Gone Batty (1954) Review: Is It a Looney Tunes Underrated Gem?

[@AnthonysAnimationTalk]

Whoops for some reason this didn't go public earlier - oh well! This one is definitely a little 'gem' as I call some of these lesser known ones. Let me know what you think!

[@PieFights]

This and Baseball Bugs are two of my favourite baseball shorts that Warner Bros did and I like how both Friz and Bob McKimson did the both baseball shorts differently

[@toonclipsdisney1923]

This a better Bobo the elephant short,it more funny in my opinion,it get as 9 out of 10

[@Tadicuslegion78]

"That was a strike." *PUNCH* "I don't like you" *passes out*

[@glowworm2]

I actually never saw Hobo Bobo until I was around high school age, and only once on Cartoon Network, so I never knew that Bobo, the little guy featured in this short (which I saw a lot on Nickelodeon as a kid) was actually a two-shot character. Anyway, despite some similarities between this short and Baseball Bugs, this short features enough different gags from the latter to be its own thing and it is quite charming. Also, let's be honest here, Bobo is frickin' adorable and the animation of him playing ball is excellent. The line where the umpire insists that "There's nothing in the rulebook that says an elephant can't pitch!" has lived rent free in my head for years. Also, the ending is cute. Bobo earned those peanuts.

[@PieFights]

12:54 classic Mel Blanc Quiet yell

[@jonathanadair6847]

“THERE’S NOTHING IN THE RULE BOOK THAT SAYS AN ELEPHANT CAN’T PITCH!”

[@emcvideoproductions500]

I can confirm after two whole months that we have indeed gone batty 😂

[@Mibbitmaker]

"I don't like you." is my favorite part of this cartoon. That kind of underplayed bit would feel perfect in a 1950s+ Jones or Freleng cartoon, and I believe has been. The animation of the announcer is directly from "Baseball Bugs", all or in part.

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

I love when the umpire is arguing with the other team and he says "There's nothing in the rule book that says the elephant can't pitch!"

[@glowworm2]

Fun fact that has made me laugh for years: Cartoon Network used to have The Chuck Jones Show--which aired from 2001-2004 and showcased Chuck Jones shorts, both Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies and his MGM Tom and Jerry shorts along with The Dot and the Line and the Bear that Wasn't. I guess that sometimes, those who were in charge of selecting the shorts weren't paying too much attention at times because this very short, "Gone Batty", was on once. 🤣I've also heard that one time, THREE Yosemite Sam shorts were selected as well. Oops!

[@BrianLT]

Second appearance of Bobo, the elephant, and it’s practically a remake of baseball bugs

[@glowworm2]

Honestly, this short has enough different gags in it for it to be its own short entirely. Just a similar idea played out a bit differently.

[@dannyspelman1468]

I saw this cartoon years before I saw Hobo Bobo. I always thought it was odd that this Bobo character shows up out of the blue after seven years. I think they must have had letters or something, asking "Whatever became of that cute, little elephant who ended up on a baseball team?" Or maybe Bob McKimson just wanted to give the character closure. I've seen other cases of character designs just being reused but this time they actually resurrected the character out of the blue.

[@glowworm2]

Same here. I've only seen Hobo Bobo once while this short I saw a lot on Nickelodeon as a kid.

[@toonclipsdisney1923]

This cartoon is much beter than hobo bobbo and more memorable in my opinion,i give it a 8 out of 10

[@PieFights]

8:29 Fore!!!!!

[@BKDBrian2]

The elephant reminds me of Dumbo.

[@fddgj-ko1vb]

Cool video.

[@christianhardtofind6349]

Seems like this one might actually share continuity with "Hobo Bobo," since he ended up as a bat boy at the end of that short. Perhaps that led to him actually becoming a player in this cartoon.

[@canaisyoung3601]

That's what I think.

[@glowworm2]

@@canaisyoung3601 If that's the case, then it's certainly sweet as Bobo finally gets to play baseball as he always wanted.

[@RollingClone221]

This short is a bit similar to Hobo Bobo, but I still like it. The gags were ok at best, but hobo presence still makes it interesting, the animation are good as usual although you could say this was the start of mickimson shorts having some stiffer animation, 7.9/10.

[@canaisyoung3601]

Yeah, I saw this more than the cartoon it's cribbed from, but I say that about most of the cartoons here, because I grew up with the 1948 to 1964 cartoons (with the 1965 to 1969 ones only seen on Nickelodeon and some of Cartoon Network). It's easy to say this one's better for nostalgia reasons, but it's also easier to say that this is better because it's funnier. Today's Censorship Report comes to us from WNEW in New York City and is probably the most piss-poor edit I've seen that's not on a major TV network, like ABC. The scene: one of the Sweetwater Schnooks hits a homer, rounds the bases, and gets hit on the head with a bat by the Greenville Goons catcher. The catcher turns to the umpire and declares that the Sweetwater Schnooks player is out. The umpire says no. The Greenville Goons catcher whomps the player harder (impact and results are off-screen) and the umpire grimaces, "Yeesh! Now he's out!" You'd expect the entire scene to be cut or at least the part where the catcher bashes the player harder with the bat. Nah, that's not what happened here. WNEW left in the entire scene, but muted the umpire's line, "Yeesh! Now he's out." That's right; they just cut the audio off (probably because they felt it was rubbing in the fact that the player is seriously hurt), not knowing or caring that there are viewers out there who can lip-read or have heard that joke so many times that they can predict it. As far as crummy, intelligence-insulting censorship on American TV goes, this does make the top ten on that list I used to do on WordPress. Speaking of lists, here are the next five cartoons after this (today's gimmick: alphabetical order [A to Z, or close to it]): 1) By Word of Mouse: A Friz Freleng Sylvester cartoon where Sylvester goes after two mice, one of whom is a German on vacation to America to find out why the country is so rich. Part one of the infamous Sloan Foundation shorts. 2) From A to Z-z-z-z: A Chuck Jones cartoon featuring his short-lived boy character, Ralph Phillips, who goes on wild adventures in his head rather than put up with the tedium of public school learning. 3) Goo Goo Goliath: A Friz Freleng lower-tier character cartoon where The Drunken Stork from "A Mouse Divided" (and later "Stork Naked") screws up another delivery and leaves a giant's baby in the care of a regular-sized couple. 4) My Little Duckaroo: A Chuck Jones Porky/Daffy genre spoof where the duo are back in the Old West and Daffy tries and fails at taking down Nasty Canasta again, only here, Porky doesn't save the day for Daffy. 5) Quack Shot: A Robert McKimson Daffy/Elmer cartoon where Elmer goes duck hunting and Daffy goes revenge on him for shooting a mallard.

[@karinyupinyan]

The goons in this cartoon sure look a lot like the construction worker from No Parking Hare, another McKimson short from around this time. I imagine he probably reused his design for Gone Batty.

[@canaisyoung3601]

I thought they were a McKimson-ized version of The Gashouse Gorillas from "Baseball Bugs".

[@SketchBud]

Although this may seem like a rehash of Baseball Bugs, this cartoon is much more enjoyable due to the character animations and the execution of the jokes.

[@macsnafu]

Most of what the Goons did would not be allowed by baseball rules. This is just exaggeration for humorous effect. Same with the scoring. Baseball games never get scores that high.

[@heidifedor]

I take it this is a take on Dumbo.

[@chrisrj9871]

"Under-rated" means something that's rated lower than it deserves. Like Final Fantasy V, pineapple pizza, or - dare I say - NICKELBACK! Anyway, this cartoon's not hate-able by any means, but it certainly isn't Duck Amuck. So I think it's rated just fine. "OVER-rated" is the opposite - where it's rated higher than it deserves - and to me, that's *Adventure Time* (sorry, sorry).

[@glowworm2]

To me, under-rated always felt like something that fell just below the radar that most people didn't seem to notice because it was greatly overshadowed by more popular things. I think this short may be more noticed than initially thought as I recall when the official Warner Bros. channel uploaded "Baseball Bugs" (before it eventually got marked for kids and the comments were taken down. Also, the short was recently privatized so it's not up there anymore) some comments were asking about a similar short where a little elephant ended up playing for his entire team. It delights me to know that there are people familiar with lesser known Looney Tunes shorts.