Meatless Flyday

Meatless Flyday is a 1944 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.
==Summary==
A spider tries a number of tricks to catch a fly. A sugar cube on a string fails when the fly cuts the string. The fly does a trapeze act to taunt the spider, but the spider acts as the fly's catcher; the fly gives him a hotfoot. Buckshot dipped in candy coating fails when the spider's magnet also attracts a cupboard full of dangerous cutlery. The spider spots the fly disguised as the bride atop a wedding cake, and disguises himself as the groom. They chase through an electrical conduit, lighting a neon sign, until an air-raid warden shouts "Put out that light!" They return through the conduit, and the spider catches the fly. He's about to carve up the fly when the fly points to the calendar, declaring September 27 to be "meatless Tuesday."
==Plot==
A housefly is buzzing near the ceiling. On a table below, a hungry spider plans his trap. He tries everything- except building a web- to catch the fly. The spider tries to catch the fly with a sugar cube, but no luck. The fly performs a trapeze act in the air to taunt the spider, and the spider says "Look at him! A poor man's Bugs Bunny!" The spider tries to join him, but the fly shoots him down in flames. "Look, I'm a Zero!" says the spider, referring to the Japanese suicide fighter plane. The ensuing warfare contains a reference to civil defense: the chase ends up inside a giant, outdoor sign... which a Civil Air Patrol guard, on duty, promptly orders shut off (an obvious reference to air raid warnings during the early part of the war). The spider paints buckshot like candy and tries to draw the fly in with a magnet after he eats the buckshot, but instead, every sharp knife, etc. in the kitchen is attracted and flies at the spider. The fly pretends to be the bride on a wedding cake, but the spider shows up as the groom, and the fly leaves a stick of dynamite in his place and the spider blows up. They chase around some more. Finally, the spider catches the fly, and is about to carve him up when the fly points out the date and that it is "Meatless Friday" (a reference to food rationing on "Meatless Friday"). The spider goes running to Washington, D.C. yelling, "You can't do this to me!"
==Trivia==
Tex Avery claimed to have done the voice of the spider, but he had left Warner Bros. by the time that this film was recorded.
Category:Cartoons
Category:Merrie Melodies Cartoons
Category:One-Shot Cartoons
Category:1944 cartoons
Category:Leon Schlesinger Productions Cartoons
Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng