A Cartoonist's Nightmare

A Cartoonist's Nightmare is a 1935 Looney Tunes short directed by Jack King.
== Plot ==
It's closing time at an animation studio and all the staff members are calling it a day. Meanwhile, an animator chooses to carry on with his work. In his drawing, he sketched a dungeon scene where Beans the Cat encounters a goblin. Weary for working several hours continuously, the animator decides to take a little snooze. Before ending the session, he draws a steel barricade between the two characters. Suddenly, the goblin comes to life and pulls him into the drawing. The goblin carries the animator away, heading somewhere beyond the picture's scene.
Shocked and terrified, the animator tries in vain to break out of the goblin's grasp. He is then brought into a mystic chamber where stone portraits of various monsters are displayed on the walls. The monsters happen to be the animator's creations as well as those of his colleagues. They too came to life and got out of their illustrations. As revenge for how he and other cartoonists made them get subdued at the end of each film, the monsters gave the animator a pencil and forced him to draw a deep pit in the floor where they tossed him inside. Upon falling in, the animator holds onto a branch, trying to avoid being devoured by the crocodile at the bottom.
Back at the scene still being worked on, Beans still stands behind the barricade, boredly waiting for his artist to come back. Just then, a woman came to him, offering a lunchbox. Beans was expecting food but was a little surprised to find a saw in the container. Nonetheless, he uses it to cut his way out of the metal fence. Finally freeing himself, he goes around to find his animator.
In no time, Beans finds the chamber where his animator is being tormented. To intervene, he hurls a boot at the goblin, luring the monsters away as they try to capture him. Beans manages to lose them somehow when he returns to the place to rescue the troubled man. The animator then receives a pencil from Beans and draws a ladder to climb out of the pit. When the monsters are coming back, Beans spills lubricant between the room's entrance and the pit. The monsters slide on the lubricant mess and fall into the hole. To vanquish them for good, the animator removes the hole with an eraser. Beans and the animator shake hands for a work well done.
It turns out that what the animator went through was merely a dream as he was awakened by the custodian. To his relief, he finds the drawing on his desk unchanged. Not wanting to recall his experience, the animator edits out the goblin and the steel barricade, leaving only Beans in the picture. As a compliment to his little friend, he draws a platter with gelatin on top for Beans to eat.
== Caricatures ==
* Ed Wynn
* Bob Clampett
== Availability ==
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6.jpg|(2008) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc Three
lt spotlight 6.jpg|(2008) DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 6, Disc 2
=== Streaming ===
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - )
== Notes ==
* This is the first solo appearance of Beans, and his first appearance in the Looney Tunes series.
* One Punch Otto, the Evil Octopus is from "Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name".
* The Evil Beast is from "Beauty and the Beast".
* The Mad Doctor is from "Buddy the Detective".
* This cartoon was used in the intro and bumpers for Looney Tunes on Nick at Nite.Looney Tunes on Nick at Nite
== Gallery ==
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Acartoonistsnightmarebobclampettcaricature.jpg|Caricatures of Bob Clampett
ACN3.png
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Cartoonist-nightmare1-beans-600.jpg|Lobby card
== References ==
 
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:1935
Category:Shorts
Category:Black-and-white cartoons
Category:Post-1935 Black & White Looney Tunes
Category:Cartoons animated by Don Williams
Category:Cartoons with music by Bernard Brown
Category:Cartoons with music by Norman Spencer
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons animated by Ben Clopton
Category:Cartoons animated by Chuck Jones
Category:Cartoons animated by Sandy Walker
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons in the Sunset Productions package
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Bernard B. Brown