Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Awesome Movie

A lot of fun.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Watching the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts growing up, I've always been well familiar with the name Chuck Jones, among other animators-turned-directors looking at the opening credits. But I didn't know the differences between the directors' Warner Bros. cartoons, the backstories behind these shorts, nor did I know how much that several of the pre-1940s ones were trying the emulate the Disney shorts. I also didn't know just how, although this may not have been considered so at the time, important this short is to cartoon history, also with Jones's Claude Cat-Hubie-Bertie series. That is, until I read about this mentioned briefly in a 3-part essay called "The Most Influential Animations You've Never Heard Of" on a blog called The Animatorium. The cutesy Jones-directed WB cartoons I did see and maybe those by some others, I didn't find boring, I could still get through them despite having little to no comedy to them, as at the time, I didn't know how detested they've been. But now I do know just how much of a landmark this short is considered, as Mr. Jones would make a move towards the somewhat same, loony style as Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. As the LT & MM series progressed, they would gradually become more and more in the vein of the former's namesake and the title would have nearly a double meaning.Although there are some, certain LT & MM cartoons directed by Jones that I love more, especially the less praised ones, I still find this to be just as enjoyable. I read a post in a forum thread about the worst LT/MM or least favorite LT/MM shorts by someone who had beef with this due to the technical aspects of it. I don't focus so much on that, since I find the moments in this irresistible to look pass it as a whole. How anyone can still resist that, I just don't know. As for the humor, I don't know too much about that nor the differences between this and of any other animation company/studio. So I can't say anything about that here.What can I say concerning the plot of the short that hasn't already been mentioned by others and differently? Well, it's a parody of 1890s melodramas and the Rover Boys books about the three Dover Boys: Tom, Dick, and Larry, who attend Pimento University. They try to spend the day with fiancée, Dora Standpipe, but this is interrupted in the midst of a long game of hide-and-seek due to their rival, Dan Backslide, from Roquefort Hall, kidnapping her. The Dover Boys aren't even aware of this until after receiving a telegram about it. But despite this, Dora proves that she's much more than capable of handling herself. There are also recurring moments of a gray-bearded man in a bathing suit, walking and hopping along, as he passes by the other characters, with a surprise towards the end.Just a few years before the UPA studio would become well-renowned for pioneering limited animation, there was this. The art style in this is different in that it's, well, stylized than what was seen in those prior. The way the animation moves is different as well, such as Dora moving in a gliding motion rather than walking. Of all the characters, Backslide is who really makes this. Everything else about this, the writing, the music, the voice work, is great. Some reviewer here had problems with the colors, but I don't see anything wrong with the coloration at all. Depending on anyone who may read this, it's recommended, at least for historical reference and value. Again, this is the WB cartoon in which we'd get to see Jones showcase his wacky side from then on, in other cartoons as well. I found out it was producer Leon Schlesinger and the WB studio executives who goaded Jones into moving away from the cuteness. And when he did, they still weren't quite satisfied with it. I have no idea what exactly they wanted. But I find it as funny and great as several others, if not simply intriguing, at least. Still much better than the cartoons that are over-reliant on sick humor.

This is a Warner Bros. cartoon from almost 75 years ago. It is one of the more known cartoons that do not feature the regular guys like Daffy, Bugs etc. It runs for 9 minutes, which is 2 minutes longer as these cartoons from that time usually do. But that's also all the differences. Chuck Jones, Ted Pierce and Mel Blanc are in here as usual for Warner Bros. Maybe you could interpret the Dover reference as an indirect sign of American support for Britain during these dark days of World War II. In any case, the Dover boys never got more than this short movie I think and I can see why. I found none of the Dover Boys particularly memorable. If anybody somehow was not forgettable in here, then it was the antagonist, maybe also the woman. These two also shared the only funny moments for me, namely when she keeps screaming for help yet always interrupts that state in order to beat the crap out of the bad guy. That had something hilarious to it. That's all unfortunately. The three boys I found very forgettable. Not recommended.

"The Dover Boys at Pimento University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall" is a parody of "The Rover Boys Series" by Arthur M. Winfield - who in reality was Edward Stratemeyer, creator of Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and scores of other juvenile series books. The funny part is that the dialog in the cartoon would not be out of place in one of the original Rover Boys books. The Rover Boys series consisted of 30 volumes written from 1899 to 1926. The series went on so long that the final 10 volumes were actually the adventures of the sons of the original Rover Boys! Tedd Pierce, the author of this cartoon, clearly had a knowledge of the wildly popular (in the day) Rover Boys series.The Rover Boys were named Dick, Tom and Sam. Dick's love interest was Dora Stanhope and the boys enemy was Dan Baxter. In the cartoon the Dover Boys are named Tom, Dick and Larry, the girlfriend was Dora Standpipe and the bad guy was Dan Backslide. Beautiful, soft focus animation and a witty script make this cartoon a real winner and unlike almost any other Merrie Melodies cartoon.

I saw this film on the DVD entitled "Cartoon Crazys: And The Envelope Please". This is a rather poor compilation of supposedly award winning and nominated films. Poor because several of the films are very lame and are NOT award nominated, the prints are rather bad and parts of some of the cartoons are missing! One of the films that is missing portions is THE DOVER BOYS. Now here is the sad and sleazy part--the jerks who packaged this collection clipped the opening and closing credits off this and one other Looney Tune cartoon (PIGS IN A POLKA)--thus not giving anyone credit for having made this film. Plus, unlike the title to the collection suggests, THE DOVER BOYS was never award nominated--though it certainly is a very good film. If you do want to see this film, try buying "The Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2". It not only is the entire cartoon, but the print is light-years better, as the one in "Cartoon Crazies" is very orange and second-rate.If you compare this cartoon to later Looney Tunes films made during the post-WWII years, you might think that my score of 8 is a bit too high. However, compared to the average film the studio was making during the war years, it's definitely among their best and seems to merit an 8. Sadly, while not nominated, it was a lot better than Looney Tunes' PIGS IN A POLKA which was the nominee that the year. The parody of the old fashioned Rover Boys adventures is very funny and the ending is cute and unexpected.The "classic" Warner Brothers/Looney Tunes cartoons we all love and admire were almost exclusively made AFTER the war and the quality of the 1947-1955 cartoons are consistently great and a joy to watch. So, buying the Golden Collections seems like a great idea.