The Foghorn Leghorn
| The Foghorn Leghorn | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Foghorn Leghorn/Henery Hawk/Barnyard Dawg) series | |
 Title card of The Foghorn Leghorn. | |
| Directed by | Robert McKimson |
| Produced by | Edward Selzer (uncr.) |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by |
Charles McKimson Manny Gould Phil DeLara John Carey Pete Burness Fred Abranz (uncr.)[1] |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 9, 1948[2] |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:00 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Crowing Pains |
| Followed by | Henhouse Henery |
The Foghorn Leghorn is a Henery Hawk/Foghorn Leghorn animated short film from Warner Bros. released in 1948 and directed by Robert McKimson.[2] Foghorn has to convince an unbelieving Henery Hawk that he really is a "chicken. Rooster, that is."
Plot
Henery Hawk is talking with his father about wanting to get a chicken, but the father dissuades him, as he would get in the way. Notably, Henery's father lies about what a chicken looks like, leaving Henery in the dark as to what a chicken really is.
Henery's father raids a chicken coop and walks out with a couple of chickens, but is stopped by Foghorn, who doesn't let the elder chickenhawk make off with the traumatized chickens and get a word in edgewise before deliberately literally bumping him in the stomach and kicking him out. (Foghorn uses this technique against a cat several times, two years later in A Fractured Leghorn, because the cat wants the same worm as Foghorn.) When Henery asks his dad if that was a chicken, the father claims Foghorn isn't a chicken but a "loud-mouthed shnook" (walking away with a yellow stripe down his back, signifying that he is a coward due to Foghorn's guarding of the chickens). Henery goes over to Barnyard Dawg's house, and knocks the dog out with a hammer. Foghorn stops them and asks Henery what he thinks Foghorn is — to which Henery replies that Foghorn is a "loud-mouthed shnook." Foghorn isn't helped when the dog wakes up and kicks him, calling him a "shnook."
Foghorn continues to try and convince Henery that "I'm a chicken. Rooster, that is." He tries to crow at "sun-up" (pulling up a cardboard cutout of the sun and crowing), but that does not work. Henery exits before Foghorn can even finish his demonstration, leaving only two signs in his absence. The first read "Shnook!" and the second said "Loud Mouth'd That Is!". When Henery pushes along a trunk, Foghorn again tries to straighten Henery out, but his emphasising by hitting the trunk winds up hitting the Barnyard Dawg, who chases Foghorn up a ladder and into a watermelon, after which Foghorn mutters "Some days it don't pay to get outta bed!".
When Henery throws a stick of dynamite into the Barnyard Dawg's house, Foghorn tries to stop the explosion, but the dog slams Foghorn (thinking he was responsible) to the ground several times and finally calls him a "good-for-nothing chicken," which is enough for Henery — he knocks Foghorn down with a shovel and starts dragging him away. Although Foghorn now calls himself a "loudmouthed shnook," Henery says, "Chicken or shnook, in our oven he'll look good!"
Availability
- This cartoon is available on the The Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 DVD box set (on disc four), uncensored, uncut, and with the original title card and credits restored. It is also in the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Blu-ray and DVD (on disc one).