Waste of time

Let's be realistic.

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The last Foghorn Leghorn cartoon made during the classic era is a funny one, directed by Robert McKimson. The plot has Foghorn dealing with a young "hip" Romeo rooster. Seeing this diminutive rooster with sunglasses on spouting his beatnik lingo and singing his Buddy Holly-esque rock song is pretty cute. Foghorn and Barnyard Dog are both amusing but all the big laughs here come from the little rooster. Great voice work from Mel Blanc. The animation is nice, if not particularly impressive. The music is credited to Bill Lava, mostly known for using stock music in his cartoons. I don't know if the rock song the little rooster sings is an original compositions of Lava's or not but it's fun. Most of the Looney Tunes characters fizzled out in the '60s with some fairly dreadful shorts. I'm happy to say at least Foghorn went out with a good one.

. . . throughout the six minute duration of "Merrie Melodies" BANTY RAIDS. The title itself of this Warner Bros. animated short refers to the quaint early 1900s custom in which Frat Boys invaded the living quarters of their Sorority Sisters and stole their underwear. In the cartoon, Banty--a pint-sized bantam rooster--behaves like a character in a Wayans live-action feature film, masquerading as a "tiny tot" in order to cuckold his would-be "Daddy" Foghorn Leghorn (to whose "McDonald's Farm" he's been literally booted by a stricter rooster). The gun-toting Banty quickly has his way with Foghorn's entire hen harem. Not satisfied to merely stab his self-proclaimed father figure in the back, Banty then conspires with Foghorn's canine antagonist for a full-frontal assault. Mr. Leghorn is shanghaied into a giant Transformer Machine, which dresses him in drag and applies the full range of feminine make-up. As soon as this Gigantic Gizmo spits him out, a protesting Foghorn is gay-married to Banty, with the devious canine officiating. Draw your own conclusions about exactly what social agenda Warner is advancing here.

Foghorn Leghorn, who had been Robert McKimson's main cast member for seventeen years (along the way, McKimson had also created Hippety Hopper and the Tasmanian Devil)*, made his final appearance in 1963 with "Banty Raids". Whereas most of the cartoons have Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg engaged in an endless feud, rather detached from anything else in the world, here Foggy adopts a beatnik rooster as a son. While the little guy prefers to get slinky with the hens, FL immediately seeks to teach him how to play practical jokes on BD. But then of course BD has some tricks up his sleeve...It's worth noting that by this point, the Looney Tunes had truly passed their prime, and so it was probably good that the Termite Terrace crowd was retiring the characters. FL and Marvin the Martian both ended in 1963 (while Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd and Pepe Le Pew had already departed during the two previous years); Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Yosemite Sam and the Tasmanian Devil made their final appearances in 1964; Sylvester made his final appearance in 1965; Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzales, and Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote had all departed by the end of 1968; Warner Bros. ceased cartoon production in 1969. In other words: that was all, folks (except for the compilation films).Anyway, it was great while it lasted, and this is certainly a worthwhile cartoon.

Saving the best for last, the final Foghorn short is quite simply the funniest, wittiest short cartoon in the whole Warner Brothers library. Yes, the ending even tops Some Like It Hot!There are so many memorable images - and great lines - in Banty Raids that it's hard to know what to pick. The whole script is hilarious, and while Foghorn fans will have some idea what to expect, the introduction of a new character (the beatnik rooster) gives the usual set-up an unusual, updated flavour. Finger-clickin' good!!That it still hasn't been released (along with another great Foghorn classic Fox Terror) on DVD is utterly disgraceful. But mere words in a review cannot do this little gem justice - you just gotta see it and you know, like, dig it man! Wow.