The Turn-Tale Wolf

The Turn-Tale Wolf is a 1952 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Plot ==
The Big Bad Wolf's proper little nephew has learned at school that his uncle was the fiend who blew the Three Little Pigs' houses down and is ashamed that his uncle, flesh of his flesh and blood of his blood, could have committed such a deed. The nephew confronted Big Bad with this information, and he pleaded innocent. He tells a quite different story of how three sadistic little pigs tormented him, an innocent, nature-obsessed kid who was chased home and had his house blown down upon reading of a 50-dollar bounty for a wolf's tail. When the nephew called his story "malarkey," Big Bad managed to convince his nephew that the story was real, as evidenced by his missing tail.
He immediately mentions to the audience that he lost it in a swinging door, revealing that his story is indeed "malarkey."
== Availability ==
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5.jpg|(2007) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc 2
Lt spotlight 5.jpg|(2007) DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5, Disc 2
lt spotlight df2.jpg|(2014) DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection Volumes 4-5 Repack
=== Streaming ===
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored)
== Censorship ==
* When this was shown on the FOX version of Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends, the brief shot of the Big Bad Wolf making moonshine in his house, then trying to cover it up when he hears his son angrily entering the house, was cut.
* The WB's version left in the moonshine scene but cut the part in which one of the Three Little Pigs chides the Wolf with the line "Ah, go blow yer brains out!" after the Wolf asks them why they are so mean to him.
* This cartoon had major editing when aired on NBC for time, tobacco use, and violence. Although NBC left in the moonshine scene that FOX cut and the "Ah, go blow your brains out" line that was cut on The WB, the following scenes were edited:
** The Big Bad Wolf's nephew's lines "The humiliation of it" and "For shame, Uncle Big Bad" were removed.
** The part before the Big Bad Wolf begins his story was cut because the Big Bad Wolf was puffing on his cigar.
** The Big Bad Wolf's lines "Hello trees" and "Hello fuzzy little caterpillar" (and the caterpillar growling at the Wolf) were deleted.
** All of the "games" that the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs play were removed, cutting to the bounty sign right after the Two Little Pigs laugh.
** The royal throne scene where the Big Bad Wolf is voted king for a day, him sitting down on the "royal throne" (actually a guillotine) and his tail nearly getting cut off was cut.
== Notes ==
* The Three Little Pigs in the cartoon are the same antagonistic pigs from the Bugs Bunny cartoon "The Windblown Hare" (1949), also directed by Robert McKimson, albeit with different voices.
* The story is similar in concept to "The Trial of Mr. Wolf" (1941), where both cartoons center on a wolf pleading for innocence by telling an alternate story where the wolf is the protagonist and the victims (Little Red Riding Hood for "Trial of Mister Wolf" and Three Little Pigs for "Turn-Tale Wolf") are the aggressors.
** Although dissimilar to "The Trial of Mr. Wolf", the wolf in this cartoon was only telling it to his nephew and was not run over by a streetcar (a gag that was later reused in a Bugs Bunny clip-show called "His Hare Raising Tale").
* Mel Blanc and Treg Brown both recorded the song "King for a Day", but the song is not used in this short.
== Gallery ==
TurnTaleWolfCredits1.png
TurnTaleWolfCredits2.png
TheTurnTaleWolf1210Sc2.jpg|Production background
653-PB1.png|Production background
TheTurnTaleWolf1210Sc8.jpg|Production background
Turn-Tale-Wolf-draft600.jpg|Animator draft
=== TV Title Cards ===
TurntaleWolfBugsBunnyShowTitle.png|The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show
== References ==
== External links ==
* "The Turn-Tale Wolf" Animation Breakdown by Devon Baxter
Category:1952
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer
Category:Cartoons animated by Charles McKimson
Category:Cartoons animated by Keith Darling
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Peter Alvarado
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn