Back Alley Oproar
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Back Alley Oproar
| image = BackAlleyOproar TC.png
| director = I. Freleng
| story = Michael Maltese
Tedd Pierce{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |title=I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety |date=1991 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-1644-9 |page=93}}
| animator = Gerry Chiniquy
Manuel Perez
Ken Champin
Virgil Ross
| layout_artist = Hawley Pratt
| background_artist = Paul Julian
| starring = Mel Blanc
Gloria Curran (singing cat, uncredited)
Arthur Q. Bryan (Elmer Fudd, uncredited)
| music = Carl Stalling
| distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1948|3|27}}
| color_process = Technicolor
| runtime = 7:40
| language = English
}}
Back Alley Oproar is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=183}} The short was released on March 27, 1948, and features Sylvester and Elmer Fudd.{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/140/mode/2up |pages=140–142}} The title is a play on "uproar" and "opera". This is a rare exception for Sylvester as he wins in this cartoon. It is a remake of Freleng's Notes to You (1941).
Plot
Elmer is ready for bed, but Sylvester has other plans as he starts singing in Elmer's back yard - an exaggeration of common cat-howling disturbances. A series of gags play out, as Elmer tries everything up his sleeve to get rid of the pest. He eventually confronts Sylvester, but before Elmer can blast him with his shotgun, Sylvester sings a sweet, gentle lullaby to ease him into a deep sleep, even managing to tuck Elmer back into bed. However, the one-man band performance Sylvester subsequently puts on ensures this doesn't last.
Elmer eventually dies in an explosion as a result of an attempt to get rid of Sylvester. His spirit ends up in Heaven, on a cloud ascending into space. Momentarily, he thinks he will finally get some peace and quiet. However, the spirits of Sylvester's nine lives (plus 9 more) ascend and soar around him, each with a numeral on its back, singing the sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor. One of the cat spirits steals his halo. Elmer's spirit, unable to cope, dives off his cloud and a crash is heard off-screen.[https://archive.org/download/ClassicRareAndCensoredCartoons/032748BackAlleyOproarMm.mp4 Back Alley Oproar on the Internet Archive]
Production
Back Alley Oproar is a remake of Notes to You (1941), a Looney Tunes short that was also directed by Freleng. It has a similar plot, although the ending of the original does not have the characters die from an explosion (instead, the cat gets shot, and returns as nine singing angels), and the roles of Elmer and Sylvester were taken by Porky Pig and an unnamed alley cat. Back Alley Oproar is one of the few entries in which Sylvester "wins out" over another character, albeit at the presumed cost of his life.[https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-info/4312-Back-Alley-Oproar BCDB.com]{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
Back Alley Oproar was remade by Freleng in 1967 for The Inspector series as Le Quiet Squad.
Reception
Greg Ford calls this cartoon "Sylvester's finest hour", writing, "Back Alley Oproar's Sylvester exudes enormous appeal as he tunefully harasses Fudd, his merry medley aided and abetted by Carl Stalling's score, Mel Blanc's virtuosic vocalizations, and Freling's A-list animation team, here led by song-and-dance impresario Gerry Chiniquy."{{cite book |editor1-last=Beck |editor1-first=Jerry |title=The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons |date=2020 |publisher=Insight Editions |isbn=978-1-64722-137-9 |pages=12–13}}
Release
Back Alley Oproar was reissued with new Blue Ribbon opening titles and aired on television like this as well. The original title card was restored for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2 DVD and Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, uncut and uncensored.{{Cite web|url=http://reel3.com/looney-tunes-merrie-melodies-title-cards-1948-49/|title = Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Title Cards: 1948-49|date = 3 February 2011}}
Home media
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
- {{IMDb title|0040143}}
- [https://www.parkcircus.com/film/114756-Back-Alley-Oproar Back Alley Oproar on Park Circus]
{{Elmer Fudd in animation}}
{{Sylvester the Cat in animation}}
{{Friz Freleng}}
Category:1948 musical comedy films
Category:Merrie Melodies short films
Category:Sylvester the Cat films
Category:Short films directed by Friz Freleng
Category:Films scored by Carl Stalling
Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films
Category:1940s Warner Bros. animated short films
Category:Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese
Category:Animated film remakes
Category:Remakes of American films