Holiday for Shoestrings

Holiday for Shoestrings is a 1946 Merrie Melodies short directed by I. Freleng.
== Title ==
The title is a pun on the popular instrumental tune "Holiday for Strings".
== Plot ==
Shoemaker Jake is feeling ill and has advertised for help. A group of elves secretly come at night to repair the shoes for him, timed to the tune of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.
The bedridden shoemaker, suddenly feeling much better upon seeing the elves working feverishly, tries to sneak out to play golf. When the elves see this, they drag Jake back to bed, nail his blanket to the floor, and march out, one dragging the golf clubs out of the house for himself.
== Caricatures ==
* Charlie Chaplin
* Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
== Availability ==
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 4.jpg|(1993) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 4, Side 3
Lt without.jpg|(2007) DVD Without Reservations (1995 Turner dubbed version)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5.jpg|(2007) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc Two (restored)
Lt spotlight 5.jpg|(2007) DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5, Disc 2
Lt spotlight df2.jpg|(2014) DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection Volumes 4-5 Repack
Lt musical masterpieces.jpg|(2015) DVD Looney Tunes Musical Masterpieces
Lt mtf.jpg|(2016) DVD Music Triple Feature
=== Streaming ===
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2023)
Lt max.jpg|Max (2023 - )
== Censorship ==
When this cartoon aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, a scene featuring two stereotypical East Indians was cut. Both edits seem odd, since there have been countless scenes featuring East Indian-looking snake charmers uncut in other shorts and the Porky Pig short "Porky in Egypt" had a scene of an Egyptian fakir who sat on a bed of nails and did a fire-eating stunt. This edit applies to the USA feeds only. Tooncast and overseas channels have these scenes uncut:
* A fakir elf using the back of a shoe-sole as a bed of nails
* A snake-charmer elf playing the pungi while the boot's shoelace rises like a charmed snake and laces itself neatly.
== Notes ==
* Many of the elves resemble Elmer Fudd with elf-like ears, anticipating a similar role played by Elmer ten years later in "Yankee Dood It". According to the Toonheads episode "Night of 1000 Elves", the elves resemble Elmer Fudd because director Friz Freleng disliked the character and did whatever he could to make fun of him.Toonheads "Night of 1000 Elves"
* One of the elves replaces the shoe stickers from 4F to 1A. Those "4F" and "1A" were military terms used during World War II to describe the person's capability in the army, where "4F" means unfit for military service. However those references become dated during the cartoon's release, as World War II had already ended.
* The "Eat at Joe's" gag is recycled from Freleng's earlier "Lights Fantastic".
== Gallery ==
HolidayForShoestringsCredits1.png
HolidayForShoestringsCredits2.png
HOLIDAY FOR SHOESTRINGS.png
Holidayforshoestrings uncensoredscenes.png|The snakecharmer elves sequence which is censored from Cartoon Network/Boomerang USA airings
Hfss.jpg|Lobby card
Jihuygtuf6rd5e6s4w.jpg|Lobby card
== References ==
 
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng
Category:Elmer Fudd Cartoons
Category:1946
Category:Shorts
Category:Blue Ribbon reissues
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Hawley Pratt
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Hawley Pratt
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Paul Julian
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Paul Julian
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package
Category:One-Shot Cartoons
Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist
Category:Cartoons with no dialogue