♪ She'll be be coming around the mountain when she comes... ♪
A 1939 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Tex Avery with frequent cameos by Egghead (the prototype Elmer Fudd)
Wackiness ensues as a local theater presents an amateur night talent show.
The cartoon is in the Public Domain.
Tropes used in this short:
- Annoying Laugh: The Hippo in the audience.
- Black Comedy: Swami River's act is to put an audience member inside a basket and then run swords through it. Swami then asks the guy inside to arise, but he doesn't. Swami peeks inside... and goes "tsk, tsk", then hands the basket to an usher and tells him to give the victim his money back.
- Creator Cameo: Tex Avery provides the voice of the laughing hippo, and this isn't the first time he's voiced a character with that laugh.
- Furry Confusion: There's a dog act and at the same time there are multiple anthropomorphic dogs in the short, including the host.
- Gainax Ending: Egghead wins the talent show, but only because the audience now consists of nothing but Egghead clones.
- The Hyena: The Hippo, even when nothing funny is happening on stage.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Everyone in this short is a Funny Animal with the exception of Egghead and Swami River the Hindu Mystic.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The actress playing Juliet talks like Katharine Hepburn.
- One-Man Band: A Bait-and-Switch is done with the orchestra as the conductor plays all the instruments and the band conducts him with batons.
- Produce Pelting: The fox performing Hamlet gets a tomato in the face three times, with the third one pausing in mid-air when he unsuccessfully tries to avoid it.
- The host also gets hit by a tomato when introducing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Apparently, there's a Shakespeare hater in the audience.
- Punny Name: Swami River sounds like Swanee River.
- Running Gag: Egghead interrupting the show by running on stage and singing "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain" before being given the hook.
- Stage Magician: Swami River, though his magic act does not go as planned.
- Standard Snippet: "Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?" plays during the dog act.
- The Stoic: The host talks in a flat, dull voice throughout and only shows emotion at the very end when he sees the audience is filled with Egghead clones.
- Talking Animal: The dog in the dog act when told to speak.
- Trap Door: Most of the contestants fall through one when their acts flop.
- Tuckerization: The theater's show is presented by Warmer Bros.
- Warm-Hearted Walrus: The dog trainer is a friendly looking walrus.
- Vocal Dissonance: The actress playing Juliet shares the Hippo's Annoying Laugh.
- Vaudeville Hook: Happens to Egghead three times, each time adding an additional hook.
