The Hole Idea
The Hole Idea is a 1955 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed and animated by Robert McKimson with character layout and background layout and paint by Richard H. Thomas.[1] McKimson was the sole animator on the short, as this was during the time he was re-assembling his unit after the brief 1953 shutdown of Warner Bros. Animation. The short was released on April 16, 1955.[2]
| The Hole Idea | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert McKimson |
| Produced by | Edward Selzer (uncredited) |
| Story by | Sid Marcus |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Bea Benaderet (uncredited) Robert C. Bruce (uncredited) |
| Music by | Musical Direction and Orchestra by: Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | Character animation: Robert McKimson Effects animation: Harry Love (uncredited) |
| Layouts by | Character and background layout: Richard H. Thomas |
| Backgrounds by | Background layout and paint by: Richard H. Thomas |
| Color process | Black and White (sequences) Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date | April 16, 1955 (USA) |
Running time | 7 minutes |
| Language | English |
Summary
A scientist, Professor Calvin Q. Calculus, successfully creates a portable hole invention, despite disapproval from his nagging wife. His creation is celebrated in a newsreel, showcasing the various uses for a portable hole: Rescuing a baby from a safe, cheating at your golf game and giving dogs a new place to bury their bones. Spurred by the film, a thief steals a briefcase containing Calvin's portable holes and uses them for criminal purposes, including emptying Fort Knox and abducting a dancing girl from a burlesque house. However, he is chased by the police until he is backed against a wall, when he uses the last portable hole in the briefcase to go through the wall and seemingly escape, it is revealed that the other side is inside a prison. Calvin reads about the arrest in the paper and is glad, but Calvin's domineering wife decedes him furiously for not treating her right and says that one of them must leave. In retaliation, Calvin creates one more portable hole and throws it on the floor. The wife steps in it and falls through it. After a few seconds, Satan comes up the portable hole, throws her back to Earth and replies: "Isn't it bad enough down there without her?" as the cartoon ends.
See also
References
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 272. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 100-102. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.