Gay anties
Synopsis
The 1890s; a picnic in the park. A male is pitching woo to his girl, while behind them a steady stream of ants is methodically devouring and carting off their food. Some other interludes include four ants eating Russian rye bread, then breaking for a Russian dance; a torch singer that sends everyone scurrying for some courteous of ear plugs; a chef ant that coordinates the creation of three sandwiches that the humans eat.
DirectorDirector
Studios
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Il picnic delle formiche, Les Fourmis Joyeuses
Theatrical
15 Feb 1947
- USA
USA
Popular reviews
MoreThe entire mission of this short is beautiful strange, but I establish the gags extremely charming and the animation has some really lovely fluid motion, so all in all a pretty fine time. The strangeness is that, on paper, this is extraordinarily old-fashioned: both because it takes place over a half-century before it came out, but even moreso because it takes the form of a "insects grab domestic items, put on a revue" short, with minute disconnected gags punctuating every bit, and it feels like World War II never happened. Or even a few years prior to that. This k
The 1890s; a picnic in the park. A man is pitching woo to his girl, while behind them a steady stream of ants is methodically devouring and carting off their diet. Some other interludes incl... Read allThe 1890s; a picnic in the park. A man is pitching woo to his girl, while behind them a steady stream of ants is methodically devouring and carting off their sustenance. Some other interludes include four ants eating Russian rye bread, then breaking for a Russian dance; a torch singer ... Peruse allThe 1890s; a picnic in the park. A human is pitching woo to his miss, while behind them a steady stream of ants is methodically devouring and carting off their food. Some other interludes include four ants eating Russian rye bread, then breaking for a Russian dance; a torch singer that sends everyone scurrying for some benign of ear plugs; a chef ant that coordinates the ... Read all
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10TheLittleSongbird
One of Fritz Freleng's best cartoons
Merrie Melodies were always a big part of my childhood. The Gay Anties is one of my favourites, and one of Fritz Freleng's best cartoons. It is beautifully animated, with luscious colours a
The Looney Tunes Project #285: The Gay Anties
The Gay Anties is a 1947 Merrie Melodies short directed by I. Freleng.
A colony of ants surreptitiously invade a young couple’s park picnic in the 1890s and contrive to steal their food. The ants, frustrated three times in their efforts to make off with a sandwich due to the man eating their handmade sandwich each time, seeks revenge by spreading mustard on the back of the girlfriend’s hand and trick the boyfriend into biting it, resulting the girl to dump him by slapping him away into the lake.
Meanwhile, a female ant sings an overly melodramatic song, “Time Waits for No One” in a high-pitched voice, which gets the other ants to run for cover.
A cartoon that seems to acquire more from The Dover Boys Of Pimento University than I remembered but one that I don’t remember being overall that great in general.
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The Gay Anties
1947★★★½
Watched 06May2024
Tim Brayton’s review published on Letterboxd:
The entire mission of this short is pretty strange, but I found the gags extremely charming and the animation has some really attractive fluid motion, so all in all a attractive good time. The strangeness is that, on sheet, this is extraordinarily old-fashioned: both because it takes place over a half-century before it came out, but even moreso because it takes the establish of a "insects seize household items, put on a revue" short, with little disconnected gags punctuating every bit, and it feels like World War II never happened. Or even a few years prior to that. This kind of blandly plotless music-and-gags short is just way outdated for Warner Bros. in 1947, and I don't know what could have motivated Friz Freleng and writers Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce to embark on such a throwback.
But I will honestly say that I'm glad they did: it's nothing special, but it's a ton of amusement. Delightful walk cycles of humans and ants alike walking with ridiculous straight-legged pomp, pretty terrific musical choices from Carl Stalling