Fair and Worm-er

I agree with a previous commenter: predator-prey cartoons use one of the most simple and one of the best formulae. A two-part food chain is the customary medium, but in Fair and Worm-er (1946), the animators carefully construct a day in the life of a complete cartoon food chain.

So you have a realistic food chain, with every part of it represented in animated form. So what else is there to do but give the audience some funny chase scenes. The uniformity of the food chain is demonstrated in a single scene when each component organism of the food chain begins the chase as soon as its quarry appears in perfect textbook fashion.

But that's not all, folks. You throw in a stereotypical 40's housewife with rolling pin, and her obligatory rodentophobia. Plus a beast that terrorizes everyone: a skunk that minds its own business, later to become Pepe le Pew.

The worm, unnamed but familiar in several early cartoons, is always the wise guy, and he is one who is unafraid of the skunk. Eventually, the different animals realize they have to help their predator's enemy, thus giving themselves a better chance at survival. This is a really funny part, and one that is very memorable. There are several bizzarre occurrences, as the animals defy the laws of physics, and the chase is always fun to behold.

But the thing is, this cartoon does nothing to be unique. It's a simple story, and the animators just aim to make something funny out of it. I would say it's one of the best one-shot cartoons of all time anyway, simply because it does a great and admirable job with something so simple. But all you will remember is that it was funny when you watched it. That's what I was looking for when I turned on the TV, so bravo to the makers. Highly recommended.