97. Country Boy (1935)

Release date: February 9th, 1935

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Friz Freleng

Starring: Berneice Hansell (Peter, Rabbits), The Rhythmettes (Chorus), Count Cutelli (Rooster), Jan Duggan (Mother)

When you hear the title, I’m sure you don’t think of peter rabbit, right? This is a typical loony spin on the classic story by Beatrix Potter. Peter ditches school to gorge himself on some vegetables in a nearby garden, and Farmer McGregor isn’t too pleased.

The story begins with a pleasant, calm rendition of “Country Boy” as the day to day antics of the rabbit family unfold. Josephine rabbit (the mother) tidies up her kids before they embark for school, straightening one’s ears, blowing another’s nose. Mischievous peter rips a cloth in half as his sister blows into the handkerchief, whistling innocently as if nothing ever happened—very good timing on that gag.

Inside “that big elm tree”, two of the brothers are hurriedly putting on their clothes. They tie their suspenders together on accident, running in opposite directions and smacking right back into each other. 

All of the rabbits have been sent on their way, save for Peter, who’s out of sight. His mother repeatedly calls his name, searching in the chicken coop. Sure enough, Peter’s holding a duster behind his back and pretending to be a chicken, oblivious to his mother’s presence. Very amusing to watch him swipe the ground and cluck like a chicken after all the chickens had scattered away at the sound of Josephine’s yell. It’s only when his mother snags the brush away that he takes notice, and she spanks him a few times with the brush before sending him off. A great start to the day! 

Clutching his butt, Peter gallops away, sniffling and wiping his nose on his sleeve. The sound effects here suffer from Buddy’s Day Out syndrome—they feel out of place. A violin slide when peter sniffles, and the same sound of the cloth tearing from earlier when he wipes his nose. The scene would’ve been just fine without the sound effects, but it’s just a minor gripe. Sullen, he repeatedly kicks a can. The van lands on a twig, immobilized, much to peter’s oblivion. He swings a kick at the can and hurts his foot, hopping up and down in pain.

Nevertheless, his pain is quickly forgotten once he spots a lush garden fresh for the picking. He rubs his stomach contentedly as he ogles at carrots, lettuce, you name it. Just as he’s about to push the chicken wire up and sneak in, a shrill “WE’RE GONNA TELL! WE’RE GONNA TELL!” interrupts his potential feast.

Our first use of the Berneice Hansell baby voice! Berneice Hansell had a KNACK for doing high pitched, squeaky baby voices. It’s Peter’s siblings, who launch into “Country Boy”, only jeering “We know what you’re thinkin’, naughty boy! Better stop your slinkin’, naughty boy!” The animation as the bunnies sing is absolutely beautiful, very well done and some of my favorite animation we’ve seen thus far.

Peter refutes by threatening to beat them up (“I’ll be sure to beat ya, tattletale!”), and they go back and forth in a very fun call and response fashion. The bunnies warn him to look out for the farmer, Peter  says he’ll sock him, too. The bunnies threaten once more to tell the teacher—and the school bell cuts off any remaining arguments. Peter follows them to the schoolhouse, turning back last minute and ignoring any late bells to sneak into the garden.

Now, he’s free to eat whatever he desires. Munching on carrots (and leaving the “skeleton” in, a tried and true gag that never fails to amuse me), eating some peas by scooping them out with a knife. It turns out the peas were actually Mexican jumping beans, hops around uncontrollably, right into the beet section.

Struggling to rip a beet out of the ground, peter ties a nearby rope to it and runs to the source of the rope: a well. He turns the crank and out comes the beet, attached to another, attached to another, so on and so forth. A cow at the end of the line is also preparing to feast on the beets, clutching onto the top with its teeth. It gets dragged through the soil as peter turns the crank with all his might, approaching the well and falling in. Oops! 

Farmer McGregor overhears the cow’s desperate moos while mowing the lawn. He spots peter and snags a rake, chasing after him. A very nice, hurried, orchestral rendition of “Country Boy” underscores the chase. Peter hops onto the mower (that has been sitting unoccupied while McGregor chases him) and speeds away, mocking McGregor. The mower collides with a rock and veers off course, nice animation to watch Peter weave in and out of the foreground. Seems to be a favorite angle of Friz’s, I’ve noticed—used in multiple shorts, even as recent as Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name.

Peter mows right into the hedges, sparking McGregor to yell at him incoherently. All is well... until Peter realizes he’s still on a shanghaied lawn mower, cutting up cornstalks and rearranging them after the fact in a neat pile. A bump causes Peter to hold onto the handle instead of sitting on it, perfect for him to get covered in maple syrup as he barrels (pun intended) through multiple barrels. Conveniently, a chicken coop awaits, just for Peter. He zips through it, a nice fast, dizzying, sideways pan, and comes out covered in feathers. Lovely (and hilarious) animation by Chuck Jones of peter hopping onto a fence post, slapping his feather filled sides and crowing like a rooster. Iris out.

I loved this cartoon! Maybe because I loved Peter Rabbit so much as a child. Berneice Hansell's voice acting was spot on, all of the bunnies were very cute, and peter was endearing and charismatic (finally!). “Country Boy” was a VERY catchy song, and I especially loved the rendition between the feuding bunnies. The pacing is nice, chase scene quick and snappy, especially the syrup and chicken coop section. 1935 looks like a promising year for Friz, and we’ll certainly see that in our next review with the introduction of a very obscure, unknown, insignificant stuttering pig.

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