To Itch His Own

Title Card
To Itch His Own
Short Information
Series:	Merrie Melodies
Uncredited Voice Characterizations	Mel Blanc (Dogcatcher, TV Actor)
Uncredited Vocal Effects	Mel Blanc (Butcher, Bulldog)
Release date(s):	June 26, 1958
Preceded by	Now, Hare This
Followed by	Dog Tales

To Itch His Own is a 1958 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.

Title

The title is a pun on the 1946 film To Each His Own.

Plot

Mighty Angelo is billed as "The World's Strongest Flea" by the urban circus at which he performs. He leaves a note saying, "Dear Sam, I've been working too hard so I'm going to take a rest on some nice quiet dog in the country. Yours truly, The Mighty Angelo. P.S. I'll fix the door when I get back. The M.A." He hops into the fur of a shaggy pooch sleeping on a suburban estate.

When a belligerent bulldog disturbs the pooch's and Angelo's sleep, Angelo decides to fight the bulldog. The bulldog is befuddled by the unseen powerhouse that drops bricks on his head, pulls him through a knothole in a fence, and whacks him on his head and backside with a mallet. As soon as the local dogcatcher's truck passes by, the greedy bulldog decided to lure the dogcatcher to take him away. In retaliation, Angelo takes a piece of plank, beats the dogcatcher in the rear and frames the bulldog, hence resulting the angered dogcatcher to take the bulldog away.

With the bulldog out of the way, Angelo finally settles into the pooch, relaxing on a hammock while watching Glassie on TV.

Television

• The Bugs Bunny Show: Episode 4 (1 November 1960) along with "Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z" and "Whoa, Be-Gone!"
• The Road Runner Show: Season 3, Episode 25 (19 February 1972) along with "Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner" and "Snow Business"
• Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends: Show # 65 (1990s) along with "Hare-abian Nights", "Bye, Bye Bluebeard" and a Hip Clip from "Don't Give Up the Sheep"

Availability

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(1984) VHS
The Looney Tunes Video Show Volume 12

Streaming

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HBO Max (2020 - ) (restored)

Notes

• Glassie is a parody of the 1954 TV show Lassie.
• This is the debut of the character Mighty Angelo. However, he wouldn't make another appearance until New Looney Tunes.
  • Mighty Angelo would later co-star alongside a bulldog again in the New Looney Tunes episode "To Be the Flea, You Gotta Beat the Flea", but the bulldog is Marc Anthony. Coincidentally, both Mighty Angelo and Marc Anthony were originally created by Chuck Jones.
• This is the final short to be produced by Eddie Selzer.
• This was the final short on which Carl W. Stalling worked.
• Butcher the Bulldog, who previously appeared in "Mouse-Warming", returns in this short. Unlike his previous appearance, Butcher gets what's coming to him for being sadistic and cruel towards his victims Claude Cat and an unnamed sweet dog from his recent short.
• The soundtrack to this cartoon, including the title card music, appears on The Carl Stalling Project-Music From Warner Bros. Cartoons 1936-1958 free of sound effects and voices.
• When this cartoon aired on the Latin American Turner-owned cable networks Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Tooncast, a brief shot showing a close-up of the dogcatcher's feet running to catch the unnamed dog is cut. Other airings of this short, like in the United States and in other non-American countries, however left this short scene uncut.

Gallery

Title card (2x2 version)

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Title card (before remastering)

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Cropped screenshot of 2020 restoration

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Concept drawing by Mike Maltese

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Another concept drawing by Mike Maltese

TV Title Cards

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The Road Runner Show