Ah, ze power of l'amour! A starving wolf, perishing from wartime meat rationing (he's so famished that when he swallows a solitary pea you can hear its landing reverberate around his hollow tummy) learns that a champion sheepdog has abandoned his flock to join the Army. The delighted wolf zooms off to gorge on unprotected sheep only to learn that they've been left in the charge of the tough-as-nails, wolf-destroying ram "Killer Diller". What to do? Well, since it's a Warner cartoon, what else?--he gets a sheep costume, dresses as a sexy ewe with long eyelashes and flowered sarong, and vamps the ram! Who, not to be outdone, promptly turns into an ovine Pepe le Pew, complete with Charles Boyer-accented heavy-breathing seduction routine, and gives the wolf a lot more than he bargained for. I would die before I'd give away the ending, but let's just say it opens possibilities Fred Quimby would never have countenanced...=) A wacky little gem with Tashlin's signature pacing and some reaction takes you'll have to see to believe.
7 Reviews
Fans of Gershwin's PORGY AND BESS . . .
oscaralbert2 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
. . . will be crestfallen to find Mozart's bassoons cluttering the score for WEIRD SEX 101--that is, I GOT PLENTY OF MUTTON (but not a note of "I Got Plenty of Nuttin"). Warner Bros. told its Jack-of-all-Trades, Looney Tune director Frank Tashlin, that they had just Thunk Up a Porno Flick-Style derivative spin on Porgy's Lament, but since they did not feel like paying any royalties to Uncle Remus, why not distract an audience expecting jazzy pathos with everything-but-the-kitchen-sink misdirection? Film historians say that Tashlin really went to town on this order, inventing beta versions of Wile E. Coyote, Pepe LePew, Milton Berle, and Marilyn Monroe versus Jack Lemmon Screwball Comedy, with Oodles of what was then considered Deviant Sex but what is now labeled as LGBTQ Pioneering Heroics. In other words, without I GOT PLENTY OF MUTTON Today's America would be more like that seen in THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE than the current Sodom and Gomorrah making the U.S. ripe for President Trump.
wartime rationing even affects the animal kingdom
lee_eisenberg19 September 2007
For years I've heard about WWII-era rationing, but I never would have suspected that such a funny cartoon could spring from it. Frank Tashlin's "I Got Plenty of Mutton" portrays a nearly starved wolf not allowed to eat meat due to rationing. He's reduced to cutting a pathetic little pea in half to eat. But when he reads about a sheepdog going off to fight in the war, he gets hungry for sheep. Only when he arrives there, it turns out that a ram named Killer Diller is guarding the sheep.
What's a wolf to do in this situation? Since this is a Warner Bros. cartoon, he dresses up as the sexiest ewe in history...which turns the ram into an ovine Pepe Le Pew. The next couple of minutes remind us that there are two definitions of wolf! One of the most interesting tricks that they use in this cartoon is that the wolf's home is located in what appears to be a bleak, midwinter setting. But the sheep are grazing in what appears to be a spring or even summer setting. Only a Looney Tunes cartoon would do that! There's even a completely inexplicable sight gag (early on involving a tree). But no matter how you look at it, this cartoon remains a timeless classic. It also brings to mind the fact that during WWII, we rationed many things, but during the so-called War on Terrorism, we don't ration anything (not even any tax increases).
Definitely on that you'll like.
What's a wolf to do in this situation? Since this is a Warner Bros. cartoon, he dresses up as the sexiest ewe in history...which turns the ram into an ovine Pepe Le Pew. The next couple of minutes remind us that there are two definitions of wolf! One of the most interesting tricks that they use in this cartoon is that the wolf's home is located in what appears to be a bleak, midwinter setting. But the sheep are grazing in what appears to be a spring or even summer setting. Only a Looney Tunes cartoon would do that! There's even a completely inexplicable sight gag (early on involving a tree). But no matter how you look at it, this cartoon remains a timeless classic. It also brings to mind the fact that during WWII, we rationed many things, but during the so-called War on Terrorism, we don't ration anything (not even any tax increases).
Definitely on that you'll like.
Wonderful, one of Tashlin's best
TheLittleSongbird20 September 2013
While not exactly an animated masterpiece I Got Plenty of Mutton comes very close to that. It also is further proof that Frank Tashlin deserved to be better known, and is one of his best. The animation is fluid and vibrant, the camera angles never fail to delight, and you can never go wrong with Carl Stalling's characterful music or Mel Blanc's bravura voice acting. The dialogue has a lot of freshness and wit and made even funnier by Blanc's voices. The gags are very well-timed and clever, very little predictability in sight and the story keeps things simple and doesn't become confused or simplistic. The characters carry I Got Plenty of Mutton strongly, especially the Wolf, very important as he is the main character.
All in all, a wonderful cartoon and one of underrated Tashlin's best. 9/10 Bethany Cox
All in all, a wonderful cartoon and one of underrated Tashlin's best. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Chuck Jones was obviously taking notes
phantom_tollbooth9 January 2009
Frank Tashlin's 'I Got Plenty of Mutton' is a great, unsung classic of a cartoon which really takes its time in laying out its story. Like Tashlin's masterpiece 'Puss 'n' Booty', the emphasis here is on character and story over gags. The character designs are great, particularly of the starving wolf who is unbearably scrawny. Tashlin places our sympathies squarely with the wolf by opening with a typically leisurely-paced set of scenes in which we witness his stomach-rumbling poverty. When he hears of an unguarded flock of sheep, he sets off to finally have a proper meal only to find a particularly vicious ram has assumed the former sheepdog's duties.
The wolf disguises himself as an overtly sexy ewe which leads to an aggressively amorous pursuit culminating in a mind-boggling climax which predicts the finale of 'Some Like It Hot' by over a decade. Aside from featuring one of the most blatant erection jokes in cartoon history, 'I Got Plenty of Mutton' is noteworthy for several other reasons. It typifies Tashlin at his very best, placing the emphasis on his "actors" and lingering over small actions that other directors would not even bother showing (check out the lengthy sequence in which the wolf applies make-up). Chuck Jones was obviously taking notes. 'I Got Plenty of Mutton' features obvious inspirations for Wile. E. Coyote, the Sheepdog and Wolf cartoons and the Pepe Le Pew series (right down to the joyful bounds with which the ram pursues the wolf). Such a blatantly influential cartoon should surely not be so deeply buried in the archives. 'I Got Plenty of Mutton' is another great work from an underrated director.
The wolf disguises himself as an overtly sexy ewe which leads to an aggressively amorous pursuit culminating in a mind-boggling climax which predicts the finale of 'Some Like It Hot' by over a decade. Aside from featuring one of the most blatant erection jokes in cartoon history, 'I Got Plenty of Mutton' is noteworthy for several other reasons. It typifies Tashlin at his very best, placing the emphasis on his "actors" and lingering over small actions that other directors would not even bother showing (check out the lengthy sequence in which the wolf applies make-up). Chuck Jones was obviously taking notes. 'I Got Plenty of Mutton' features obvious inspirations for Wile. E. Coyote, the Sheepdog and Wolf cartoons and the Pepe Le Pew series (right down to the joyful bounds with which the ram pursues the wolf). Such a blatantly influential cartoon should surely not be so deeply buried in the archives. 'I Got Plenty of Mutton' is another great work from an underrated director.
A bone, a pot of boiling water, and a pea
slymusic22 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It's World War II and groceries are being rationed. This becomes a problem for a famished, emaciated wolf, who decides to prey on some sheep. Hence the title of this Warner Bros. cartoon, "I Got Plenty of Mutton", directed by Frank Tashlin.
Here are my two favorite moments from this cartoon. A.) The wolf disguises in a very sexy feminine sheep outfit and performs a slinky strut to the familiar strains of "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby". B.) The wolf climbs upward in mid-air, sees a bird, gives a humorous reaction, falls downward into a tree stump, and gets "rammed" in the air to the accompaniment of "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter".
For me, the most interesting aspect of "I Got Plenty of Mutton" is the ram that the wolf encounters. At first, this burly ram appears to be considerably frightening, but when he spots the "female sheep", the lecherous ram suddenly behaves like Pepe Le Pew!
Here are my two favorite moments from this cartoon. A.) The wolf disguises in a very sexy feminine sheep outfit and performs a slinky strut to the familiar strains of "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby". B.) The wolf climbs upward in mid-air, sees a bird, gives a humorous reaction, falls downward into a tree stump, and gets "rammed" in the air to the accompaniment of "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter".
For me, the most interesting aspect of "I Got Plenty of Mutton" is the ram that the wolf encounters. At first, this burly ram appears to be considerably frightening, but when he spots the "female sheep", the lecherous ram suddenly behaves like Pepe Le Pew!
Very Strange, Even for Looney Tunes (Spoiler Probably There)
Angel-Marie12 April 2002
Warning: Spoilers
I've seen a lot of weird cartoons in my time. Most of them were the un-PC ones that TV is afraid to air; others were super-rare pieces of work that not even real cartoon fans would known had existed. This one I can't even explain. I'm guessing this cartoon was probably the predecessor to the Pepe Le Pew cartoons since it was made a year before, but even the PLP cartoons had some limits to it. And the less said about the ending, the better.
What I don't understand is why it hardly aired when I was younger. There's no racial stereotyping and the only WWII reference is one about meat shortages (no Hitler refs, no Japanese-bashing, you get the idea).
However, Cartoon Network does have a late-night show called, "The ACME Hour" that shows really rare cartoons and it does run through there.
What I don't understand is why it hardly aired when I was younger. There's no racial stereotyping and the only WWII reference is one about meat shortages (no Hitler refs, no Japanese-bashing, you get the idea).
However, Cartoon Network does have a late-night show called, "The ACME Hour" that shows really rare cartoons and it does run through there.
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