History WesternAnimation / TheDoverBoys

The short has fallen into the public domain and can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR0eBWDVAtw viewed here.]] [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons Columbia's Screen Gems studio]] even made their own lower-budget [[FollowTheLeader knockoff]] of it, in 1943's "The Rocky Road To Ruin" (which also features comically-pompous narration by John [=McLeish=], alongside the directorial influence of eventual WesternAnimation/MrMagoo creator John Hubley).

The short has fallen into the public domain and can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR0eBWDVAtw viewed here.]] [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons Columbia's Screen Gems studio]] even made their own lower-budget [[FollowTheLeader knockoff]] of it, in 1943's "The Rocky Road To Ruin" (which also features comically-pompous narration by John McLeish, alongside the directorial influence of eventual WesternAnimation/MisterMagoo creator John Hubley).

The short has fallen into the public domain and can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR0eBWDVAtw viewed here.]] Creator/ColumbiaCartoons even made their own [[FollowTheLeader knockoff]] of it, in 1943's "The Rocky Road To Ruin."

* EitherOrTitle: "The Dover Boys at Pimento University" or "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall".[[note]] The name of the short is a parody of the title of the first ''Dover Boys'' book, ''"The Rover Boys at School" or "The Cadets at Putnam Hall"''.[[/note]]

* LimitedAnimation: Or at least extreme stylization.
** As mentioned in the introduction, this short was one of the first to use the "smear" technique now nearly ubiquitous throughout Western animation (including '''''many''''' of Chuck's own later works).
* LovableJock: [[http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/images/lowrez/doverb213.jpg Tom.]]

* ActionGirl: Dora Standpipe manhandles, throws and beats Dan Backslide multiple times when he tries making advances towards her, enough so that he's barely able to stand when help arrives, though she still wants the Dover Boys to rescue her.
** In fact, at that point, Dan wants the Dover Boys to rescue ''him''.

* CrossCounter: A three-way one, delivered by each of the Dover Boys simultaneously to the other two Dover Boys. [[DeadlyDodging They were all aiming for Backslide]], [[EpicFail who did not mean to dodge them]].

* DamselOutOfDistress: Played with in that, even though Dora effortlessly [[WaifFu hurls Dan Backslide across the room]] when he tries to advance on her, she continues calling for Tom, Dick, and Larry to save her. And then she absconds with the RunningGag guy after the Dover Boys knock each other out, subverting their BigDamnHeroes moment.

* InsistentTerminology: Dan Backslide (coward-bully-cad-and-thief).

** And the Dover Boys? The first thing they do when they reach the lodge is plow through the door that Dora was right behind, potentially killing her depending on their levels of strength. No wonder she [[TakeAThirdOption ditches them all for the swimsuit hobo]].

* EitherOrTitle: "The Dover Boys at Pimento University" or "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall".[[note]] The name of the short is a parody of the title of the first book, ''"The Rover Boys at School" or "The Cadets at Putnam Hall"''.[[/note]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* DamselFightAndFlightResponse: Spoofed, as it's the distressed damsel who seriously beats up the villain ''while'' calling for help. This is distressed?

!!Confound those tropes! Oh, how I hate them!

* IdiotPlot:[[invoked]] An entirely intentional example: the whole cartoon's plot is built around every character involved being an idiot, from Dan abducting Dora despite the fact that she's strong enough to rip a tree out of the ground, to Dora ''allowing'' herself to be kidnapped despite said strength, to the Dover Boys failing to notice Dan screaming about kidnapping Dora while two feet away from them and then just standing around and not bothering to help Dora or even move until they get a ''telegram''.

''[[JustForFun/DescribeTopicHere A Description...]]'' '''[[MemeticMutation I'LL STEAL IT!]] [[WithCatlikeTread NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!]]'''

* TooDumbToLive:
** Dora. Even as she repeatedly {{Offhand Backhand}}s her captor, she continues to bang on the door calling for help. A door that's visibly locked from the side she's on and is much thinner than the tree she uprooted earlier. She needs help, all right.
** Dan's strong enough to not only carry Dora, but the tree she was holding onto. It wasn't until he was driving off that he noticed Dora was still holding onto the tree. Dora's not the only one that needs help.
** Let's face it, everyone with the possible exception of the swimsuit hobo is a few crayons short of a whole box. And given how he's wandering around in random places with just a swimsuit on...

* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Dora Standpipe beats up the bad guy, Dan Backslide, on her own, yet she doesn't seem to realize it and keeps calling the Dover Boys for help.

** "[[UnhandThemVillain Unhand her]], Dan Backslide!!" [[LampshadeHanging The repetition is lampshaded]] with "Hey, we're getting in a rut!"

* UnhandThemVillain: Said ([[RuleOfThree eventually]]) to a villain who is laying battered and semi-conscious on the floor.

* PublicDomainAnimation: The cartoon entered the public domain sometime in the 1970s, due to the copyright not being renewed in time. As such, it was a staple of unlicensed VHS cartoon compilations in the '80s.

* SuddenlyShouting: Dan Backslide (coward-bully-cad-and-thief) after his first two lines.

** The Dover Boys (Tom, Dick, and Larry) are, of course, expies of [[Creator/StratemeyerSyndicate Edward Stratemeyer's]] "Rover Boys" Dick, Tom, and Sam (and their schoolfellows Larry, Fred, and Frank). Their names are also a {{pun}} on the phrase "every Tom, Dick, and Harry", i.e. to indicate that they're all interchangeable and unremarkable.

* PurpleProse: The narration often finds itself lost in irrelevant tangents and confusing metaphors, parodying oft-criticized narration of the ''Rover Boys'' novels.

** The Dover Boys (Tom, Dick, and Larry) are, of course, expies of [[Creator/StratemeyerSyndicate Edward Stratemeyer's]] "Rover Boys" Dick, Tom, and Sam (and their schoolfellows Larry, Fred, and Frank). Their names are also a {{pun}} on the phrase "every Tom, Dick, and Harry", i.e. to indicate that they're all interchangable and unremarkable.

* TheDividual: The Dover Boys move in unison, speak in unison, act exactly the same, and all three of them are fiancees to the same woman.

** The Dover Boys (Tom, Dick, and Larry) are, of course, expies of [[Creator/StratemeyerSyndicate Edward Stratemeyer's]] "Rover Boys" Dick, Tom, and Sam (and their schoolfellows Larry, Fred, and Frank).[[note]] Their names are also a {{pun}} on the phrase "every Tom, Dick, and Harry".[[/note]]

* TheGayNineties: The setting of this short.[[note]] The original book was published in 1899.[[/note]]

** "I HATE TOM! I HATE ''DICK!'' AND I HATE LARRY!"

* {{Leitmotif}}: Every time the old man in the swimsuit appears and walks across the screen, a instrumental version of [[https://youtu.be/iUOBF9nMdLg "Fountain in the Park"]] [-(better known as "While Strolling through the Park One Day")-] plays.

* LoveMakesYouDumb: EVERYBODY.

* MeaningfulName: Dan Backslide (coward-bully-cad-and-thief)

* MRSDegree. Dora is picked up from Mrs. Cheddar's Female Academy.

* NoIndoorVoice: Dan Backslide never speaks below a shrill scream.

* PetTheDog: If you pay attention while Dan Backslide is throwing back drink after drink in rapid succession, you'll notice that the bartender occasionally has a drink; Whenever he does this, Backslide smiles and gestures at the glass. This seems to indicate that he bought the Bartender those drinks.
* PublicDomainAnimation

* {{Polyamory}}: Hang on… so Dora is the fiancée of ''all three'' of the Dover Boys?
* PurpleProse: The narration parodies what some see as the frothy, cliché-ridden (apparently even for the time) prose of the Edwardian boys' novel.
* RuleOfThree: "[[UnhandThemVillain Unhand her]], Dan Backslide!!" [[LampshadeHanging The repetition is lampshaded]] with "Hey, we're getting in a rut!"
** The short also comedically contrasts the fundamentally-interchangeable personalities of the Dover Boys themselves against the remaining cast's (Dora and Dan Backslide's) tendency to unnecessarily repeat a command or comment simply to refer to each of them individually.

** "Telegram for the Dover Boys! Messrs Tom, Dick, and Larry, care of Wayward Tavern, Upper Bottleneck, New York. Sirs, Quote: '''''HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLP!''''' unquote. Signed, Dora. Thirty-five cents collect."

* UnInstallment: TheNarrator implies that other stories featuring the Dover Boys exist, such as ''The Dover Boys in the Everglades''.

This was Chuck's first attempt at making a cartoon that would later be reflective of his (and by extension, the studio's) trademark style – unlike the [[TastesLikeDiabetes cloying cuteness]] and Disney-like nature of his [[Characters/LooneyTunes Sniffles the Mouse]] cartoons. It was also an early experiment with stylized LimitedAnimation, as well as smearing. It ''almost'' got Chuck fired for its unorthodox nature – he just barely managed to avoid the pink slip from his boss.

* HornedHairdo: Dan Backslide has hair that features two horn-like features on the top of his head resembling Franchise/{{Batman}}'s cowl.