Don't Give Up the Sheep

Don't Give Up the Sheep (1953)

**** (out of 4)

Sam Sheepdog (named Ralph in this film) clocks into work and right away Wile E. Coyote (not the name used here) is trying to steal the sheep. Sam has to stay wide awake because Wile has a lot of stuff up his sleeve. This is an excellent cartoon full of great laughs and violent action. Even though he isn't address as Wile, it's clear who the character is suppose to be and I must admit that I think his character here is a lot better than any of the match ups against the Road Runner. Don't get me wrong, I do love the Road Runner series but for my money this film is flawless. The running gag of sawing through the tree is priceless as are the many attempts to steal the sheep. The coyote also takes a pretty big beating throughout the film, which is always fun to watch.

The first in a series of shorts about a sheepdog (usually named Sam) guarding a flock of sheep and a wolf (usually named Ralph) trying to steal them. The joke is that the dog (and in later shorts the wolf) is just doing his job, punching a clock like any blue collar human. Unlike some of the other reviewers here, I don't feel like this is the best of the series. It's a great start, and there are lots of funny gags, but I think some of the others in the series were even funnier. The Pan gag was my favorite in this one. The lively music is supplied by Carl Stalling. Great voice work from Mel Blanc. The animation is colorful and nicely drawn. Ralph's feet are different here than they would be in later cartoons. It's a clever and original start to a great series; yet another example of the genius of Chuck Jones.

"Don't Give Up the Sheep" is the first of several cartoons involving a faithful sheepdog continually outsmarting Wiley Coyote (though the IMDb summary says he's a wolf). In many ways, it's just a slight variation on the Roadrunner cartoons--but this time the coyote's quarry actually fights back physically. It's all clever but only slightly innovative. In fact, while I did enjoy this cartoon, I don't think it called for repeated follow-up cartoons in the series.

As far as the technical aspects go, the backgrounds for this one are VERY simple--and awfully ugly by Warner Brothers standards. It looks like they were imitating the UPA type of graphics here--which some love and which I hate because they just are too simple and represent (to me) a major step backwards in cartoon quality.

Ralph the Sheepdog punches in the work clock and takes over guard duty over a flock of sheep. In comes a wolf to scope out the potential buffet. First, he tries to trick Ralph by setting the work clock ahead. This keeps going and going until Ralph truly finishes his shift and is replaced by another sheepdog.

This is the first sheepdog and wolf short. The names are not set yet. What it absolutely gets right is the punch clock. That is the biggest and most important aspect of this franchise. It taps into the postwar workers who have to punch a clock everyday. There are later improvements, but this sets up the formula.

One sheepdog punches in on a time clock while the other punches out.. Once there, they proceed to protect the sheep from our friend Wile E. Coyote. It's a lot of the usual stuff except that it's treated as a business. The Coyote is, of course, thwarted all along (no spoilers...just is). The interesting thing is that these guys have a job and a time schedule. Clever idea.