The Hardship of Miles Standish

The Hardship of Miles Standish is a 1940 Merrie Melodies short planned by Cal Dalton and Ben Hardaway and finished by Friz Freleng.
== Title ==
The title and story are a play on the Longfellow poem The Courtship of Miles Standish.
== Plot ==
Dissatisfied with the The Courtship of Miles Standish story as heard on the radio ("Ah, fiddlesticks! It didn't happen that way at all! Even if it did happen that way, it couldn't have happened that way!"), an old man tells his grandson the "true story" of John and Priscilla. 
Set many years back in Plymouth in the year 1621 1/2, John Alden is sent to give Miles Standish's love letter to Priscilla, in the form of a singing telegram. While delivering the message, however, her house is attacked by Indians, and John is the only one who can save her. The Indians were all easily defeated by John confronting them for breaking the glass window of Priscilla's house ("One of you folks gotta pay for that glass!"), causing the Indians, who all are afraid to pay for the broken glass window, to flee foolishly. Priscilla, impressed with John's heroism, dumps Miles for John, and affectionately kisses John repetitively, much to the latter's chagrin due to Priscilla's very elderly and unattractive appearance, as well as the fact that Miles actually wants to marry Priscilla.
Once the story is over, the old man remarks that if the story wasn't true he hopes to be struck by lightning. Lighting promptly strikes the house, causing large amounts of damage in the house. The old man is hanging onto the ceiling as he sheepishly remarks "Anyhow, that's the way I heard it..."
== Caricatures ==
* Bill Thompson's Old-Timer character as narrator
* Alexander Woollcott - town crier
* Hugh Herbert - as Miles Standish
* Edna May Oliver - as Priscilla
== Availability ==
Viddy-Oh! For Kids VHS 7.jpg|(1986) VHS Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Elmer Fudd Cartoon Festival Featuring "An Itch in Time"
Golden-Age-of-Looney-Tunes-2-F.jpg|(1992) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 2, Side 9
== Notes ==
* The short features the voice of Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer, who also performs the song "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby".
* The narrator is based on the "Old-Timer" character from the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show.
* The print of this short on The Golden Age of Looney Tunes LaserDisc had the 1940 ending card replaced with the 1947-48 Merrie Melodies ending card. However, the original ending exists on the Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals tape.
* Some of the montages of Native American Indians were reused animation from "Sweet Sioux" (1937) directed by Friz Freleng three years earlier.
* During one scene when one Indian accidentally hit the arrow towards another Indian's head, when the arrows fall off his head, the victim responds by silently mouthing the words "Godd**n, son of a b***h!", followed by the same Indian responding with a "Pardon me." An early version of The Censored Cartoons Page hinted that there may have been lost audio featuring the actual profanity-laced line being said, but this has since been debunked, particularly because of Hays Code rules at the time that forbade swearing and rude/profane expressions and gestures.
* The ending gag where the old man wishes to be struck by lightning if his story was not true would later be re-used in the endings of both "The Trial of Mr. Wolf" (1941) and "His Hare Raising Tale" (1951) with Mr. Wolf and Bugs Bunny respectively, except that in the latter two cartoons, instead of being struck by lightning, they got run over by streetcars.
* This cartoon is seldom seen on American television today due to Native American stereotyping. However, this short did air on occasion on the Ted Turner-owned networks (TBS and TNT) in the 1990s and was on Cartoon Network as recently as 2000 on The Acme Hour.
* This cartoon was originally planned to be an Egghead cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton, as with "Confederate Honey". However, when Friz Freleng returned to the studio after a stint at MGM, the cartoon was taken over by him, who decided to use the Elmer Fudd character instead.https://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/rare-1938-looney-tunes-book-found-5389.html
== Gallery ==
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51qCV6eFUVL.jpg|Lobby card
TheHardshipOfMilesStandishLobbyCard.jpg|Lobby card
== References ==
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:1940
Category:Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng
Category:Elmer Fudd Cartoons
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Owen Fitzgerald
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Bea Benaderet
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Berneice Hansell
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Robert C. Bruce
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Caricatures of real people
Category:Caricature of Hugh Herbert
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package
Category:Cartoons with camera by John W. Burton