Sniffles and the Bookworm

Sniffles and the Bookworm is a 1939 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
== Plot ==
One snowy, late evening, Sniffles is busy napping away. A strange figure bursts into the object he was resting on and accidentally startles Sniffles away. He sees a strange arm trying to look for its glasses and upon being spotted the worm quickly hides and scurries out of the books and into another one. The worm tells someone asleep in the book about Sniffles, making the Pied Piper think that he saw a monster or something huge. The Pied Piper goes to look until he thinks it over for a moment and realizes that the "monster" the worm saw may be very big in comparison to himself, so he backs away and refuses to go and look.
He tells someone else, a Viking who comes out of his own book and the two of them go to investigate. Sniffles curiously watches and follows behind the three of them until the worm spots him. He hides, accidentally running over the two men as Sniffles curiously studies them.
This makes both men angry with the worm, as they thought it was something much, much bigger. The Pied Piper then produces an instrument and begins to play it before giving a smaller one to Sniffles. They both play music together and approach a book of Nursery Rhymes. Another boy begins to sing while other books begin to dance and come to life!
Mother Goose and a goose dance out of their book, three other men from books sing, and even a trio of Bo Peep-esque girls who try to encourage the worm to sing and play with them. Eventually, he does, and he begins to blow a horn. None of them are aware of Frankenstein's Monster approach. The Pied Piper who appeared serves a pie to the Viking who cuts a piece revealing a bunch of little blackbirds, which get out and begin to dance. Sniffles sees Frankenstein's Monster approaching the bookworm and he yells at it to stop, causing the monster to then turn his attention to Sniffles.
Sniffles quickly backs away from the monster and begins to run. Coming to the edge of the shelf he hides behind a book, then trips the monster, causing it to fall onto the ground.
Tired and worn out, Sniffles goes back to his napping spot and is startled away by the worm, which has come by to thank him.
== Availability ==
Viddy-Oh! For Kids VHS 12.jpg|(1986) VHS Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Sniffles the Mouse Cartoon Festival Featuring "Sniffles Bells the Cat" (only in pal regions)
Sniffles-the-mouse---sniffles-and-the-bookworm-7469l.jpg|(1989) VHS Sniffles the Mouse Sniffles and the Bookworm
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 4.jpg|(1993) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 4, Side 9: Sniffles
L.T.M.C..jpg|(2012) DVD Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection, Disc 1
Lt mouse chronicles blu.jpg|(2012) Blu-Ray Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection, Disc 1
=== Streaming ===
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2023)
lt max.jpg|Max (2023 - 2024)
== Notes ==
* Background artist Art Loomer's name is on one of the books. Other books mention Jones, Schlesinger, and Binder.
* When Mother Goose dances out of her book, multiple books about Porky Pig appear behind her. Porky's name also appears on a poster advertising his biography.
* This is the only cartoon to have Sniffles only say one word instead of talking.
* The USA Turner "dubbed" version replaces the original 1938-41 MWRA end cue with the 1941-55 MWRA end cue, while the EU Turner "dubbed" version keeps the original 1938-41 MWRA end cue.
* The film was completed and shipped to New York on 16 November 1939.https://archive.org/details/filmdail76wids/page/n289/mode/2up?q=Merrie+Melody
*As late as 2008, a 35mm print of this short with its original titles was known to exist.https://blueribbonblues.neocities.org/checklist.html
* A model sheet reveals that the Viking, who is unnamed on screen, had a name: Eric.
== Gallery ==
Chuck-jones1.jpg|Part of the storyboard behind a young Chuck Jones
File:Tumblr ede17c74b360b8dfa6813c6a0d2ccc26 36c4726b 1280.jpg|Bookworm model sheet #1
SatBMS.jpg|Bookworm model sheet #2
SnifflesBookwormMODEL.png|Viking model sheet
Pied Piper.jpg|The Pied Piper model sheet
File:Sniffles and the Bookworm (1939) - Mother Goose.jpg
File:Sniffles and the Bookworm (1939) - Trumpet.jpg
File:Sniffles and the Bookworm (1939) - Monster.jpg
==References==
 
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:1939
Category:Shorts
Category:Blue Ribbon reissues
Category:Sniffles Cartoons
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons animated by Rudy Larriva
Category:Cartoons with layouts by John McGrew
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Art Loomer
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Paul Julian
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
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 characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package
Category:Cartoons with missing Leon Schlesinger credits
Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist