I tre fratelli Dover

This early Chuck Jones short is a bit on the long side at 9 minutes, but it's also very humorous in a snide and subversive kind of way. The Dover Boys, Tom, Dick and Larry of Pimento University (or P.U.) have to save their love Dora Standpipe (yea they share one) from the clutches of coward, bully, cad and thief Dan Backslide when he kidnaps her during a long game of hide and seek. It's been said that this is Chuck's first true classic, I don't know about that as I did enjoy some of his earlier shorts as well, but at the same time I can figure out why some feel that way as it is a good cartoon and spoof. This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by Micheal Barrier.

My Grade: A

I think we could do without this one. It's not really played for laughs like the better ones. The Dover Boys weren't very interesting at all. On the other hand, Dan Backslide was a hilarious character and made it easier to watch this short. Other than him, don't waste your time.

"The Dover Boys at Pimento University" tells the story of three brothers who attend the same university, although they're all very different. Tom Dover is the trio's leader and he might be the muscles too. Dick is a small sharp man who is supposed to be the brains. Larry is the younger of the three and he looks like Dopey from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

They all have a common fiancée, who is Dainty Dora Standpipe, a typical Southern girl, shaped like a candle. They also have a rival. He happens to be Dan Backslide, one of the most hilarious cartoon villains I've seen for a very long time.

Backslide kidnaps Dainty Dora while the boys play a silly game of hide-and-seek.

The cartoon lasts for about ten minutes, which is surprisingly long for that kind of medium. But the story is well developed and the plot is good from the beginning to the end. The characters are all memorable. The Dover boys are funny, mainly because of their dumbness. Dainty Dora is a two-way clihé: the Southern girl and the damsel in distress. The best performance comes from blue-skinned Dan Backslide, who is a hilarious villain.

"The Dover Boys at Pimento University" is a hidden classic from Merrie Melodies. Its brown atmosphere, its funny characters and its long and elaborate plot make it an invaluable cartoon from the Golden Age.

This cartoon is underrated. The humor is subtle yet hilarious. My two kids love it so much that they will drop what they are doing whenever this comes on. The Dover Boys is a takeoff of the damsel-in-distress/Uncle Tom's Cabin scenario. The humor is in the characterizations such as Dan Backslide's unique way of kidnapping the girl or how the heroes ride their bicycles. Perhaps my family's sense of humor is different from most people. Too many contemporary cartoons rely on toilet humor and not something that is well written. But Chuck Jones and the people who gave us these classics will always have a soft spot in my heart. Their work is flawless and timeless. Whenever a show or cartoon crossovers generations without having to explain why, then the artist has done their job. They just don't make them like they use to.

I consider The Dover Boys to be Chuck Jones' first classic cartoon at Warner Bros. Before this cartoon Jones bored his audiences with weak imitations of cute Disney cartoons. Some of these earlier efforts had no humor in them at all, and the animation and timing were slow and plodding. He made a radical departure with The Dover Boys. Since it was a parody of gay nineties melodrama Jones has the characters strike very exaggerated poses. Because the poses were so strong they were easier for the eye to "read," and required less animation in between them. This also led to quicker timing of the action. Jones also invented a new way to animate speed. Up until this point in animation history speed was indicated by "drybrushing" streaks of paint following a fast moving character. Here, though, as the character moves from one extreme pose to the next he stretches like taffy (or "smears") for a few inbetween drawings. This created a more believable illusion of speed. (One has to watch these scenes frame by frame to appreciate it.) Besides all this inventiveness, the cartoon is incredible funny, too. Jones forsook Disney "realism" and has the characters move in humorous ways (Dora Standpipe never walks but glides across the floor). Mel Blank provides one of the funniest voices in his career for villain Dan Backslide. Jones got into some trouble for this experiment and it would be some time before he would use the lessons he learned from this cartoon again (mainly in the late forties). A real gem, highly recommended