :Ed Haley was born in August 18851 on the Trace Fork of Big Harts Creek in Logan County, West Virginia. His father, Thomas Milton Haley, was a well-known fiddler in the Guyandotte and Big Sandy Valleys. His...
's "While Strolling Through the Park One Day". He and Dora repeat these movements as they walk and hop off into the sunset.
The Boys are from Pimento University ("good ol' P.U.
P.U.
P.U. is a stylized abbreviation that stands for the sound of disgust that one might say upon smelling something rotten. Also, when pronounced with a long "oo" it sounds like "poo", a slang term for feces, which has a disgusting smell...
") and from time to time lapse into their "alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
", sung to the tune of George Cooper and Henry Tucker's "Sweet Genevieve" ("Pimento U., old sweet P.U.", etc.)
Production notes
The Dover Boys is notable for being one of the earliest examples of stylized animation, a technique which used shape-heavy designs with minimal movement, as opposed to the type of animation done at that time by the Walt DisneyWalt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
studio. In addition, the short is among the earliest Schlesinger/Warner Bros. cartoons to utilize "smear" animation, where characters move with sudden bursts of speed depicted with only a frame or two of a smeared image between two extreme poses. Jones would go on to use similar animation techniques in later cartoons he directed starring 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...
and Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
. Stylized animation would later be made famous by the artists at startup animation studio UPA
United Productions of America
United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio of the 1940s through present day, beginning with industrial films and World War II training films. In the late 1940s, UPA produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Pictures, most notably the Mr. Magoo series. In...
, for which Jones moonlighted to direct the political film Hell-Bent for Election
Hell-Bent for Election
Hell-Bent For Election was a 1944 two-reel animated cartoon short subject. The short was one of the first major films from United Productions of America , which would go on to become the most influential animation studio of the 1950s...
in 1944.
According to Jones, Schlesinger and the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
studio executives were less than pleased when they screened The Dover Boys, and went through the process of attempting to fire him, despite the fact that the studio wanted him to abandon his Disney-like animation (this cartoon might have been seen as going too far to do so). A replacement for Jones could not be easily found, so he was kept aboard.
Although voice credits from Warner Bros. cartoons are not easy to find beyond Mel Blanc, it is assumed that John McLeish voiced the part of the narrator (he performed a similar role as the stately, unctuous narrator on several Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
shorts for the Disney studio). The voice of Tom Dover was performed by long-time Termite Terrace writer Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce , was an American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at...
, who also provided the story. Vocal harmonies were provided by The Sportsmen Quartet. Dan Backslide was a caricature of Jones' animator Ken Harris
Ken Harris
Ken Harris was an American animator who worked for several film studios. He is widely considered as one of the master animators of his time....
.
Subsequent appearances
The characters Tom, Dick and Larry would later make cameo appearances on the 1990s FoxFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and WB network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
series Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
, alongside Slappy Squirrel in "Frontier Slappy", the Warners in "Magic Time" and in Wakko's Wish
Wakko's Wish
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish, usually referred to as Wakko's Wish is a 1999 American direct-to-video animated tragicomedy film based on the Warner Bros. 1993-98 animated series, Animaniacs, and also the swan song to the series...
. A short clip of this cartoon is featured in the opening credits of "Less Than Hero
Less Than Hero
"Less Than Hero" is the fourth episode in the fourth production season of Futurama. It first aired on March 2, 2003 as the sixth episode in the fifth broadcast season. The episode was directed by Susie Dietter and written by Ron Weiner.- Plot :...
", an episode of another Fox TV show, Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
. They also appeared cheering in the stands late in the mixed animation/live action movie Space Jam
Space Jam
Aside from Jordan, a number of NBA players and coaches appeared in the film. Larry Bird portrays a friend of Jordan who joins him for a game of golf. When the Monstars steal the NBA players' talent, they invade a game between the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks, causing the Knicks' Patrick...
.