Screwball Football is a 1939 Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery.
Plot[]
A series of gags hung on a football game includes a baby that is licking an ice cream cone; the man next to the baby wants to have some of the cone. There are the warmups (a kicker punts sitting in a chair; three other kickers break into a chorus line). The coin flip and the players that pile right up. The kickoff: the ball stays put and the man that has it in his hand is kicked. A re-kick: one player is used like a golf club by another. Some razzle-dazzle on the scrimmage line. The QB fades (literally) for another pass. Half-time: a quick show by the marching band; the team beats up their coach; a cheerleader rallies his team's supporters: one man. Second half: A touchdown run is interrupted because of a commercial; when completed, a cheerleader literally yells their head off. After a quick montage of action, the final gun comes from the ice-cream tot, who has finally fended off the neighbor.
Availability[]
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 3, Side 7
Censorship[]
- Cartoon Network's version cuts the part after the announcer says "And there's the gun that ends the half!" where a dim-witted referee nearly shoots himself in the head with the starter pistol he has in his hand. This edited version also played on Boomerang.[1]
- Some syndicated TV versions (though, surprisingly, neither Cartoon Network nor Boomerang) cut the final joke where a baby guns down the man sitting next to him who has been licking his ice cream cone throughout the short.[1]
Gallery[]
References[]