Dog Tales

Dog Tales is a 1958 Warner Brothers animated cartoon which consists of a series of blackout gags involving dogs (e.g., one in which a doberman pinscher viciously pinches an overweight U.S. Army private identified as "Doberman" (a reference to, and caricature of, the character played by Maurice Gosfield on The Phil Silvers Show); and another in which the narrator can't make up his mind whether the dog pictured is a pointer or a setter, and then finally shows a picture of a "point-setter"). A basset hound declares that she's a TV star (a reference to Cleo the Dog, from the contemporary TV sitcom The People's Choice), we learn the unusual breed of a Newfoundland puppy's grandfather, and a great dane named "Victor Barky" plays the piano. Reused animation from Chuck Jones' Often an Orphan (1949) and Friz Freleng's Piker's Peak (1957) is also seen here. In the former case, Charlie Dog makes a cameo - his final appearance in a Warner Bros. cartoon as well as his only cartoon to not be directed by Chuck Jones. This animated film features the voices of Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce and Julie Bennett, and was directed by Robert McKimson and written by Tedd Pierce. It was released in theaters on July 26, 1958.