Elmer Fudd's dog Rover (or Wover, as Elmer says it) is watching a TV program about masters who shoot their dogs when they're old and have worn out their usefulness ("Two go out...but only one comes back"). This freaks poor Rover out. When Elmer suggest they go on a hunting trip, Rover is convinced this is a set-up. So he decides to kill Elmer before Elmer can kill him! Thankfully for Elmer, things don't quite go the way Rover plans them. This is a wonderfully crazy short, as the best Looney Tunes shorts were. Rover's attempts to kill Elmer are hilarious. Great animation, music, and voicework. This is one everybody should enjoy, especially the dog lovers out there.
5 Reviews
"Two go out, but only one . . . "
oscaralbert3 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
" . . . comes back," Professor Carlton Canine tries to warn Michael Vick's Dogs of the Future in this spooky voice from the Cartoon Graveyard. Doc Canine seems to be crusading on behalf of DANG (Dog Americans Need Guns). By the 1950s Warner's animators obviously foresaw an America in which our canine companions had been drafted to do the heavy lifting for the U.S. military, as documented this summer in MAX. Our brave dog soldiers often are ordered to run point on the most dangerous missions their units face overseas. Worse yet, The Man proves to be Dog's worst friend, enticing the stalwart four-legged service members to enter enemy territory only armed with teeth. That's right, not TO the teeth, but WITH just teeth! Even Rambo would get blown away if he only brought his dentures to an AK-47 fight! A MUTT IN A RUT shows Elmer Fudd's companion Rover firing a cartoon gun. In Real Life, guns are found to be pretty tough to operate by anyone lacking opposable thumbs. It's high time more of us supported DANG's R & D efforts to fill that glaring chink in our national security array. I have a hunch that Elmer would be willing to cough up. Why not YOU?
It's him or me now ...
nealklein23 February 2004
The paranoia and desperation of the dog in this brilliant cartoon are summed up in his quote that is the title of this commentary. The humor is predictable, but it's the frantic quality of the pacing and the superb irony that give this cartoon real legs. A must see.
"Rover, will you stop clowning and flush out a covey of quail . . . "
pixrox19 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
" . . . Or something?" Mr. F. tries to plead with his TV-addicted canine midway through A MUTT IN A RUT. How many episodes of LASSIE show the title character staring at the Boob Tube? I do not know the exact number of such offerings, but my educated guess is that the correct answer is in the ballpark of zero. If Lassie took after Rover, it seems highly unlikely that Timmy would have ever gotten out of that well!
Worth watching!
JohnHowardReid8 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The stars: Elmer Fudd (voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan), Rover (voiced by Mel Blanc), TV announcer (voiced by Mel Blanc).
Director: CHARLES McKIMSON. Story: Tedd Pierce. Animation: George Grandpre', Ted Bonnicksen, Warren Batchelder, Tom Ray. Lay-outs: Robert Gribbroek. Backgrounds: William Butler. Film editor: Treg Brown. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Milt Franklyn. Color by Technicolor.
Copyright 1959. A Warner Bros "Looney Tune" cartoon. U.S. release: 23 May 1959. 1 reel. 6 minutes.
COMMENT: After watching a TV program, Rover the dog thinks his master Elmer has taken him on a hunting trip to kill him. "Two go out, but only one comes back!"
The bulk of the action details Rover's ingenious efforts to dispose of Elmer first. Not only do all his plans go awry, but each time he unexpectedly emerges as a hero.
All told, an agreeable entry in the later Warner Bros style.
Director: CHARLES McKIMSON. Story: Tedd Pierce. Animation: George Grandpre', Ted Bonnicksen, Warren Batchelder, Tom Ray. Lay-outs: Robert Gribbroek. Backgrounds: William Butler. Film editor: Treg Brown. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Milt Franklyn. Color by Technicolor.
Copyright 1959. A Warner Bros "Looney Tune" cartoon. U.S. release: 23 May 1959. 1 reel. 6 minutes.
COMMENT: After watching a TV program, Rover the dog thinks his master Elmer has taken him on a hunting trip to kill him. "Two go out, but only one comes back!"
The bulk of the action details Rover's ingenious efforts to dispose of Elmer first. Not only do all his plans go awry, but each time he unexpectedly emerges as a hero.
All told, an agreeable entry in the later Warner Bros style.
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