A novice getting a hang of the boo-sics.
Ghost Wanted is a 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon by Chuck Jones.
An inexperienced little ghost takes on a job to haunt a house, but is terrorized by a larger fat ghost on his interview.
This cartoon contains examples of:
- Blowing Smoke Rings: The big ghost offers our protagonist a cigarette, and blows out smoke rings that spell "BOO".
- Captain Ersatz: The little ghost was inspired by Casper the Friendly Ghost, who made his debut a year earlier in 1939. Casper himself would eventually enter the animation realm in 1945.
- Cute Ghost Boy: The Protagonist is a little ghost resembling a very young boy. Try as he might, he isn't very scary. The interviewer makes that painfully clear.
- Fat Bastard: The larger ghost is rather a chubster and gets his kicks scaring the daylights out of the smaller ghost.
- Gloomy Gray: Fitting for the subject matter, The coloring, backgrounds and scenery in the entire short is dark and gloomy, with dark clouds littering the sky with next to no light anywhere. The only bright colors in the entire cartoon are the fireworks set by the big ghost.
- Haunted House: The protagonist lives in a gloomy and run-down farmhouse, and visits another haunted house to interview for a house-haunting job.
- Heroic Mime: While the big ghost is voiced (by Tex Avery), the protagonist doesn't speak and communicates in phantomime. Its not exactly effective when you're trying to be a scary ghost.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The fireworks the big ghost is keeping in his back pocket are lit on fire without him noticing, which blows him up, turning him into a raging fireball that chases the protagonist out of his house and sending him into the bottom of a well.
- Horrifying the Horror: Just because you are a ghost doesn't mean you can't get scared. Our hero takes a job to haunt another house and is scared off by another ghost.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: 1313 Dracula Drive where the protagonist visits for his job interview.
- Invisibility: The protagonist is completely invisible if he's not wearing his ghost "skin". He changes his white visage into a blue color before setting off for his interview.
- Intangible Man: Even though the protagonist is a ghost and can walk through doors and walls, he still prefers to use doors, and locks the door to his house.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: The little ghost decides he's not cutout for the house-haunting business and runs back to his house. Placing an "Out To Lunch" sign on his door.
- One-Shot Character: The Little Ghost's only cartoon short. Aside from an appearance in a 1998 licensed Window decoration, he isn't seen again.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Very much different. Ghosts are able to change their color by taking their...ectoplasm? like a piece of clothing and swap it for something else.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The little ghost is chased out of the house and scurries back home.
- Serious Business: Haunting houses and scaring is serious business for ghosts. They even write books and techniques on the subject, and hold job interviews for haunting houses.
- Silly Spook: The larger ghost is an obnoxious troll who puts the protagonist through the fright fest. Its more entertainment to him than anything.
- Spirit World: To the point where Ghosts run their own weekly editorials (The Saturday Evening Ghost), run "Haunt Ads" in the paper, write "how-to" books on haunting houses, and hold job interviews. The sky is dark and cloudy and the land is devoid of life with lots of fog.
- Troll: The interviewer is having too much fun terrorizing the little ghost on his "interview".
