Wacky Blackout

Wacky Blackout is a 1942 Looney Tunes short directed by Bob Clampett.
== Plot ==
Farm animals prepare for World War II, narrated by a stereotypical farmer. Among the barnyard animal antics are:
* A farmer puts out a farm fire, accompanied by his pet dog, whom is a "full-blooded Spitz", trained to put out fires. True to his breed, the dog puts out the fires by rapid spitting.
* A cow increases her milking production by giving out five thousand quarts of milk a day. The cow then laments on how all her hard-earned milk is taken away by people who only "come in and take the milk from her" and cries. A nearby calf observes this and comments, "What a performance!"
* A turkey eating food is warned that when it reaches twenty pounds, they put him in the oven. The turkey then goes to an exercising machine, reading a book on how to lose weight in eighteen days.
* As turtle eggs are about to hatch, the narrator says that the turtles are born with a natural bombshell shelter on their backs. Two turtle eggs hatch, and the final one pops out of the shell, zooming around. The turtle stops, and says that he's a jeep, and continues zooming around, laughing, and beeping like Road Runner.
* Back on the farm, a dog tries to ask his lover, Marie-Alana, something. The dog wishes there was a blackout. He sees a light switch, and yells "BLACKOUT!" After a short blackout, the dog has lipstick stains on his face, and he turns off the lights again, yelling "BLACKOUT!"
* Glum caterpillars appear, as the narrator wonders why they are glum. Just then, a happy caterpillar comes crawling on-screen, claiming that that he's happy because he just got a retread. He laughs, and rolls off.
* Fireflies stage a practice blackout. The fireflies then turn off their lights. Meanwhile, the narrator tells a turtle to go into his shell because it's a blackout, but the turtle doesn't want to. The turtle then climbs into his shell, and the narrator asks him why he didn't want to go into his shell. The turtle then says that he's afraid of the dark. The narrator tells the fireflies that the blackout is over, and all the fireflies turn their lights back on... except for one. The firefly notices and asks the others who stole his bulb, and the one behind him gives his bulb back.
* A mother bird is teaching her son how to fly. After she shows him an example, the son says in a deep voice that he wants to be a dive bomber. The bird flies around, mimicking a plane engine, and the mother bird shrugs.
* The narrator says that the only living things to not be affected by the war are the famous swallows of Capistrano. The narrator also says that the birds return to a mission on a certain day each year. He also says that they are just in time for their return. Just then, a delivery person comes and says that there is a telegram for the audience. The message says (sung by the messenger to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean"): "We are out over the ocean. We can't even get close to land. We can't fly to Capistrano, past the Fourth Interceptor Command. Signed, the Swallows."
* Elderly carrier pigeons are in their home. The narrator says that they give their sons to the service during each war, with a photo of their sons from World War I from the year 1918 on their wall as evidence. Pa says, "Well, Ma...", then the two pigeons start singing "We did it before and we can do it again". Then, they watch their sons fly in the sky, heading out to war.
A woodpecker has been pecking the tail of a cat named Old Tom. Finally, Old Tom says that he ate the woodpecker, and the woodpecker pecks through his stomach.
== Caricatures ==
* Red Skelton - woodpecker
== Availability ==
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6.jpg|(2008) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc Two
=== Streaming ===
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2023)
lt max.jpg|Max (2023 - 2024)
== Notes ==
* The son bird resembles the original design for Tweety, who would debut in "A Tale of Two Kitties" later that year. Incidentally, both cartoons were directed by Bob Clampett.
* This cartoon entered the public domain in 1970 due to Warner Bros. not renewing the copyright in time.
* The animation of the flying fireflies is reused from "The Bug Parade".
== Gallery ==
WackyBlackoutCredits.png
Extr1.jpg|Lobby card
Gdsjvkvhfxbcnvm.jpg|Lobby card
File:Wacky Blackout (1942) - Capistrano.jpg
== References ==
 
Category:1942
Category:Cartoons directed by Bob Clampett
Category:Shorts
Category:Black-and-white cartoons
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Post-1935 Black & White Looney Tunes
Category:Cartoons written by Warren Foster
Category:Cartoons animated by Sid Sutherland
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Kent Rogers
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons in the Sunset Productions package
Category:One-Shot Cartoons
Category:Public domain films
Category:Spot Gag Cartoons
Category:Wartime Shorts