A Ham in a Role

A Ham in a Role is a 1949 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short starring the Goofy Gophers along with an unnamed dog who is based on stage/film actor John Barrymore.[2] The cartoon was planned by Arthur Davis, but was finished and directed by Robert McKimson. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 31, 1949,[3][4] but some sources list the release date as December 13, 1949.[5] The cartoon draws heavily from the works of William Shakespeare, with its gags relying on literal interpretations of lines from Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Richard III, and Romeo and Juliet.

A Ham in a Role
Directed byArthur Davis (planned, uncredited)[1]
Robert McKimson (finished)
Produced byEdward Selzer (uncredited)
Story bySid Marcus
StarringMel Blanc
Stan Freberg (uncredited)
Music byCarl Stalling
Animation byCharles McKimson
Phil DeLara
J.C. Meléndez
Emery Hawkins
Pete Burness (uncredited)[1]
Layouts byCornett Wood
Backgrounds byRichard H. Thomas
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
December 31, 1949
Running time
6 minutes 47 seconds
LanguageEnglish

A Ham in a Role was the last cartoon in the Golden Age of American Animation to star the dog that had opposed the Gophers in their first two appearances. (The dog was recycled for a single short in the 1990s in the World Premiere Toons series).

Plot

An anthropomorphic dog is tired of appearing in cartoons and goes home to study the works of Shakespeare. Upon arriving back home, the dog finds that his home has been invaded by gophers. Unfazed, the dog then begins reading Hamlet. Upon discovering the Goofy Gophers sleeping in the book, he throws the book out the window.

The Goofy Gophers then decide to get back at the dog by literally interpreting lines from Shakespeare's works, including "lending him ears", by rolling a curtain up to annoy him, tormenting him with flames (to his foot), dousing him with "the joy of life" (by dumping a tub of water into the dog), dumping limburger cheese as the dog utters the "that which we call a rose by any other name" line while holding a rose, imitating the exhumed Yorick in a dance (making the dog appear like a Shakespearean coward), using magnets on the floor and ceiling to toss and carry the dog around the room (in armor), with the coup de grâce coming about when the Gophers use a horse to kick the dog out of his house, after he says "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" and back to the studio, where the dog decides to finish what he started.

Notes

This cartoon was originally issued as a Looney Tunes cartoon with the Looney Tunes music. When it was re-issued in 1959, the cartoon was re-issued with Merrie Melodies credits, but retained the Looney Tunes music.

Arthur Davis was originally slated to direct the short, however the short was left unfinished due to the dissolving of his unit during the shorts production (voice recording took place in November 1947, the same time Davis’ unit was in the process of being dissolved). Bob McKimson was able to finish the short by 1949, as well as inheriting two of Davis’ animators, Bill Meléndez and Emery Hawkins.

Reception

Artist and writer Lia Abbate writes, "A Ham in a Role certainly wins a place among the best of them for the sheer amount of highbrow entertainment and lowbrow slapstick it packs into its short length, and the brilliant way in which these opposing dynamics match up. In the cartoon's standard running time of six minutes, we are treated to a greatest hits of William Shakespeare with no less than ten of his best quotations. And for each spate of speechifying, there is an equal moment — more, really — of inspired physical gags... You don't have to know a word of Shakespeare to enjoy all this great slapstick. Nevertheless, if you do, you'll be delighted to find that A Ham in a Role truly is an appreciation of what we Shakespeare lovers cherish the most: his words."[6]

References to Shakespeare

(By Order of Appearance and Character Role)

Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1 (Hamlet)

Julius Caesar Act 3, Scene 2 (Marc Antony)

Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5 (Ghost)

Romeo and Juliet Act 2, Scene 2 (Juliet)

Hamlet Act 5, Scene 1 (Hamlet, about Yorick)

Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5 (Hamlet, to Ghost)

Julius Caesar Act 2, Scene 2 (Julius Caesar)

Richard III Act 5, Scene 3 (Last lines of the scene of which Richard is preparing his soldiers for battle.)

Richard III Act 5, Scene 4 (Catesby and Richard III)

Romeo and Juliet Act 2, Scene 2 (Juliet)

Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1 (Hamlet, with a comedic twist)

Availability

References
  1. http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/robert-mckimsons-a-ham-in-a-role/
  2. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  4. Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice And Magic: A History Of American Animated Cartoons (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Plume. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
  5. Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0805008890.
  6. Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.
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