Unnatural History (film)
Encyclopedia
Unnatural History is a 1959 Merrie Melodies
cartoon directed by Abe Levitow
, with a story by Mike Maltese. The cartoon is made up of blackout gags
with no real story tying them together, similar to many cartoons directed by Tex Avery
.
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 directed by Abe Levitow
Abe Levitow
Abraham "Abe" Levitow was an American animator who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ....
, with a story by Mike Maltese. The cartoon is made up of blackout gags
Blackout gag
A blackout gag is a term mainly used in broad, rapid-fire, slapstick comedy to describe a manner in which a gag or joke is executed. The term is derived from burlesque and vaudeville, when the lights were quickly turned off after the punchline of a joke to accentuate it and/or allow for audience...
with no real story tying them together, similar to many cartoons directed by Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
.
Plot
Professor Beest Lee (a pun on "beastly") narrates over clips of animals and their quirky behavior. Scenes include:- Kissing porcupinesPorcupinePorcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
- A rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
sent into space and returning with an alien wife and kids. - An orangutanOrangutanOrangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
that saws a hole in the ceiling of his cage to pull down a fridge full of food - A beaverBeaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
literally "damming" (cursing) a river - A man who proclaims to an entertainment agent his dog can talk whereas all the dog's answers are "ruff", particularly for the answers to the top of a house (roof), the owner's name (Ralph) and the greatest baseball player (Ruth). When the agent throws them out, the dog picks himself up, dusts himself off, and declares to his owner: "Maybe I should've said DiMaggio?"
- A groundhogGroundhogThe groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
who uses advanced technology to predict the weather - A mouse that scares an elephant but is then scared by a tiny elephant (in a throwback to Punch TrunkPunch TrunkPunch Trunk is a 1953 Looney Tunes cartoon written by Mike Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. It is a one-shot cartoon about a miniature elephant who inadvertently terrorizes a city.-Summary:The short begins with a narrator who introduces a 5 inch tall elephant...
) - A hen that lays cube-shaped eggs, to the chagrin of another hen ("Showoff!")
- A dog patiently waiting on the front porch for his master that hasn't been home in three years, then browbeats him when he finally returns at the cartoon's end (the master turning out to be Beest Lee himself).
- The classic "trained pigeons" gag (used previously in Curtain RazorCurtain RazorCurtain Razor is a 1949 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng and starring Porky Pig. It is notable as a showcase of the voice talent of Mel Blanc.- Plot :...
and Show Biz BugsShow Biz BugsShow Biz Bugs is a Warner Bros. animated short originally released to theaters on November 2, 1957. It is billed as a Looney Tunes cartoon and stars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as its main characters...
) in which the trainer's pigeons, when released from their cage, fly past the table of minature obstacles and out the window. - A hospital room with a dog who, underneath his bandaged leg, has a cat latched on and won't let go
- A chameleon that can blend into different unicolor screens but cannot bring himself to attempt a multi-color plaid screen ("I can't do it!! I CAN'T do it!!!")