''Little Johnny Jet'' is a 1953

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (also commonly referred to as MGM Cartoons) was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsi ...

cartoon short 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 ...

about a "family" of airplanes. The title is a play on ''

Little Johnny Jones ''Little Johnny Jones'' is a musical by George M. Cohan. The show introduced Cohan's tunes " Give My Regards to Broadway" and " The Yankee Doodle Boy." The "Yankee Doodle" character was inspired by real-life Hall of Fame jockey Tod Sloan. Ba ...

''. The screenplay was written by Heck Allen. The film score was composed by Scott Bradley. The film was produced by

Fred Quimby Frederick Clinton Quimby (July 31, 1886 – September 16, 1965) was an American animation producer and journalist best known for producing the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon series, for which he won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Films ...

. It was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

but lost to the

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

short ''

Johann Mouse ''Johann Mouse'' is a 1953 American one-reel animated cartoon and the 75th ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon, released in theaters on March 21, 1953 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The short is directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, composed by Scott Br ...

'', (another MGM Cartoon).

Synopsis

The cartoon follows the story of a

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

bomber named John (voiced by

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

), who is married to a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

named Mary (voiced by Colleen Collins). Despite being a veteran, he has been unable to find work lately because all the airports are looking for jets. His need for finding work increases upon learning Mary is going to have a baby, so John goes to try reenlisting in the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. Unfortunately the Air Force refuses his job application, as they are looking for jets as well, which further angers him. On his way home, Junior finally arrives, (via a

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

) and so John is overcome with happiness, until it turns out that Junior is a jet as well. John loses his mind. When reading the paper, the next day, the ''Hot Air News'', John sees the ad for a jet contest held by the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

where the winner gets a huge contract. Plenty fed up with jets, he goes to enter the contest as well to try to show them up. Realizing the risk that her husband is putting himself, Mary (with Junior in tow) goes after John. En route to the contest, John meets a B-29 general who smokes

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

's trademark corncob pipe and has

Bataan Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...

written amidst his five stars. When John asks him, the general declines to enter the contest and states, parodying MacArthur's farewell address to the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

, that "older planes never fly, they just fade away," before literally fading away. At the contest, John lines up at the starting line with the rest of the jets. Mary and Junior catch up to him and Mary tries convincing John not to go through with the race, but John refuses to listen to her. While this was happening, Junior gets out of the baby buggy and gets in the fuselage of John, and by the time Mary realizes that her son is there, it is too late. At the green flag, the jets all but disappear while John, in comparison, sputters badly to take off and run the race. Within no time, his engines simply detach themselves from his body and fly away on their own, sending him into a nosedive for Earth. Junior realizes what is happening and after a brief struggle with the door, manages to get out of him in time to grab him by the tail and save him. When John notices that he has not crashed, he looks back and sees his son holding his tail and flying him along. After happily praising him for saving him, they then kick into high gear and run the race, tearing past the other contestants (freaking them out in the process), and fly around the world, going by certain landmarks with funny things happening (the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

pulling itself open long enough to let them through, the

Leaning Tower of Pisa The Leaning Tower of Pisa ( ), or simply the Tower of Pisa (), is the , or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable Foundation (engineering), foundation. The tower is on ...

tilting the other way, the

Sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

's top shaven off to reveal a pink orb in it, they fly by a huge cloud of

smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odour. The word was then inte ...

which is completely removed to reveal

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

's dress blows open to reveal then-rather risqué lingerie on it (leaving Junior perplexed), etc.), and a few non-landmark things as well (a

blimp A non-rigid airship, commonly called a blimp (Help:IPA/English, /blɪmp/), is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid airship, semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on th ...

gets cut in half to look like a

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

, a sky-written ad for a cola changes to read "BURP!", an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

gets shrunk down to a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, and a

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

literally tied up like a bow, etc.). They easily win the race and the government contract for Junior. While John is happy for his son, he is shocked when the government tells him they need ten thousand more just like him—John realizes that he and Mary have some serious procreating to do, though Mary turns out to be mentally prepared.

References

External links

* {{Tex Avery 1953 animated short films 1953 films American aviation films Films directed by Tex Avery 1950s American animated films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films Films set in New York City Films set in Paris Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Pisa Films about competitions Animated films about aviation Films with screenplays by Henry Wilson Allen Films scored by Scott Bradley Films produced by Fred Quimby Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films 1950s English-language films English-language short films

Synopsis

See also

References

External links