''Detouring America'' is a 1939

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'' cartoon directed by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

. The short was released on August 26, 1939.

Plot

A tour of the United States, with recurring checks on the progress of the human fly climbing the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

. Also featured are jokes and gags on the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

, the Wyoming prairies, Alaska, a California prospector, Sioux Indians and a Jerry Colonna-esque (literal) Texas cow-puncher.

Home media

*LaserDisc – ''

The Golden Age of Looney Tunes ''The Golden Age of Looney Tunes'' is a collection of LaserDiscs released by MGM/UA Home Video in the 1990s. There were five sets made, featuring a number of discs, and each disc side represented a different theme, being made up of seven cartoon ...

'', Volume 5, Side 2 (USA 1995 Turner print) *DVD – ''

Each Dawn I Die ''Each Dawn I Die'' is a 1939 gangster film directed by William Keighley and starring James Cagney and George Raft. The plot involves an investigative reporter who is unjustly thrown in jail and befriends a famous gangster. The film was based on ...

'' (USA 1995 Turner print added as a bonus)

Censorship

*Two scenes are excised from the cartoon when aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

United States television networks due to ethnic stereotyping against Native Americans and Inuit. They are: :*The scene with a poor, black hitchhiker at the North Pole, who sings " Carry Me Back to Ol' Virginny". Then, an Eskimo sends him back by taking him all the way back to the Virginia state line. :*The scene with an Indian mother dealing with her dopey, oversized, adult son she's carrying on her back.

References

Films directed by Tex Avery Merrie Melodies short films 1939 films Films scored by Carl Stalling Vitaphone short films 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1939 animated short films {{MerrieMelodies-stub