Dumb Patrol (1964 short)

Dumb Patrol is a 1964 Looney Tunes short directed by Gerry Chiniquy.
== Title ==
The title is a play on The Dawn Patrol, a 1930 movie by Howard Hawks that also deals with World War I pilots. The same title was also used for an unrelated 1931 short starring Bosko.
== Plot ==
In 1917, somewhere in France during World War I, the men of the French Air Force assemble to determine who must rid the skies of the German pilot, Baron Sam Von Shpamm. The General decides to settle this by drawing straws, stating whoever gets the longest straw wins. The men all draw short straws, finishing with Captain Smedley getting the longest straw.
The next day at dawn, while Porky is suiting up for the flight, Bugs Bunny knocks him out with a brick and takes his place, because Porky has a wife and six piglets to take care of.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Germany, Sam stands to the attention of his general and receives an Iron Cross. Sam, however, is sick of getting those things and wants a long furlough. Bugs drops him a bunch of flowers and a note. Sam reads the note and finds it not only insulting, but the word "baron" has been spelt with a little "b." A P.S. adds that Bugs wrote the big "B" in Sam's flowers. When Sam looks at the flowers, a bee flies out and lands on Sam's nose, which frightens him.
Angered, Sam tries to take off, but his stubborn plane won't "contact" on cue, and when Sam hits it with a mallet, it won't "whoa" on cue. Sam catches up to Bugs, but Bugs pulls up into the clouds. While trying to get Bugs to come out by the count of three, Sam crashes into the side of a mountain, then he and his plane go spiraling down to the ground while he angrily curses and grumbles in German.
Sam runs back to the airfield and grabs another plane. While he looks for Bugs, Bugs comes up behind him and buzz-saws right through Sam's plane.
Back in the sky again, Sam starts shooting at Bugs with a machine gun, but Bugs dodges every time. Sam's shooting only ends up shearing his own plane to bits, leaving only the undercarriage, which becomes a unicycle when he lands.
Sam then takes to the skies in a bomber. After finding Bugs and getting him in his sights, he releases the bombs, but he falls out of his plane and gets caught in the explosion of his bombs on the ground.
Sam takes to the skies in a dinky little biplane, which at the push of a lever becomes a fierce fighting monster triplane loaded with machine guns. Once the plane's transformation is complete, Sam switches to full power, but this rips the plane into three pieces, causing Sam to fall and get blasted to bits in the ammunition dump. Bugs then comments he's heard of Hell's Angels, but he never thought he'd actually see one. Sam, in a devil's suit and playing a harp, floats skyward.
== Availability ==
Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Vol. 3.jpg|(2024) Blu-ray Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 (restored)
=== Streaming ===
lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App (2017 - )
Lt warner bros discovery ride.png|Warner Bros. Discovery RIDE (2021 - 2023) (restored)
== Notes ==
* This cartoon does not fall into the normal pattern found in most other Bugs Bunny shorts, as Bugs Bunny is not disturbed from a serene state. Also, he is neither attacker nor his normal victim portrayal; rather, he is acting on behalf of another, in this case, the officer assigned to take down Sam.
* Although both Bugs and Porky appear in the same short, unlike "A Corny Concerto", the two do not appear onscreen at the same time in this short; Porky only makes a cameo appearance at the beginning of this short, only to be quickly replaced by Bugs. 
* When Bugs mentions that Porky has "a wife and six piglets" at the beginning of this short, Bugs could be referring to Petunia Pig, Porky's official love interest who had been retired as an onscreen character from theatrical cartoons since 1939's "Naughty Neighbors". 
* This is the only time Porky and Sam appear in the same short, although the two do not appear onscreen at the same time.
* This is the final short pairing Bugs and Sam together during the Golden Age of American Animation.
** This short is also the last official appearance of Yosemite Sam in the Golden Age. However, Pancho Vanilla from "Pancho's Hideaway" resembles Yosemite Sam.
* Most of the scenes from this short were used for the TV special Bugs Bunny: All American Hero.
* This is one of only three Yosemite Sam shorts in the Golden Age of American Animation not to be directed by Friz Freleng, the others being "Dog Tales" and "Hare-abian Nights". This is the only such short completed in Friz Freleng's unit.
** It is also one of the only two cartoons Gerry Chiniquy directed in the Golden Age, the other being "Hawaiian Aye Aye".
* MeTV aired a previously unreleased restoration of the cartoon on "Toon In with Me".
== Gallery ==
DumbPatrol1964Credits1.png
DumbPatrol1964Credits2.png
DumbPatrol.gif|Lobby card
 
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons
Category:Yosemite Sam Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:1964
Category:Cartoons directed by Gerry Chiniquy
Category:Cartoons written by John Dunn
Category:Cartoons with music by Bill Lava
Category:Cartoons animated by Bob Matz
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Givens
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons produced by David H. DePatie
Category:Cartoons animated by Lee Halpern
Category:Cartoons animated by Art Leonardi
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Porky Pig Cartoons