See Ya Later Gladiator

See Ya Later Gladiator
Directed byAlex Lovy
Story byCal Howard
Produced byWilliam L. Hendricks
StarringMel Blanc
Edited byHal Geer
Music byWilliam Lava
Animation byTed Bonnicksen
LaVerne Harding
Volus Jones
Ed Solomon
Layouts byBob Givens
Jaime Diaz
Backgrounds byBob Abrams
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.-Seven Arts
Vitagraph Company of America
Release date
  • June 29, 1968 (1968-06-29)
Running time
7 minutes
LanguageEnglish

See Ya Later Gladiator is a 1968 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Alex Lovy.[1] The short was released on June 29, 1968, and stars Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales.[2]

Daffy and Speedy had been paired together in a series of cartoons from 1965 to 1968. This was their final theatrical pairing, and this was also the final theatrical short to star "classic" Warner Bros. characters as well as the last Golden Age of American Animation cartoon to feature Daffy or Speedy. After this short, until the cartoon division closed in 1969, new characters like Cool Cat, Bunny and Claude, Merlin the Magic Mouse, and a few one-shot cartoons made up all of WB's output.

Plot

The plot concerns Daffy and Speedy accidentally being sent back in time via a time machine to Rome, 65 A.D. There, they offend a centurion who sends them to the lions as entertainment for Emperor Nero in a gladiator arena. Daffy and Speedy work together to thwart a lion. They soon break Nero's fiddle and the enraged emperor chases the two.

Back in the present timeline, the scientist discovers Daffy and Speedy being chased by a furious Nero. He manages to bring the two back to the present. However, Nero has accidentally returned with them and is horrified by this. Speedy helps him adjust until the scientist can bring him home. Daffy is about to go to bed when he hears music playing from outside from his room. Much to his dismay, it is Speedy's band playing again. Adding to his annoyance is that Nero has joined the band by playing his fiddle.

Music

The cartoon features a slightly different arrangement of The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down by Bill Lava (the second being 3 Ring Wing-Ding.)

See also

References

  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 365. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.