"I don't wanna set the world on fire, but it says a moth's attracted by a flame!"
Eatin on the Cuff (or The Moth Who Came to Supper) is a 1942 Looney Tunes oneshot cartoon, directed by Bob Clampett.
In this half-animated, half-live action short, a pianist tells the story of how a moth going to marry his honeybee sweetheart gets sidetracked by eating men's pants in a bar, then gets pursued by a spinster black widow spider trying to seduce him.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: The Black Widow Spider is in love the Moth, but the Moth has two very good reasons not to reciprocate her advances. One, he's already engaged with the Bee, and two, the Black Widow Spider is ugly as hell.
- Big Damn Heroes: The Moth's bride comes to rescue him from the Black Widow in the end.
- Break the Cutie: The Bee when she thinks the Moth stood her up on their wedding day.
- Gag Nose: The Black Widow spider has a ridiculously large nose. It ends up foiling her Veronica Lake disguise when it pops out from her hair.
- Hong Kong Dub: While the piano player in the opening and ending is played by actor Leo White, Mel Blanc dubs over his dialogue, and its pretty easy to tell due to the lip sync being off.
- Informed Attribute: The Bee praises the Moth as "[her] hero" at the end of the short, when she was the one who saved his ass.
- Medium Blending: The bulk of the film is animated, but the opening and ending are shot in live action.
- Oh, Crap!: The Moth when he realizes he's running late for the wedding.
- Old Maid: The Black Widow spider is a very unattractive spinster.
- Public Domain Animation
- Roger Rabbit Effect: The Moth briefly interacts with the piano player in the ending.
- Seductive Spider: Parodied with the Black Widow Spider; she's a middle-aged spinster with a Butterface, but she tries to seduce the moth protagonist with her Veronica Lake disguise.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: The Black Widow as Veronica Lake... until the Gag Nose pops out.
- Shout-Out:
- A caricature (without his face seen) of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson is seen early on.
- The Black Widow references the "Look, a man!" catchphrase of Cobina from The Bob Hope Show. She also disguises herself as Veronica Lake at one point. After she's defeated by the bee, she says "Confidentially, she stings!", a pun on a famous line "Confidentially, it stinks!" line from Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You.
- Slasher Smile: The Black Widow spawns a mean one when she learns moths are drawn to fire.
- Standard Snippet: The moth eats clothes in tune with the song "Yankee Doodle".
- Under Crank: Used to speed up Leo White's humiliating disposition as he runs off-stage after the moth shreds his trousers.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: The Bee fights off and stings the Black Widow for abducting her husband-to-be.
- What Does She See in Him?: At the end of the short, the piano player questions what the Bee even sees in the Moth. The Moth responds by eating his pants.
