Line #27 WesternAnimation/AHamInARole


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_ham_in_a_role.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:325:He really is a ham.]]
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4	"A Ham in a Role" is a 1949 ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon short, directed by Creator/RobertMcKimson (though it was initially planned by Creator/ArtDavis before his animation unit was disbanded due to budget issues) and starring Mac and Tosh, the "Goofy Gophers".
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6	An unnamed dog is on the Creator/WarnerBros lot, filming yet another silly ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon. After taking one too many pies to the face, he quits in disgust, resolving to go home and study [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]] so he can be a serious actor. He comes home to find the Goofy Gophers have gnawed through most of his book of Shakespeare and turned it into a bed. After the dog throws them out the window, the gophers vow revenge. The dog starts rehearsing lines from Shakespeare, but the gophers continually interfere with his rehearsal by making the lines come to life through ironic sight gags and literal visual puns.
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9	!!"A Ham in a Role" provides examples of:
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11	* AnimatedActors: The cartoon starts with the dog filming a ''Looney Tunes'' short. He is revealed to be an AnimatedActor who quits in a huff and goes home.
12	* BattyLipBurbling: The dog at the end after getting hit in the face with a pie while reciting Hamlet’s soliloquy.
13	-->'''Dog:''' To be or not to... ''[Splat!]'' ...b-b-b-b.
14	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The gophers have a horse ready to kick the dog all the way back to the studio, just as he recites, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"
15	* BookEnds: The short starts and ends with the dog getting his by a PieInTheFace and doing the BattyLipBurbling.
16	* BookSafe: An unusual case in which the gophers are themselves sleeping in a book.
17	* CartoonCheese: The gophers, each wearing a ClothespinNosePlug, dump stinky Limburger cheese on the dog as he's reciting the "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" line from ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''.
18	* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: The dog quits his job making silly cartoons to go study Shakespeare.
19	* DemBones: One of the gophers wears a glow-in-the-dark skeleton costume to spook the dog.
20	* TheEnd: The "ThatsAllFolks" card appears just a few seconds in. The cartoon isn't really ending, it's just the ShowWithinAShow.
21	* HollywoodMagnetism: The gophers use magnets to make the dog, who is wearing a suit of armor, slam against the ceiling and floor.
22	* InOneEarOutTheOther: The dog has been hit with so many pies they are literally coming out of his ears.
23	* InflatingBodyGag: When the dog plans to drink a toast, the gophers manage to pour an entire bathtub's worth of water down his throat.
24	* LargeHam: It's in the title! The dog is, in fact, super-hammy when reciting Shakespeare.
25	* LiteralAssKicking: By a horse, in fact—the horse kicks the dog right back into the Warner Brothers lot. The dog then gives up and goes back to work.
26	* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Meta example; the Spanish dub mistranslates "wherefore" as "donde" ("where"; correct is "por qué", as "wherefore" means "why", meaning that Juliet's line of "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" is her lamenting why the love of her life is a member of a rival family).
27	* OverlyPolitePals: The gophers, as usual.
28	* PieInTheFace: Opens with the dog getting a pie in the face, only to quit in disgust. At the cartoon's end, he is given a choice part where he begins Hamlet's soliloquy... and gets a pie in the face.
29	* [[ReferencedBy/WilliamShakespeare Referenced by...: William Shakespeare]]: The dog even has a portrait of Shakespeare on his wall! Over the course of the cartoon the dog recites from ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', ''Theatre/RichardIII'', and ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar''.
30	* ShowWithinAShow: The dog is filming a cartoon where he takes a PieInTheFace.

Context WesternAnimation / AHamInARole