Bars and Stripes Forever

Bars and Stripes Forever
Title card
Directed byBen Hardaway
Cal Dalton
Story byJack Miller
Produced byLeon Schlesinger
StarringMel Blanc
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation byRod Scribner
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • April 8, 1939 (1939-04-08)
Running time
7:45
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bars and Stripes Forever is a 1939 American animated comedy short film directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton.[1] It was released on April 8, 1939. It is part of the Merrie Melodies series. It is the first cartoon to credit Rod Scribner, who would become one of the studio's most prominent animators.[2][3] It is now in the public domain due to copyright owner United Artists neglecting to renew its copyright in 1968.

Plot

An isolated all-dog prison named Alcarazz is shown, where dog criminals sleep in boredom. A criminal tries to break out while the guard is distracted by a brute next to him, so the brute manipulates the guard to knock out the criminal.

Warden Paws nonchalantly monitors the inmates, including one who digs a hole in an attempt to escape, but convinces Paws that it is not his work. A criminal keeps a jailbird as company. Another criminal is dragged to what seems to be an electric chair for a death sentence, only to find out that it is merely a barber's appointment.

The criminal and the brute mop the floor, with the brute throwing a mop at another warden as an insult. He convinces the warden to knock out the criminal with threats. However, he goads the criminal to throw the ball and chain at the warden, which he fails and tries to play coy with, only to accidentally throw the ball and form a hole which he falls into. At lunch time, the brute spreads news of a revolt by mentioning its time, only for the criminal to leak it to the warden and be knocked out again. As the criminals reveal hidden firearms and start a shooting, the brute utilizes an intricate musical number to lock up the two wardens before he escapes through an open door with the other wardens' "approval", which turns out to be a trap as they had opened the exit and constructed a safehouse for the purpose of deterring escapees. The brute is forced into solitary confinement as punishment for his escape, but finds a way to frame the criminal again, only for the criminal to beat himself up in a less painful manner, as he had anticipated it after multiple failures.

Home media

This short is available on disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray set.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 85. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 77–79. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. ↑ Parten, James (April 28, 2020). "1938-39 Merrie Melodies: The People's Choice (Pt. 1)". Cartoon Research. Archived from the original on May 11, 2026. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray". www.blu-ray.com. Retrieved July 18, 2026.
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