Behind the Meat-Ball

Behind the Meat-Ball is a 1945 Looney Tunes short directed by Frank Tashlin.

Title[]

The title is a pun on the idiom "behind the eight-ball", which refers to a difficult situation where one is unlikely to escape. It also references Fido's craving for meat, which is played out in the film.

Plot[]

Fido will go to great lengths to get real meat to eat after having an unsatisfactory vegetarian diet given to him by his mistress. When Fido finally finds a real piece of meat which fell out of a meat truck, he gets in a fight over it with Rex the terrier dog and Lassie the bulldog, whom are also as equally as desperate to get meat as himself. The three dogs fight for the meat, but in the end, Rex the terrier dog ate the piece of meat. Accepting his defeat, Fido says "Well, we can dream, can't we?", knocks himself and Lassie the bulldog out with a mallet, and the two dogs continue dreaming over succulent meat.

Caricatures[]

Jerry Colonna - "Well, we can dream can't we?"

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

This was the final cartoon to use the 1941-45 opening rendition of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down".
- This was also the final cartoon to only credit certain people before the transition to expanded credits. As such, the opening themes would be shortened, but the ending rendition and drum ending still remained unchanged for another year.
- This was also the last cartoon in the Associated Artists Productions package and the last non-Bugs Bunny cartoon to have the WB shield come before the bylines "WARNER BROS. PICTURES INC.", and "Present", as well as the production code, and the copyright fade in. This is due to the transition to expanded credits. As such, the future shorts had a shortened rendition and no fade in of the bylines, as they are already present on the screen, though some Bugs Bunny shorts in the 1949-51 seasons had the fade in.
Frank Tashlin is not credited in the credits due to his departure from Warner Bros. before the short was completed. It was customary at the time to not credit people who had left the studio.
One of the dogs is a named bulldog called Lassie in the style of Hector the Bulldog.
The title card shows some meat rationing stamps, which is a reference to food stamps during World War II. The message that meat is hard to obtain references the wartime scarcity of food commodities, with meat being one of the common food items being rationed at the time. As such, posters asked people to ration their portions weekly and save them for soldiers who were currently fighting in World War II in the Pacific and in Europe; at the time of the cartoon's release, World War II was almost over.
Internet Movie Database lists Sara Berner as the voice of Fido's owner, and Mel Blanc as the voice of Fido, both uncredited. It is unknown who voiced the other two dogs, but they are possibly voiced by Blanc as well.
Bugs Bunny is mentioned by Fido in this cartoon. Fido describes his vegetarian diet (particularly the carrots) as "Bugs Bunny food".
This cartoon can be seen in the 3rd segment, "It's A Good Life," in "Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)."
This cartoon was shown in theatres with God Is My Co-Pilot during its original release.

Quotes[]

"Now wait a minute let me explain the setup, this is my steak and a little dog that I never saw before mind you, came along and took it so I chased after him and just recovered it and I'm sure that you'll appreciate my position in the-"
"Just let me explain - let me explain - just let me explain - let me explain"
"Well, we can dream can't we?"

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

LaserDisc version in English
HBO Max on Google Drive