Elmer J. Fudd: "I'm a bad boy!"
A Day at the Zoo is a 1939 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Tex Avery.
The short, like most of Tex Avery's theatrical cartoon work both on WB and when he worked at MGM, is a series of visual and verbal gags, usually based on outrageous stereotypes, corny yet clever wordplay, and topical references. It's presented as a narrator (Gil Warren) describes a "tour" of the "Kalama Zoo" where the animals have nonsensical names, display anthropomorphic behavior, or illustrate punny gags. The only thing remotely related to a narrative is the running gag of Elmer J. Fudd teasing a lion and paying for it in the end (which turned out to be a set up for a pun).
NOTE: Elmer Fudd was fully called "Elmer Fudd" since "A Feud There Was" (1938).
Tropes:
- Annoying Laugh: Elmer J. Fudd while teasing the lion.
- Ax-Crazy: When asked by the narrator why he's acting loopy and crazy, the Rocky Mountain wildcat says this:"They called my name out at bank nightnote , AND I WASN'T THERE!" (starts going crazy again)
- Bowdlerise: The scene of the camels smoking cigarettes was cut on TBS, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang.
- Brotherhood of Funny Hats: "Two Elks" are two average-looking men who are members of the Elk Lodge.
- Bullying a Dragon: Elmer J. Fudd believes that taunting a hungry lion is a good idea, no matter how many times the narrator warns him off.
- Fun with Homophones: Two bucks (male deer) and five scents (skunks) as opposed to two bucks and five cents.
- Hurricane of Puns: The cartoon crams as many animal puns as possible into seven minutes.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: With everyone keeping their distance from his cage, a skunk reads How to Win Friends and Influence People.
- I Warned You: The narrator repeatedly tells Fudd to stop bothering that lion or he'll really suffer for it. Suffice to say, Fudd should've listened.
- Informed Species: One monkey cage is labelled "Baboon", but the primate in it looks like a chimpanzee. Later, the groundhog is depicted as a slender, long-tailed animal more reminiscent of a marten or weasel.
- Institutional Apparel: The "Alcatraz Jailbird" is shown wearing stripes and claiming he's innocent. The Stool Pigeon claims to have seen the whole thing.
- Just Desserts: After spending the short teasing the lion, and ignoring the narrator’s warnings, in the end when the lion is peacefully, resting, the narrator thinks that Elmer finally went home. But the lion shakes his head no and reveals he ate him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Elmer's constant teasing of the lion gets him eaten, despite the narrator warning him to stop.Elmer J. Fudd: I'm a ba-a-ad boy!
- Literal Money Metaphor: There's a scene displaying two cages, the first with two deer and the second with five skunks. It is described as two bucks and five scents.
- Off with His Head!: The narration introduces a man named J. Wellington Buttonhook, who is reading a newspaper, saying he became famous for sticking his head in a lion's mouth. He puts down the newspaper and walks away, despite having no head.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. The two "Friendly Elks" are both named Bill.
- Pink Elephants: One exhibit shows floating pink elephants.
- Pun-Based Creature: The zoo's animals include a pack of cigarette-smoking camels, a black-and-white striped "jailbird" who babbles desperately about having been framed, and a stool-perching pigeon who snitches on the jailbird.
- Silly Animal Sound: The ostrich makes a chicken-like cluck after laying an egg.
- Smug Smiler: When the narrator thinks that Elmer simply went home, the lion does this while shaking his head.
- Stealth Pun: The lion seems like the only animal at the zoo not based on a pun, but then at the end it's revealed it was a long set-up for "man-eating lion".
- The Stool Pigeon: One is present as a visual gag in the form an actual pigeon who sits on a stool and snitches on people.
- Suddenly Shouting: "HEY SISTER! CAN'T YA READ?!" shouts a monkey after an old woman tries feeding him some peanuts, the latter ignoring a "Don't Feed The Animals" sign. He even shows her the sign as a bonus.
- Too Dumb to Live: Elmer J. Fudd continues teasing the lion even though the narrator tells him to stop, and eventually gets eaten.
- The Un-Reveal: Is it never actually confirmed as to what exactly DID the jailbird do that he claims and insists he didn't do, despite the stool pigeon stating otherwise.
- Who's Laughing Now?: Elmer laughs hysterically, while teasing the lion. The lion eats him in the end and happily smirks about it.
- Widely-Spaced Jail Bars: Many cages in the zoo, such as the monkey cages and the cage of the Rocky Mountain wildcat, have wide enough spaces between the bars that the animals could easily fit through. The lion cage's bars are also spaced in a way that a person could easily fit through - which is exactly what's implied to have happened to Elmer at the end of the short.