History WesternAnimation / TheDoverBoys

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

* DeconstructiveParody: For its time, this was the nature of the parody of the ''Rover Boys'' books. Today, it's more well known for its WeirdAlEffect.

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

The Dover Boys were also used in an ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' Slappy Squirrel Short (acting as musical narrators to Daniel Boone), in ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'', and made a cameo as crowd members in ''Film/SpaceJam''. A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0U8iL38xfM remake]], featuring ninety-plus animators reanimating each individual shot in their own style, was released in 2018.

The short has fallen into the public domain and can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpOPyjmB8SI here]]. Creator/ColumbiaCartoons even made their own [[FollowTheLeader knockoff]] of it, in 1943's "The Rocky Road To Ruin."

* HornedHairdo: Dan Backslide has this.

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Dan Backslide is green, despite everyone else having normal skin colors.

* PityTheKidnapper: By the time the boys got to the shack, Dan Backslide is beaten black and blue by Dora.

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 motion blurring]]. It ''almost'' got Chuck fired for its unorthodox nature – he just barely managed to avoid the pink slip from his boss.

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 [[MotionBlur motion blurring]]. It ''almost'' got Chuck fired for its unorthodox nature – he just barely managed to avoid the pink slip from his boss.

** Dan [[BullyingADragon kidnaps and attempts to take advantage of a woman who can rip an oak tree clean out of the ground]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: To an impressive degree for the time. Two immediate examples spring to mind.
** First, while we never hear anything about their parents, look at the Boys themselves. Even allowing for recessive genetics, they're all college age and look nothing alike, implying either that one or more were adopted, or their mother ReallyGetsAround.
** Also, their names are a pretty clever StealthPun. Say them out loud. Tom Dover... Larry Dover...
** And Dora was ''their'' fiancee -- apparently the censors weren't entirely clear on the topic of polyamory.

* WithCatlikeTread: Dan Backslide's idea of stealth includes ''screaming his intentions at the top of his lungs.''
** When Dan Backslide sees the Dover Boys hiding under his pool table, he shouts his dastardly plans at the top of his lungs. [[FailedASpotCheck The boys, some two-and-a-half feet away, don't seem to notice]].
--->"The Dover Boys! THEN DORA MUST BE ALONE AND UNPROTECTED!"
** And just outside, he follows up with "A runabout![[labelnote:*]]This line is appropriately whispered.[[/labelnote]] '''I'LL STEAL IT! ''NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!'''''"[[labelnote:*]]This line, on the other hand, Backslide ''screams'' at the top of his lungs ''in the middle of a city.'' (yet no one seems to hear or try to stop him.)[[/labelnote]]

The Dover Boys were also used in an ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' Slappy Squirrel Short (acting as musical narrators to Daniel Boone), in ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'', and made a cameo as crowd members in ''Film/SpaceJam''. A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0U8iL38xfM remake]], featuring ninety-plus animators reanimating each individual shot in their own style, was released in 2018. The Dover Boys are confirmed to make an appearance in the upcoming ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCartoons'' on Creator/HBOMax.

* SinisterSchnoz: Dan Backslide has one.

The Dover Boys were also used in an ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' Slappy Squirrel Short (acting as musical narrators to Daniel Boone), in ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'', and made a cameo as crowd members in ''Film/SpaceJam''. A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0U8iL38xfM remake]], featuring ninety-plus animators reanimating each individual shot in their own style, was released in 2018.

* SinisterSchnoz: Dan Backslide has a large nose, which he uses to play pool in the 2017 remake.

* BadGuysPlayPool: Dan Backslide is introducer playing pool in [[BadGuyBar "a tavern of unsavory repute"]].

* ActionGirl: Dora Standpipe manhandles "coward-bully-cad-and-thief" Dan Backslide multiple times when he tries making advances towards her, though she still wants the Dover Boys to rescue her.

* AllForNothing: Dora is the sole reason Dan and the Dover Boys have conflict. In the aftermath when all four of them are knocked unconscious, Dora leaves the scene being courted by somebody else.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Dan Backslide is '''green!'''
* BadGuysPlayPool: At a certain public house, [[BadGuyBar "a tavern of unsavory repute"]].
* BigBad: Subverted with Dan Backslide, who is supposed to be the picture's antagonist, but is [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain too comically inept to be a real threat]].

* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: Dan Backslide speaks - or rather, [[EvilIsHammy shouts]] - with a ''very'' shrill voice.

* GoldDigger: Dan Backslide, who really loves Dora Standpipe……[[TwoFacedAside 's father's money]].
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Dan Backslide uses a cigarette holder – of course he must be a coward-bully-cad-and-thief.

* HamToHamCombat: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. By the time the Dover Boys confront Dan Backslide, he's already been beaten senseless by Dora to the point that he doesn't even say anything.

* IdiotPlot:[[invoked]] An entirely intentional example: the whole cartoon's plot is built around pretty much 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 just standing around and not bothering to help Dora until they get a ''telegram''.

* NoIndoorVoice: Dan Backslide.

The Dover Boys were also used in an ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' Slappy Squirrel Short (acting as musical narrators to Daniel Boone), in ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'', and made a cameo as crowd members in ''Film/SpaceJam''. A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0U8iL38xfM remake]], featuring ninety-plus animators each animating a few seconds of the short, was released in 2018.

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