Thanks for the memories!

Absolutely brilliant

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This is in the very top tier of Looney Tunes cartoons from director Chuck Jones. It feels more cohesive and less abstract than something like Dover Boys, but completely separate from his later, best known work. It was produced in 1945, right as beautiful, fully drawn backgrounds for cartoons were reaching their peak. The animation of the characters is also impressive, and conveys personality much better than most one-shot characters. And as an added bonus, there's actually a great subtext in its unusual subject matter that could apply to any number of subjects, political or social.When forced to interpret the situation of a steak gone from a plate, which owner wouldn't believe the cat was the selfish ingrate and the dog the stalwart champion? It raises some interesting questions about preconceived notions, though I don't believe it was intended to answer them or send any particular message. The last scene in particular gives the impression that there is indeed some serious motive behind the ludicrous story, related somehow to hero worship and public figures not at all turning out to be who they seemed to be. But this is just icing on the cake - even if you don't think about what it means, it's a wonderful cartoon all around.

Chuck Jones's 'Fresh Airedale' is one of the most remarkable Warner Bros. one shots ever made and a personal favourite of mine. Extremely subversive in that it refuses to bow to our moral expectations, 'Fresh Airedale' presents us with a set-up that is crying out for a comeuppance at the finale and then declines to provide us with it. Instead, it offers us a scathing political satire which tells it like it is; if you're at the right place at the right time and willing to behave only in your own interests, you can reap the benefits at the expense of everyone else. So we are presented with a sweet-natured, heroic cat who is upstaged at every turn by the deceitful, manipulative, downright evil dog Shep who uses his accepted status as "man's best friend" to gain ever greater plaudits from his master and, ultimately, the rest of the country while the cat is either brutalised or ignored. Cruelly hilarious and constantly relevant, 'Fresh Airedale' is 100% more effective for not giving us the happy ending we all want and expect. While it remains a buried treasure, 'Fresh Airedale' continues to delight and exhilarate anyone who happens to unearth it, provided they are not married to the constrictive notion that good must always triumph over evil in entertainment.

This is a hilarious cartoon. It is an anomaly for a Chuck Jones short in that it is mean-spirited to the core...with absolutely no 'justice' served to the protagonist; but like the vast majority of his WB cartoons, the timing is to a T. And if you like the more well-known classic Warner shorts, you will most certainly relish this forgotten gem. At the same time, you'll likely understand why it vanished. This was clearly Jones finding his voice; after directing various 'Disneyish' cartoons like the Sniffles series, Tom Thumb in Trouble, etc (all great by the way), he got a little nasty. Had he not, though, he may never have found his way to the extraordinary ones that were to follow.

...you'll dislike this one. I first saw 'Fresh Airedale' on the compilation 'Canine Corps'. I am an avid fan of Looney Tunes and impressed with their idiosyncratic blend of enjoyment, humor, and cleverness. 'Fresh Airedale' is a gross aberration: unenjoyable and outright difficult to watch. The plot, which is painfully simple, features an unscrupulous, nasty, and greedy dog named 'Shep' getting his own way. That's basically it. His house-mate, a faithful and heroic cat, is framed and left out in the dark. OK, it's just a cartoon, but cartoons are supposed to be fun, and I don't understand what message Chuck Jones was trying to convey. This episode certainly does not seem fit for a compilation.