Mighty Hunters

Mighty Hunters is a 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones.
==Summary==
A group of Native American children dances, in preparation for hunting. These hunters don't seem to be much of a threat to anyone but themselves, though. Two of them go after a squirrel, to no avail. Another tries to convince a donkey to let him ride, also with no luck. Finally, one of the boys, whose brother is strapped to his back, attracts the unwanted attention of a bear with his brother's candy; after everyone ends up hanging off a cliff, the bear gets the candy and the boys all head for home.
==Plot==
We hear the war drums of Indians and see their shadows as they dance around the fire, only to find out that they are little (Native American) kids. Then they go out on a play hunt. One kid is pulled inside, and a papoose with a big candy cane is strapped on him. One kid tries to mount a stubborn mule. A couple of them have a bow and arrow and try to hunt a squirrel. A bear starts following them around trying to get the candy that the papoose is eating. He eventually backs them off a ledge, where one of the kids loses his pants. The bear goes after the candy and falls after getting it. Then it's bedtime, although the one kid is still trying to get on that mule.
==Trivia==
Based on James Swinnerton's panel comic feature "Canyon Kiddies," about small Navajo children living in a remote part of the Grand Canyon, which Good Housekeeping magazine ran in color from 1922 to 1941. Swinnerton moved to the Southwest for his health and started doing paintings and cartoons about his new home.
Swinnerton himself painted 50 backgrounds in oils for this cartoon.
This was the only appearance of the Canyon Kiddies in animation. The cartoon contains no spoken dialogue.
The Canyon Kiddies were one of only two outside properties licensed for animated cartoons by Warner Brothers; the set of Dr. Seuss characters in "Horton Hatches The Egg" (1942) was the other.
This is the only Blue Ribbon cartoon released with its original title cards and credits.
Category:Cartoons
Category:Merrie Melodies Cartoons
Category:One-Shot Cartoons
Category:1940 cartoons
Category:Leon Schlesinger Productions Cartoons
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:Cartoons written by Dave Monahan
Category:Cartoons animated by Ken Harris
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons animated by Phil Monroe
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons animated by Robert Cannon
Category:Cartoons animated by Rudy Larriva
Category:Cartoons animated by Robert McKimson
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Jimmy Swinnerton