8 /10 1 Votes8
Release date(s) February 23, 1946 Language English | Produced by Edward Selzer Running time 7 min. Initial release 23 February 1946 Film series Merrie Melodies Distributed by Warner Bros. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Similar Pizzicato Pussycat, The Gay Anties, Of Thee I Sting, Hollywood Daffy, The Cat Came Back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Holiday for Shoestrings is a 1946 Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The plot concerns a pack of elves who help a shoemaker, Jake, who has advertised for help. The cartoon is set to a number of classical music pieces, some of which are used as running gags, especially from "The Nutcracker Suite". The title is a play on the David Rose number "Holiday for Strings". However, that tune is not played in the score.
The cartoon is done largely in pantomime, with the occasional (unintelligble) bickering of elves, many of which look like miniature versions of Elmer Fudd with elf-like ears (anticipating a similar role played by Elmer 10 years later). The twist on the usual story is that the bedridden shoemaker, suddenly feeling much better upon seeing the elves working feverishly, tries to sneak out to play golf. The elves drag Jake back to bed, tie him down a la Gulliver, and are seen dragging the golf clubs out of the house for themselves to play a round with, at iris-out.