Greetings, Boils & Ghouls...
... and welcome to 'Day Eight' of "Abnor Mal's Guide To Creepy Cartoon Classics on Roku" where I aim to bring you another creepy cartoon classic from the plethora of spooky animated short films that have been released throughout the course of animation history - any of which can be streamed on TV via the magic of Roku media players - so let's dim down the lights, for some more fun & frights! :-O
If you read my special hallowe'en blogathon preview - FOUND HERE - which I published eight days ago, you will know that I plan to post a Hallowe'en / Horror related article every day, throughout the month of October, featuring one vintage cartoon classic with spooky overtones each and every time. With recommendations for thirty-one of the most spook-tacular shorts I can find, by the end of the month, this means you'll have plenty of great choices for your creepy cartoon viewing as we count down the days to Hallowe'en... as well as ensuring lots of laughs & screams come October 31st! :-D
Likewise... if you read my post from 'Day Seven' of this month-long blogathon, you may recall that it featured a spooky animated short called "The Cobweb Hotel" which provided some rather specialised accommodation "For Flies Only", although the spider who ran the establishment was somewhat cruel. Anyhow, by a strange coincidence, the creepy cartoon classic that I have chosen to share with you for today's post is also set in a hotel - the "Dry Gulch Hotel", to be precise - which despite the name, plus the fact it's part of a ghost town in the middle of nowhere, "looks like a perfectly splendid place to spend the night"... according to one of the new arrivals in town - his travelling companion, however, has other ideas about the place and has further "Claws For Alarm" as the night unfolds! :-O
Released on 22nd May, and directed by Charles M. Jones [known as "Chuck Jones" by many] this vintage 'Merrie Melodies' cartoon featured the voice characterisations of Mel Blanc, along with the musical direction of Carl Stalling, and was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures prior to it's release in 1954... although the opening credit of 'MCMLIII' suggests it was completed in 1953, the year before:
The story begins with Porky Pig and Sylvester the Cat driving through the wilderness when they spot some buildings in the distance which hint at "civilisation" being within reach once more. They turn off the main road and head into town which, through Porky's eyes, seems a nice enough place:-
Sylvester, on the other hand, has an entirely different view of their surroundings and (understandably) feels slightly more cautious about the possibility of spending the night in this particular location:-
Porky doesn't realise that the old hotel, where he and Sylvester are about to spend the night, is really part of a ghost town... and despite the protestations of his feline companion, decides to check-in and set about finding an empty room that they can use. Once again, much like when the newlywed flies were shown their accommodation at "The Cobweb Hotel" in yesterday's post, the vacant room which Porky and Sylvester discover is lucky 'Number 13' - not that this bothered 'Porky' too much! :-D
Anyway, while Porky remains oblivious to any danger(s) a terrified Sylvester does his best to protect the both of them - much like he did during their stay at a creepy mansion in "Scaredy Cat" released some six years prior to this - but despite his attempts to make 'Porky' aware of the situation they are in, Sylvester was constantly ridiculed and doubted over the presence of the murderous mice! :-O :-)
Knowing what he did, it was clear that 'Sylvester' was not going to get any sleep that night... so, while 'Porky' put his head down for the night - blissfully unaware of the troubles they faced - determined to get some rest, 'Sylvester' had no choice but to stay awake and avert any danger that may befall them. But, to discover whether they made it through the night, you'll just have to watch this creepy classic:-
If you read my special hallowe'en blogathon preview - FOUND HERE - which I published eight days ago, you will know that I plan to post a Hallowe'en / Horror related article every day, throughout the month of October, featuring one vintage cartoon classic with spooky overtones each and every time. With recommendations for thirty-one of the most spook-tacular shorts I can find, by the end of the month, this means you'll have plenty of great choices for your creepy cartoon viewing as we count down the days to Hallowe'en... as well as ensuring lots of laughs & screams come October 31st! :-D
Likewise... if you read my post from 'Day Seven' of this month-long blogathon, you may recall that it featured a spooky animated short called "The Cobweb Hotel" which provided some rather specialised accommodation "For Flies Only", although the spider who ran the establishment was somewhat cruel. Anyhow, by a strange coincidence, the creepy cartoon classic that I have chosen to share with you for today's post is also set in a hotel - the "Dry Gulch Hotel", to be precise - which despite the name, plus the fact it's part of a ghost town in the middle of nowhere, "looks like a perfectly splendid place to spend the night"... according to one of the new arrivals in town - his travelling companion, however, has other ideas about the place and has further "Claws For Alarm" as the night unfolds! :-O
Released on 22nd May, and directed by Charles M. Jones [known as "Chuck Jones" by many] this vintage 'Merrie Melodies' cartoon featured the voice characterisations of Mel Blanc, along with the musical direction of Carl Stalling, and was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures prior to it's release in 1954... although the opening credit of 'MCMLIII' suggests it was completed in 1953, the year before:
The story begins with Porky Pig and Sylvester the Cat driving through the wilderness when they spot some buildings in the distance which hint at "civilisation" being within reach once more. They turn off the main road and head into town which, through Porky's eyes, seems a nice enough place:-
Sylvester, on the other hand, has an entirely different view of their surroundings and (understandably) feels slightly more cautious about the possibility of spending the night in this particular location:-
Porky doesn't realise that the old hotel, where he and Sylvester are about to spend the night, is really part of a ghost town... and despite the protestations of his feline companion, decides to check-in and set about finding an empty room that they can use. Once again, much like when the newlywed flies were shown their accommodation at "The Cobweb Hotel" in yesterday's post, the vacant room which Porky and Sylvester discover is lucky 'Number 13' - not that this bothered 'Porky' too much! :-D
Anyway, while Porky remains oblivious to any danger(s) a terrified Sylvester does his best to protect the both of them - much like he did during their stay at a creepy mansion in "Scaredy Cat" released some six years prior to this - but despite his attempts to make 'Porky' aware of the situation they are in, Sylvester was constantly ridiculed and doubted over the presence of the murderous mice! :-O :-)
Knowing what he did, it was clear that 'Sylvester' was not going to get any sleep that night... so, while 'Porky' put his head down for the night - blissfully unaware of the troubles they faced - determined to get some rest, 'Sylvester' had no choice but to stay awake and avert any danger that may befall them. But, to discover whether they made it through the night, you'll just have to watch this creepy classic:-
Unlike the previous videos that I've shared (thus far) in this series of posts, "Claws For Alarm" did not seem to be available via 'YouTube' or 'Vimeo' and, as a result, the version I am sharing with you today is hosted on the 'Dailymotion' website. Of course, in addition to watching the embedded video of this cartoon right here on my blog, you can also choose to stream it on your phone or tablet by using the 'Dailymotion' app(s) for both the iOS (Apple) plus Android platforms on your mobile devices. For those who prefer to watch on their big screen television, there is also a private channel for 'Daily Motion' which is available using the "Add channel with a code" option, that can be found in the 'Manage Account' section of the Roku website. Just use ACCESS CODE: dailymotion to install it
DAILY MOTION PRIVATE CHANNEL..........................................ACCESS CODE: dailymotion
*** N.B. this channel can not be found within the built-in channel store on Roku devices !! ***
HINT: If you are uncertain as to how you go about installing a private channel on your Roku device, you will find full instructions in my "SPECIAL MONTH-LONG BLOGATHON PREVIEW" post as to what needs to be done. For those who may be worried about things being too "tech-y", there's not really much to it... and, once you have signed-in to your Roku account via a desktop web browser, it is quite a simple procedure to type in the (above) access code and have the app automatically added to the selection of channels found under the 'Home' screen of your Roku device(s). Should you have any difficulty, and are unable to finish the process with the instructions from my blogathon preview, just leave a comment below - saying what stage of the process you are stuck on - and I'll do my best to offer some further suggestions as to where you may be going wrong. If you're unable to install the 'Daily Motion' private channel, for whatever reason, you can always just watch the cartoon here! :-D
EXTRA TIP: The built-in 'Search' function within the private channel for 'Daily Motion' is a fairly basic affair and does not permit you to search easily by 'Username' - in this case: "cartoonNetworks", also known as "Cartoon Network" - or the unique identifier (which is "x1z2fzb" for the video above) - so your best hope of finding "Claws For Alarm" within the 'Daily Motion' private channel on your Roku device is to use the exact title provided by the uploader... so, in this case, you would need to type in all (or part) of the following text: "Sylvester The Cat - (Ep. 44) - Claws For Alarm" which is shown (in full) across the middle of the embedded video included in this post. Experience has taught me that not all the video titles will be included within the 'Daily Motion' search results so, if you adopt the same method when searching for another video from their website, your chosen title may not show-up at all. That said, having personally tested this one myself, I can confirm that you will see it listed and that you should be able to stream it on Roku device(s) in it's entirety, without issues! :-)
On whichever platform you decide to watch this video, be sure to watch-out for the scene in which 'Sylvester' races to the aid of 'Porky', who has been strung-up with a noose around his neck while he was asleep in his bed, but... having cut the rope with a razor blade, has his motives questioned by the now wide-awake 'Porky' as to why he is hovering over his friend with a noose and a cut-throat razor in his hands. Here's a few more still frame images, to show-off the gorgeous visuals in this cartoon:-
Another amusing sequence of events comes when, having stayed-up all night protecting himself and 'Porky' from harm, 'Syslvester' hears how well-rested 'Porky' feels... before then being told that they might be staying for a week, or ten days, to get really well rested-up. Needless to say, 'Sylvester' does not take too kindly to the thought, as you can tell from his expression in the still frame image below:-
Desperate not to spend one more night in that creepy old hotel, at the mercy of those sadistic mice, 'Sylvester' uses the butt of his rifle to knock-out 'Porky' and drag him outside to their car so they can get as far away as possible before he realises what has happened. Having put a reasonable distance between themselves and the 'Dry Gulch Hotel', the relief on Sylvester's face is clear to see...
However, what 'Sylvester' failed to notice - and what we (the viewers) soon discover upon seeing a brief glimpse of the speedometer in the car dashboard - is that some of those homicidal mice have actually stowed-away in the vehicle, and are peering-out menacingly from the gaps in the speedo where you would otherwise expect to see the odometer readings for the vehicles mileage! :-O ;-)
It is this unexpected ending - i.e. not the "happy ever after" goofy type of ending, as was used to end the earlier (similar) cartoon "Scaredy Cat" (1948) - which I believe makes "Claws For Alarm" better than that first attempt with the concept of "killer" mice. This time around, there is a definite sense of foreboding... with 'Sylvester' unwittingly bringing along the murderous mice from whom they were attempting to flee in the first place. It also makes you wonder about the "real life" root causes for so many (relatively) modern towns having been abandoned and become the "ghost towns" of today! :-O
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Anyhow, that's all I've got time for today... but do remember to come back again tomorrow, for my next creepy cartoon recommendation from the archives of animated film history, when I will suggest another spooky short for 'Day Nine' of "Abnor Mal's Guide To Creepy Cartoon Classics on Roku" you can stream right here on this blog - as well as through the equivalent channel on your Roku player(s). Meanwhile... please be sure to visit the "Countdown To Hallowe'en" website & show your support for this annual online Hallowe'en extravaganza PLUS don't forget to use the links you find there and check out all the other 'Cryptkeepers' taking part this year. I know they'll appreciate it, if you visit their blogs and share your thoughts on the contribution(s) they've made.
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ONE LAST THING, BEFORE I GO: Don't forget that, aside from the Hallowe'en / Horror-themed ghastliness going on around these parts for the next month, you can also keep up with the UK Roku action (as it happens) by checking-out my regular 'Weekly RoundUp' posts each weekend where you will find up-to-the-minute info on all things Roku-related is posted on a weekly basis (well, almost).
Until the next time, then...
That's all folks !!
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