Looney Tunes: A Bear For Punishment

Premiered October 20, 1951.

One morning, in the cave of the Three Bears, Papa Bear Henry (Billy Bletcher) wakes up in foul mood.  

Henry lightens up a bit when Mama Bear (Bea Benaderet) reminds him it's Father's Day and gives him a present.

In honor of the occasion, Mama and Junior Bear (Stan Freberg) prepare breakfast in bed for Henry, in spite of the fact that he hates eating breakfast in bed.  Breakfast turns into a disaster due to Junior's clumsiness.

For the next Father's Day "event," Junior offers to give Henry a shave, with a very scary looking razor.

Next up, Mama and Junior insist that Henry sit by a warm fire and read a book.  Junior prepares a pipe for Henry...

...which results in another Father's Day disaster.

Finally, Junior and his mother present a Father's Day pageant for Henry.  Junior reads a poem dedicated to his father.

Mama performs a song-and-dance number for Henry.

None of this appeals to Henry.

The show closes with a march, which culminates in Mama and Junior (forcibly) dressing Henry up as the Statue Of Liberty.

J.A. Morris says:
There's not much of a "story" to speak of in A Bear For Punishment.  It's basically a series of accidents that victimize Henry on Father's Day, when all Papa Bear wants is to be left alone.  However, when a cartoon is directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, you don't necessarily need much of a story to make it entertaining.

A Bear For Punishment is full of great site gags and excellent voice acting.  Billy Bletcher, Bea Benaderet and Stan Freeberg are perfectly cast in their roles.  Bletcher is especially great as Henry, his anger and disgust are palpable.  

Speaking of voice actors, this is one of the few classic Looney Tunes shorts that doesn't feature the voice of Mel Blanc.  It's also worth noting that this was the last Warner cartoon of the "classic" era to feature the Three Bears.

If you're curious about the title, the phrase "a bear for punishment" is an archaic variation of "a glutton for punishment."

There aren't that many movies, specials or episodes that focus on Father's Day and it's always nice to find one.  A Bear For Punishment is very funny and will be enjoyed by all fans of Looney Tunes and Chuck Jones.  Fathers who couldn't care less about Father's Day will especially enjoy it. 

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Father's Day ties

RigbyMel says: 

A Bear for Punishment is an enjoyably loony Father's Day cartoon.  

As J.A. Morris mentions above, there are some wonderful sight gags. For example,  Papa Bear appears to turn into a literal "heel" when he realizes that Junior and Mama are trying to celebrate Father's Day with him.   

Note "Kinsey Report" book with pink cover on the floor by Papa Bear's bed.  Also note that his bed appears to be part of a Model-T Ford. 

Poor Papa bear would much rather sleep in and/or read his copy of the Kinsey Report (again, a great blink and you'll miss it sight gag), but Junior and Mama have increasingly elaborate plans to celebrate the day.  The song and dance number that culminates with fireworks at the end is hilarious. 

Chuck Jones and company do a great job of contrasting Papa Bear's frustration with Junior's (and to a lesser extent Mama Bear's) steamroller-like testaments to their devotion, which makes for a very entertaining and silly animated short.   

RigbyMel's rating: 

.5


3 and a half Father's Day ties

Looney Tunes: "Gift Wrapped"

Premiered February 16, 1952.

On Christmas morning, Sylvester (Mel Blanc) wakes up and sneaks a peek at his Christmas present.  It's a rubber mouse, which doesn't satisfy him.

He hears the song "Jingle Bells" emanating from a present for Granny (Bea Benadaret).  Sylvester looks inside and sees Tweety (Blanc).

He switches the gift tags and when Granny hands him the present which now has his name on it, proceeds to swallow the bird!  Granny quickly knocks the bird out of the cat.

Sylvester tries to get Tweety several more times, always coming up empty.

Tweety points to a giant box and tells the cat it's his present.  Inside is Hector the bulldog (Blanc again), who swallows Sylvester.

Granny forces Hector to "drop him!"

It appears that Granny will spend Christmas day disciplining her pets!  Will any heavenly peace be found in the house this Christmas?

J.A. Morris says:

This short can be summed up in one sentence: It's like most other Sylvester & Tweety shorts, except it takes place at Christmas.  If you enjoy their cartoon battles, you'll like "Gift Wrapped." There's lots of great gags, involving fishing rods and pop guns.  And because it's a Warner Brothers cartoon, we get the obligatory stick of dynamite.  Sylvester tries to catch Tweety in many clever ways, my favorite is directing a toy train into his mouth!

The character Granny is usually associated with voice actress June Foray, who voiced Granny for sixty years.  However, in Gift Wrapped, she's voiced Bea Benaderet, who originated the role.

Benaderet was a veteran of many film, TV and radio programs.  She's somewhat forgotten today, but she performed on radio shows like The Jack Benny Show, Fibber McGee and Molly and The Mel Blanc Show.  Benaderet also provided the original voices for Miss Priss (Foghorn Leghorn's love interest) and Betty Rubble in the original Flintstones series.

Bea Benaderet poses with her "alter ego," Betty Rubble.

Her most prominent "live action" role was Kate Bradley in Petticoat Junction.

Gift Wrapped is available on DVD, it can be found on volume 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.  

I've been a fan of Sylvester and Tweety shorts for as long as I can remember.  Placing these characters in a Christmas setting makes them even more enjoyable!

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says: 

I remember seeing and enjoying this short when I was younger,  whether on Saturday mornings or as part of some sort of holiday programming, I am not certain.   It's still pretty darned funny and the Christmas-ness of it lends itself well to cartoon gags and mayhem around the tree in classic Warner Brothers style.

Don't know that mistletoe will go over well in this scenario ... ! 

Fun fact:  the "Night Before Christmas" narration at the beginning of this short was performed by Daws Butler who is probably best known for his work in various Hanna Barbera cartoons.  He voiced Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Elroy Jetson among other characters.

Shish-kebab!  (Oh dear!) 

This is a great Looney Tunes short wrapped up with Christmas packaging to excellent effect.

Plus we get gorgeous background paintings like this one! 

If you're a fan of Warner Brothers cartoons, this one is well worth adding to your annual viewing.

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 candy canes!