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A Horse Fly Fleas is a 1947 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert McKimson.
Plot[]
While looking for a home, A. Flea befriends a homeless horsefly, a fly that looks like a horse, who had just recently lost his home, a milkwagon horse which was replaced by "autos". They both find a nice dog, relaxing in front of a fireplace, and they build a little cabin in his fur.
However, Indian fleas already inhabit the dog, so they attack the invaders. The dog sees some of the antics and is bewildered. He shakes a can of flea powder on his rump, but the fleas see it as snow, and sled and ski their way around. The dog gyrates, then smacks his back a few times with a fireplace poker. He watches as the flea and horsefly are chased across the bridge of his nose by the marauders.
A straggler walks up to the dog's eye and chops it with a tomahawk. The Indians catch the flea and fly, tie them to one of the dog's hairs, and light a fire under them to burn them at the stake. The dog notices the smoke coming from his backside, then yelps in pain. He dashes outside to douse the fire in the fountain and watches as all the fleas flee in canoes.
Later, the dog is snoozing in front of the fireplace again, when a traveling flea circus finds him. As they settle into his hind quarters, the flea, the horsefly, and the Indian fleas return and crawl up his front leg. One circus tent is labeled "Wild West Show", and the flea rides the horsefly inside of it, followed by the Indians. The dog grabs a magnifying glass and some cotton candy and sits down to watch the show.
Availability[]
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 4, Side 4
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc Two (restored with original titles)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc Two (restored with original titles)
Censorship[]
- Due to the stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans, this short has rarely been shown on American television.
Notes[]
- This short reveals A. Flea's first name, where the A in his name stands for "Anthony", hence his full name is Anthony Flea.
- In A. Flea's previous appearance, "An Itch in Time", he is voiced, for the most part, by Sara Berner, though Mel Blanc provided his scream "T-BONE!" in on scene. In this short, he is entirely voiced by Mel Blanc.
- In addition, A. Flea sings "Home Around the Corner", a variation of his trademark song "Food Around the Corner" from the previous short.
- The dog physically resembles a hybrid of both Willoughby and Barnyard Dawg, albeit slightly fatter.
- This short, to date, is the only short originally produced in Cinecolor and reissued in Technicolor to be fully restored with its original titles and in its original Cinecolor presentation.
- On the USA Turner "dubbed version" print of this short, there are red borders in the opening titles, although the WB shield sequence has no borders, and preserves the original ending music cue. On the EU Turner "dubbed version" print, it has red borders on the opening titles and keeps the original music left intact as well.
- When this short was reissued, the title was renamed to A Horsefly Fleas
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