Flop Goes the Weasel (film)

Flop Goes the Weasel is a 1943 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones.^[4] The short was originally released on March 20, 1943.^[5] It was re-released as a Blue Ribbon short on May 21, 1949.

Flop Goes the Weasel
1949 reissue title card
Directed by	Charles M. Jones
Story by	Michael Maltese[1]
Produced by	Leon Schlesinger
Starring	Mel Blanc Ruby Dandridge (both uncredited)[2]
Music by	Musical direction: Carl W. Stalling Orchestration: Milt Franklyn (uncredited)
Animation by	Rudy Larriva[1] Uncredited animation: Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Robert Cannon Ken Harris[3] Effects animation: A.C. Gamer (uncredited)
Layouts by	John McGrew (uncredited) Background design: Bernyce Polifka (uncredited)
Backgrounds by	Gene Fleury (uncredited)
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	March 20, 1943 (1943-03-20) May 21, 1949 (Blue Ribbon reissue)
Running time	7 minutes 38 seconds (Blue Ribbon reissue)
Language	English

Plot

A mother hen is off trying to catch a worm for her soon-to-be baby. While she is out, a weasel steals the egg, intending to eat it for breakfast. Unfortunately, the egg hatches, and the chick mistakes the weasel for its mother. The weasel wants to eat the chick, but the chick outsmarts him every time. For the last three minutes of the film, the weasel is constantly sneezing because the chick has put pepper up his nose. The chick returns to its biological mother, who finds out that it has beaten up the weasel.

Reception

On July 30, 1949, Boxoffice reviewed the short: "Very Good. The so-called Wiley Weasel is flabbergasted when an egg he has stolen from a barnyard hen for his meal, hatches out a small chick. The chick mistakes the weasel for its mother and the rodent is forced to play the game. He tries, without success, to lure the chick into the roasting pan."^[6]