Thugs with Dirty Mugs

Thugs with Dirty Mugs is a 1939 Warner Bros. cartoon in the "Merrie Melodies" series.

ynopsis

Its subject matter (movie gangsters) is a parody of Warner's famous cycle of crime films starring such actors as James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, and Edward G. Robinson. The lead character here is in fact a caricature of the last named, and the title derives from the studio's own 1938 acclaimed feature film, "Angels with Dirty Faces", which starred the first two. It is directed by Tex Avery, and, similar to his later MGM crime/detective-oriented cartoon, "Who Killed Who?", the ostensible plot is secondary to a fast and furious series of gags. Written by Jack Miller. Music by Carl W. Stalling. In the 1950s, this was re-released as a "Blue Ribbon" short, deleting the specific production credits. However on Ebay recently, there were about 40 Tex Avery title cards for sale, many lost due to reissues, and one of them was from "Thugs with Dirty Mugs", so it does survive.

Censorship

* The WB airing of this cartoon cut the part where one of the robbers hits a bank teller (who taunts them with "I'm going to tell-ell!") during one of their heists. Also cut was the police chief yelling "Take that, you rat!" and then feeding cheese to an actual rodent.

ee also

*Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929-1939)

External links