The Dixie Fryer

The Dixie Fryer is a 1960 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Title ==
The short is named after the "Dixie Flyer", a train that traveled from Chicago to Florida from the 1890s to the mid-1960s.
== Plot ==
Foghorn Leghorn is flying south for the winter, though he is not actually flying himself but hitching a ride on a basket that is being pulled by a flock of wild ducks. He smells magnolia trees and figures that he is in the south, and hops out of the basket using an umbrella as a parachute, bringing a suitcase that contains a lounging chair and a mint julep. However, two hungry chickenhawks, Pappy and Elvis, tired of eating black-eyed peas, smells Foghorn nearby. The two attempts to invite Foghorn over for dinner, but quickly realizes otherwise when the two attempt to defeather and chop Foghorn with an axe. As the chickenhawks go after the rooster, Foghorn intervenes with their plans, resulting in a back-and-forth encounter between the two.
Elvis first grabs a rifle and awaits a call for "fire" to shoot Foghorn. However, Foghorn is the one to yell fire, causing Elvis to mistakenly shoot Pappy. Pappy and Elvis then get dueling pistols to fire against Foghorn's beak. When Foghorn believes that a tornado is coming, he forces the chickenhawks in a storm cellar to lock the two in, but Foghorn gets struck by a real tornado. Afterwards, the three hide in a dynamite shack, where Foghorn escapes and gives a match to the chickenhawks. After realizing what TNT spells, the shack blows up, launching Pappy and Elvis back into their nest and inadvertently blowing Foghorn's tail feathers off. As the two chickenhawks complain about eating black-eyed peas again, Foghorn comments about getting back to enjoying his vacation, which he calls a "Southern exposure", blithely turning about to reveal his boxer shorts.
== Availability ==
=== Streaming ===
Lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App (2018 - )
Lt itunes.jpg|iTunes ( - ) (restored)
Lt amazon.jpg|Amazon Prime Video ( - ) (restored)
Lt warner bros discovery ride.png|Warner Bros. Discovery RIDE (2021 - 2023) (restored)
== Censorship ==
* In the syndicated Merrie Melodies show, the part where Elvis accidentally shoots Pappy in the head after Foghorn Leghorn yells, "Fire!" was replaced with a still shot of Foghorn Leghorn looking offscreen.http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-d.aspx
* In Nickelodeon's Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon, the part where Foghorn Leghorn gets his beak shot off during the duel between Pappy and Elvis was cut, along with the part near the end where Pappy pokes Elvis in the eyes after Elvis comments that the peas in the can aren't "black-eyed" peas.
* The ABC version cuts out both of the scenes that were edited in The Merrie Melodies Show and Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon.
== Notes ==
* This is the second and final cartoon to feature the chicken hawks, "Pappy" and "Elvis," the first being the Bugs Bunny cartoon, "Backwoods Bunny", released a year earlier.
** It was also the most current on-screen appearance of "Pappy". "Elvis" would later appear as a cameo in The Looney Tunes Show episode, "It's a Handbag".
* The working title was "Southern Flied Chicken".
* MeTV aired a previously unreleased restored print of the short on Saturday Morning Cartoons. This restoration was later made available on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery RIDE.
* Pappy's beak being dislocated after Elvis accidentally blasts him is similar to Daffy Duck suffering the same thing in the "Hunting" trilogy.
* This cartoon was used in the 1988 opening for Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon.
== Gallery ==
Dixiefryerrestored2.jpg
Dixiefryerrestored3.jpg
Dixiefryer.jpg
Dixie-fryer-foghorn-600.jpg|Lobby card
TheDixieFlyerProductionBackgroundSc-8-1540.jpg|Production background
TheDixieFlyerLeadSheet1.jpg
TheDixieFlyerLeadSheet2.jpg
TheDixieFlyerLeadSheet3.jpg
The Dixie Fryer (1960) - 2021 restoration - Intro and Outro + 53-seconds clip
Screen Shot 2021-05-09 at 3.18.39 PM.png|Screenshot of 2021 restoration from MeTV
== References ==
 
Category:1960
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Foghorn Leghorn Cartoons
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:Shorts
Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons animated by Ted Bonnicksen
Category:Cartoons animated by Warren Batchelder
Category:Cartoons animated by George Grandpré
Category:Cartoons animated by Tom Ray
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by William Butler
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Givens
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Daws Butler
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons produced by John W. Burton