A Mutt in a Rut

A Mutt in a Rut is a 1959 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Plot ==
Elmer is leaving for a day of work on a Saturday, promising to arrive home early. He and his dog part ways as the dog longingly watches him leave for the day. 
After he turns on the television, Rover sees an odd show called The Dog Lovers Hour, about a man named Carlton Canine discussing on what owners tend to do to their old dogs, or dogs they just don't want anymore - They take them out, claiming to go hunting, then shoot the dog - much to Rover's horror and shock. After he looks over to a picture of Elmer, Rover starts to think that Elmer is probably tricking him so that he'll just wind up shooting him when he's too old, much to his anger. So when Elmer gets home, Rover begins to behave in a hostile manner, such as kicking Elmer in the rear, laying on the bed, and throwing his slippers in the trash. Elmer throws Rover out of the house, refusing to let him back in until he stops misbehaving. 
Elmer then sits down with a newspaper to see that Hunting Season has begun, so Elmer wonders if maybe Rover just wants to spend time with him due to not doing anything with Elmer for a while and he decided to go out hunting. He gets up to grab his gun, unaware that Rover is watching him. He happens to overhear what Elmer says and worries he'll be shooting him on this hunting trip, so he starts to make plans on how to rid of Elmer first...
While out, Rover makes multiple attempts on Elmer's life after Elmer tries to get him to get in front of him so that he can chase out some wild animals for him to attempt hunting. First he tries a simple method involving shooting Elmer, but his aiming makes him shoot a wild grizzly bear in the cave Elmer happened to be standing near. Elmer sees the dead bear and is very happy that Rover saved him, but when he goes to see him Rover runs off to attempt a second kill, which consists of a wild cat in a box. Elmer decides to sit down and rest, but when Rover releases the violent, wild cat, it attacks him instead of Elmer.
Elmer, who remains oblivious of his dog's actual murderous intentions, is very happy that Rover has been helping to keep him safe all day, but Rover refuses to believe he really cares about him and tries a third, and final time to rid of his "neglectful owner". So he sets up a bomb, but notices it wont go off. Rover gets up to check on it and sees that the line connecting the explosive to the trigger box has disconnected. So Rover puts them together, causing the bomb to go off. Elmer once again thanks Rover for being a good dog, causing Rover to finally realize and admit he was wrong all this about his owner as Elmer showers him with praises.
A very happy Elmer brings Rover back home and sits him down on the chair to rest his now broken leg. He turns on the television and goes to get him a drink. Once the television is switched on, a repeat airing of The Dog Lovers Hour is shown on TV, with Carlton Canine continuing to say how bad owners are, much to Rover's anger and aggravation, as the dog realizes that everything Carlton said is utter baloney. As Elmer returns, he notices Rover is missing and sees him attacking Carlton on television!
==Availability==
SuperStars Foghorn.jpg|(2010) DVD Foghorn Leghorn & Friends: Barnyard Bigmouth
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 hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022)
==Censorship==
* The version of this shown on ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show cuts the part where Rover tries to blow up Elmer with some buried dynamite, only to get blown up when he unwittingly connects two disconnected wires on the detonator.http://web.archive.org/web/20160304023258/http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/ltcuts/m/
* An earlier version shown on CBS' The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show left in the dynamite part, but cut the part where Rover tries to shoot Elmer, only to accidentally kill a grizzly bear and Elmer thanking Rover for saving his life.05/23/59CBS A Mutt in a Rut LT Censored No Opening
==Notes==
* Noticeably, the dog on the title card is differently colored from Rover, the dog in the cartoon.
* Rover in this cartoon bears a striking resemblance to Barnyard Dawg from Robert McKimson's Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, albeit with his fur all white and no brown markings on his head and back aside from his ears and tail. 
** Coincidentally, Barnyard Dawg himself previously appeared as Elmer's dog Rover in "Don't Axe Me" the previous year.
* Though Rover does not physically speak in this cartoon, his inner monologue could be heard in three separate scenes, which is voiced by Mel Blanc.
* The scene where Rover places an ACME product behind Elmer, labeled "One Acme wild-cat - Handle with care", and Rover carefully opens the box with a rope from a distance behind another hill, but the wildcat simply runs in circles towards Rover, maims him, and scratches him into pieces is similar to the scene in the Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog cartoon, "Don't Give Up the Sheep" (1953). 
** Unlike in the aforementioned cartoon, the wildcat's sounds have been redubbed to sound more vicious, and this sound would be reused in many other cartoons, such as "Gonzales' Tamales" (1957) and "Fast Buck Duck" (1963).
** Unlike Sam Sheepdog, who remained unmoving and indifferent, Elmer was so startled by the wild cat that he turned around to watch its run.
* This is the last solo Elmer Fudd cartoon to be released during Arthur Q. Bryan's lifetime, as he passed away 6 months after its release.
==Gallery==
841-Credits1.png
841-Credits2.png
AMuttInARutProductionBackgroundSc-19-1493.jpg|Production background
AMuttInARutLeadSheet1.jpg|Animator draft
AMuttInARutLeadSheet2.jpg|Animator draft
AMuttInARutLeadSheet3.jpg|Animator draft
AMuttInARutLeadSheet4.jpg|Animator draft
A mutt in a rutt CBS censorship
==References ==
Category:Elmer Fudd Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:1959
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Daws Butler
Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Category:Cartoons produced by John W. Burton
Category:Cartoons animated by George Grandpré
Category:Cartoons animated by Ted Bonnicksen
Category:Cartoons animated by Warren Batchelder
Category:Cartoons animated by Tom Ray
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by William Butler
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn