A Father's Day he'll never forget... though he'll wish he could.
"A Bear for Punishment" is a 1951 Looney Tunes short. In this cartoon, it's Father's Day, and Henry Bear just wants peace and quiet, but Mama and Junyer just won't leave him alone.
This short was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, and is the last short to star Jones' Three Bears.
"A Bear for Punishment" provides examples of:
- Ash Face: Happens to Henry when Junyer fills his pipe with gunpowder instead of tobacco.
- Bowdlerization:
- The ABC Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show version cuts the "Let's Give a Cheer for Father" song to remove the part where Junyer and Mama Bear fire off shotguns.
- The Nickelodeon version (seen in Looney Tunes on Nick) left in the gun part, and made two edits of their own:
- Papa Bear slamming an alarm clock in Junyer's face after Junyer shushes the clocks and they stop.
- Junyer misspelling a can of "gunpowder" as "tobacco" and congratulating himself on being a good speller.
- Breakfast in Bed: Junyer Bear prepared a breakfast in bed for Papa Bear (Henry) for Father's Day. Junyer Bear slips on a roller skate while carrying the breakfast tray, which sends the meal flying into the air and falling on top of Papa Bear.Henry Bear: I hate breakfast in bed!
- Cringe Comedy: With the "cringing" coming not just from the audience but from Pa himself. Ma and Junyer's well-meaning attempts at pleasing him become increasingly overbearing, culminating in them putting on a ridiculously sappy Father's Day pageant, which just leaves Pa in a state of constant shock and embarrassment rather than flattery.
- Dangerously Close Shave: With a jagged, smashed blade yet.
- The Ditz: Junyer, who spells "tobacco" as "G-U-N-P-O-W-D-E-R"."I am a good speller, I am! C-A-T, dog! B-A-T, Rhode Island!
- Grand Finale: A patriotic tableau of Ma as Washington, Junyer as Lincoln, a rather stunned Pa as the Statue of Liberty, and fireworks and waving flags.
- Lethally Stupid: Junyer uses gunpowder thinking it's tobacco for his father's pipe, which causes Henry to fly back into the wall after Junyer lights it for him.
- Metaphoric Metamorphosis: At one point, after yelling at his wife, Henry becomes a "first-class heel".
- Pet the Dog: When Henry angrily yelled at his wife asking what she wants, Ma calmly pulled out a little present and said today is Father’s Day. Henry Metaphoric Metamorphosis into a “first-class heel” showing that he actually did feel bad for yelling at her.
- Please Wake Up: After Junyer’s attempt to shave Pa ends with them crashing in a closet, Junyer comes out and says, "Ma, Pa won't talk to me. I nudged him, and I nudged him, but he's awfully still." Ma draws a cloth over the cake she was decorating. Subverted when Pa's scratched-up hand grabs Junyer as we hear the sound of offscreen violence. A black-eyed Junyer happily reports that Pa's okay!
- Split Hair: Inverted. When Junyer tests the razor, the hair breaks the blade (or rather, the blade is broken when Junyer slams the blade down through a chair arm).
- This Is Gonna Suck: Henry's reaction to Junyer about to trip over a rollerskate while carrying his breakfast-in-bed.
- Too Gruesome for Cartoon Physics: Junior Bear chases Henry Bear with a shredded (by accident) straight razor (for "a good-ol' shave for good ol' Pa, on good-ol' Father's Day") throughout the house-cave, resulting in a rather messy collision in one of the rooms, if the sound of crashing appliances is anything to go by. Junior Bear peeks out of the door saying that "...Pa won't talk to me. I nudged him, and I nudged him, but he's awfully still", and Mama Bear covers the cake she had been making for Henry with a white sheet. This is subverted, however, when Pa reaches out of the door with a tattered sleeve, pulls Junior in, and gives him a thorough beating.Junior Bear (with a pair of black eyes): Pa is all right now, Ma! [gets pulled back inside again to be beaten some more]
