Cat Food... [Select to see more]

Name Brand?   On the title card for this film there's a can of "Farren's Fine Cat Food". This refers to Sid Farren.

Take note... [Select to see more]

Message in a Bottle   The homeowners left a vacation note for the milkman. As it turns out, the note was signed by a "Mrs. Champin". (Ken Champin was an animator on "Canned Feud").

Can You Spot Them?

Brand Name Products? Among the cans Sylvester finds in the cabinet are the following:
"Pawley's Salmon" (center top shelf) - derrived from Hawley Pratt's name
"Friz" is on the sardine can right below the "Pawley" can
(Ken) "Champin" tuna can be seen on the left side of the bottom two shelves.
(Virgil) "Ross Fish" is seen at the bottom right.
One other can to note: the yellow one at the left end of the middle shelf is labeled "Fish Balls".

Name Brand Cement   The bag of cement behind Bugs is "HP" brand. This is most likely yet another brand name made from Hawley Pratt's name. You can find other products with variations on his name in many films including I Taw A Putty Tat (Freleng, 1948), Kit For Cat (Freleng, 1948), Golden Yeggs (Freleng, 1950), Canned Feud (Freleng, 1951) and Tweety's SOS (Freleng, 1951) .

A Friz sighting! [Select to see more]

America's Favorite Gelatin Dessert   Behind Sylvester is a box with text printed on it advertising "Friz - America's Favorite Gelatin Dessert". Friz Freleng slipped his nickname into the background several times, and this is one example.

Friz' picture

More of Friz Another kind of "Friz" sighting - behind Sylvester is a portrait of Friz Freleng.

Ad 'em up! [Select to see more]

Lost and Found   Among the ads in the "Lost and Found" section of the paper are four interesting entries. The cat "Butch" was lost by "Vaughan" (a reference to animator Lloyd Vaughn) who is from "Termite Terrace". The next owner is named "Hinkle" - a name which appears in other cartoons (including "Ballot Box Bunny") but I don't know who Hinkle was. In the third ad the owner is "K. Harris" (animator Ken Harris) and finally, in the last ad, the "Municipal Zoo Director" is one "C.M. Jones" (Chuck Jones).

Pick Your Cure   Mixed in among the other medicine cabinet contents is one called "Hawley and Pratt Salts". An obvious case of layout artist Hawley Pratt using another product for name placement. This happened often - some other examples can be seen in I Taw A Putty Tat (Freleng, 1948), Kit For Cat (Freleng, 1948), Golden Yeggs (Freleng, 1950), Canned Feud (Freleng, 1951) and Rabbit Every Monday (Freleng, 1951) .

Name dropping? [Select to see more]

Lots of names...   "Ballot Box Bunny" has lots of names written on buildings in the background. Some are easy to link with staff member names but others I don't know to whom the name refers. So if you have any details on who "Freep" or "Hinkle" might be, please let me know. Anyway, on with the name dropping...
As Bugs beats the drum you can see a building behind him with the name "Virgil Ross & Co". Virgil was one of the animators on this cartoon.
When Bugs turns a bit you can now see another business next door to "Ross's" with the words "Josiah Freep, dentist" emblazoned across it. I don't know who "Freep" is or if it is connected somehow to the "Fearless Freep" who is mentioned in "High Diving hare".

Two Animators

Hinkle and Perez sightings  
Behind Bugs (who is doing his Teddy Roosevelt routine) one building mentions a "Hinkle". I'm not sure who this "Hinkle" is... but the name appears in "Chow Hound".

While Sam does his baby tossing, behind him you can see a building with the name "M Perez". That would be referring to one Manuel Perez who was one of the animators for "Ballot Box Bunny".

The Gang?

Our Honored Citizens   There's a large statue behind Sam with a interesting plaque upon it. If you look closely, it says the following:

Pro Patria 1865 Batchelder Champin Farren Julian Nicholson Perez Pratt Ross

Except fot the first two lines, this is a list of last names of staff members who worked on this film.

Another Frizby

The man returns...   On one building down the street, a familiar nickname for Friz Freleng can be found. Just to the left of Sam you can see a sign for a place called "Frizby".

The name parade goes on...

For a little background...   Paul Julian was the background artist for the film and he has been immortalized atop a building with a "P. Julian" sign. Although this cartoon has many references to people, I don't believe that the word "Hardware" is supposed to refer to anyone on the staff. :)

Wile E.'s Soup Box [Select to see more]

Crate gag   Wile E. Coyote uses a soup crate for a new road runner trap. However, if you look closely, it's not just any soup - it's "Harris Soup". Ken Harris was an animator at the studio.

Seeing A Star? [Select to see more]

I. Firsby   A shocked astronomer looks up to see Bugs Bunny arriving in a UFO with stars and planets in tow. As it turns out, this man is an astonishingly good caricature of Friz Freleng.

Where to next?

Evaporation Destination?   As Daffy strolls into the evaporation station, there's one evaporator with the destination of "Studio".

Ready to ching

Cashing in If you look closely at Marvin's weapon, it is apparently at least part cash register, complete with a "SALE" tab.

His ship came in?

Which ship was that?   The narrator of this cartoon explains that "the S. S. Michael Maltese was unloading a cargo of tropical fruit at pier 38 when suddenly out of a stock of bananas, it came" Here's a copy of the clip. Michael Maltese was the writer of "Punch Trunk".

Foster TV

Fostering Togetherness The crowd gathers to watch a TV - but not just any TV - it's a "Foster Television", as in Warren Foster.

Look quick! [Select to see more]

Look at That As Claude flies up above the elevated train tracks, you can see a sign in the background which says "Don Foster For Mayor". Don Foster was an artist who made many of the lobby cards.

Private Eye Bugs [Select to see more]

Card-Carrying Member?   Private Eye Bugs has a certificate on the wall showing that he is a member of "Detective Guild Local 839". This number wasn't chosen at random - the cartoonists at WB belonged to a cartoonists union local 839.

On the Single Edge [Select to see more]

Nix That Idea   Behind the fielder's hands you can see an ad for the "Nix" brand of single edge razors. I think I may have bought these once... but only once.

Harris Sighting   Behind the Goons pitcher you can see an ad for "Harris Used Cars". This is a reference to the Ken Harris, one of the animators at Warner Bros.

Behind the Bazooka

Time for Benny's   In addition to a punny ad for a product called "Tyde Ties", behind the bazooka is another sign with a name on it: "Benny's". This may be named after one of the animators, Ben Washam. I've heard suggestions that it is also a play on the name of the popular restaurant chain "Denny's" but I doubt this since this chain had opened as a doughnut shop called "Danny's" only one year earlier and wasn't well known yet. (It wasn't called Denny's until 1959) .

Got liver?

Liver Extract   In an apparent attempt to show that someone might try to sell *anything* using ads on the outfield fences, the animators include a quick peek at an ad pushing the ever-popular product "Liver Extract".

How's it Cohen?

Name dropping again.   Another animator and another tie company is mentioned on the fence behind Bobo - "Cohen's Ties". That would be a reference to Herman Cohen to be more precise - one of the animators who worked on "Gone Batty".

Watch the traffic kids! [Select to see more]

Who's Driving This Picture?   Two trucks with familiar names are visible in the big city. "Foster's Eggs" refers to Warren Foster and "Fritz Transfer Co." is most likely a reference to Friz Freleng.
Note that this wasn't the first mention of "Foster's Eggs". It also appeared four years earlier in "An Egg Scramble".

Horsing around [Select to see more]

Making horse-sense   The brand on Daffy's horse isn't just random scratches. It's the brand used by his daughter's prep school (the Quarter Circle V Bar Ranch School). This was also visible on Daffy's horse in an earlier cartoon, Dripalong Daffy.

[Reference: Chuck Jones' autobiographical memoir, "Chuck Amuck".]