Weasel While You Work

Weasel While You Work is a 1958 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Title ==
The title is a play on the song "Whistle While You Work" from Disney's first animated feature Snow White the the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
== Plot ==
Foghorn pulls a sleeping Barnyard Dawg out of his doghouse and rolls him in the snow to make a snowman out of him. Dawg vows revenge, so when Foggy goes ice skating, Dawg sharpens one of his skates to a fine edge. When the rooster skates a circle, it cuts right through the ice and he falls in the pond. Foghorn climbs a hill and rolls a snowball towards the doghouse. Dawg sees it rolling towards him and gathering mass so he moves his doghouse just in time. The rolling snowball arcs off a rock formation and flies high in the sky to fall back down on Foghorn.
As Foghorn is brushing the snow off himself, the weasel attacks his leg. The rooster asks if the weasel would rather have some venison. It agrees, so Foghorn distracts Dawg and places some horns on his head, then sics the weasel on him. Dawg sets him straight and offers to help him get some frozen chicken. As Foghorn is riding his sled, Dawg fells a tree in his path which stops him cold, then dumps a bucket of water on him, freezing him into an ice cube.
Later, Foghorn jabs a sharp stick inside the doghouse. Dawg flies out the door and into a girdle Foggy prepared. This bundles up Dawg to resemble a seal and Foghorn tells the weasel it's seal season. It grabs Dawg and prepares to roast him on a spit, but when he shakes out some pepper, Dawg sneezes and causes an avalanche.
Foghorn ski jumps and lands in the weasel's cookpot. He runs away and the weasel chases him. Foghorn builds a huge snow sculpture of himself, which gets the weasel's attention. Foghorn says that'll keep him busy until the Fourth of July. He returns to the barnyard and sees Dawg's tail protruding from the doghouse. He grabs it and pulls, but it's a fake tail attached to a fireworks rocket which launches him into the sky and explodes. Dawg remarks that the Fourth of July came early this year.
== Caricatures ==
* Tony Galento - "I'll moider da bum!"
== Production Music ==
There is a few unknown tracks in this short, so only the most known are in here.
*Off We Go - Philip Green - CAR404 [title card]
== Availability ==
Christmas Looney Tunes.jpg|(1991) VHS Christmas Looney Tunes
Christmas Collection Looney Tunes UK VHS.jpg|(2003) VHS Christmas Collection Looney Tunes
SuperStars Foghorn.jpg|(2010) DVD Looney Tunes Super Stars' Foghorn Leghorn & Friends: Barnyard Bigmouth (restored)
Lt ss3p.jpg|(2013) DVD Looney Tunes Super Stars 3-Pack, Disc 2
Lt ssfm.jpg|(2014) DVD Looney Tunes Super Stars Family Multi-Feature, Disc 2
=== Streaming ===
Lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App ( - ) (restored)
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored)
Lt max.jpg|Max (2024 - ) (restored)
Lt itunes.jpg|iTunes ( - ) (restored)
== Notes ==
* This is one of six cartoons scored by John Seely of Capitol Records using stock music from the Hi-Q library because of a musicians' strike in 1958. The others are "Pre-Hysterical Hare", "Hip Hip- Hurry!", "Hook, Line and Stinker", "Gopher Broke", and "A Bird in a Bonnet".
* "Weasel While You Work" is one of the few Robert McKimson directed shorts to have storyman Michael Maltese as the writer, and the only two Foghorn Leghorn cartoons which Maltese wrote, the other one being "Fox-Terror".
* The French subtitles on the Looney Tunes Super Stars release render Foghorn and Dawg's references to the Fourth of July as "le 14 juillet" ("the Fourteenth of July").
== Gallery ==
51-R5z3Y16L.jpg|Lobby card
Screenshot 2021-05-23 at 17.27.19.png|Lobby card
WeaselWhileYouWorkLeadSheetSmallPartial.jpg
Gdfgdfgd.jpg|Cel of Foghorn Leghorn paired with a cel of Miss Prissy from "Of Rice and Hen"
 
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:Foghorn Leghorn Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:1958
Category:Barnyard Dawg Cartoons
Category:Cartoons with music by John Seely
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons animated by Ted Bonnicksen
Category:Cartoons animated by Warren Batchelder
Category:Cartoons animated by George Grandpré
Category:Cartoons produced by John W. Burton
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons animated by Tom Ray
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc