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Boy Meets Dog (1938) Online

Boy Meets Dog (1938) Online
Original Title :
Boy Meets Dog
Genre :
Movie / Animation / Short / Comedy / Family / Fantasy
Year :
1938
Directror :
Walter Lantz
Cast :
Billy Bletcher,Walter Tetley,Danny Webb
Writer :
Gene Byrnes,Victor McLeod
Type :
Movie
Time :
9min
Rating :
5.7/10
Boy Meets Dog (1938) Online

A commercial short made for the Bristol-Myers Co. (plugging their toothpaste) that features the characters from the "Reg'lar Fellers" syndicated newspaper comic strip by Gene Byrnes. The plot concerns a boy who has an old grouch for a daddy, runs off, meets a dog and joins a gang of kids. Meanwhile,the old man has a nightmare,where he sees himself as an old sour puss because he doesn't take care of his teeth and gums. He sees an electric sign for Bristol-Myers toothpaste, and that sets him on a more positive course. (The few-seconds of film showing the sign represents the only commercial intrusion in this short).
Uncredited cast:
Billy Bletcher Billy Bletcher - Father (voice) (uncredited)
Walter Tetley Walter Tetley - Bobby (voice) (uncredited)
Danny Webb Danny Webb - Typewriting Elf (voice) (uncredited)

Sponsored by Bristol-Myers toothpaste manufacturers, thus there are many plugs for dental hygiene in this short.


User reviews

Arryar

Arryar

This disorderly late-30s singsong cartoon dares to examine the possible consequences of prohibitive parenting, animal cruelty, and the failure to massage one's gums daily.

A puppy follows a boy home from school(where musical oral hygiene class is part of the curriculum), but the boy's curmudgeonly father kicks the dog to the curb and sends the child to bed without his supper. Later that night, a wallpaper mural in the boy's room becomes a portal into some sort of otherworldly elf-kingdom, where the father is forcibly taken to stand trial for his patrilineal misconduct. Found guilty by the elf jury, the judge(revealed to actually be his son), sentences him to a bizarre age-regression chamber where he is transformed into a baby. The father wakes from his cautionary nightmare a changed man...and they all live happily ever after.

An awkwardly conceived and disjointed toothcare advert with a frenetic singalong interlude. Its sheer weirdness will appeal to some folks, but I personally found it borderline unpleasant.
Mataxe

Mataxe

This cartoon was adapted, it says, from the comic strip "Reg'lar Fellers" by Gene Byrnes. It was produced and directed by Walter Lantz of "Woody Woodpecker" fame.

It also was a "commercial" for the Bristol-Myers company, plugging their toothpaste,so we hear a few reasons early on why we should brush our teeth and massage our gums, etc., but that is out of the way in a hurry.

We also get one main thing: a horrible cartoon. This is just awful, not one thing funny and mostly just stupid. The story is a simple one: a nice little boy finds a stray dog, brings him home, and gets treated roughly by an overly-mean father. The dad winds up falling down the stairs and having a dream. Of course, this one of those deals where we don't know it's a dream until near the end. The father learns his lesson from the bad dream, and becomes a "regular guy."

The "dream" sequence, which is almost five minutes, is the really stupid part with most the dialog sung in dumb lyrics. Frankly, this was just too dated and not the normal cartoon fare. This is definitely not something I would ever watch again.
Umor

Umor

I saw Boy Meets Dog on Refederator.com and I saw no sign for Bristol-Myers both times I saw it. Based on the "Reg'lar Fellers" comic strip by Gene Byrnes, this short concerns a boy whose dad abuses him. And the boy's new dog is making it worse. As the dad falls asleep, he dreams of being in court for not treating his boy well. This dream is a musical sequence filled with dwarfs singing whether he's guilty or not. The judge acts like Curly Howard of the Three Stooges while the defending lawyers act like Moe and Larry. Judge later takes off beard revealing to be his son! Dad gets sentenced to the youth machine where he is turned into a baby. It's at this time that he wakes up with puppy licking him as he turns a new leaf and gets along with his son and his friends. The end. The turn-around seems a bit much for the father but otherwise this is a pretty entertaining short for producer/director Walter Lantz. And besides, in a couple of years we'll meet two of his most famous creations: Anda Panda and Woody Woodpecker...