Mark Twain once famously, humorously, and wisely noted, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
Ah yes, the older we get, the more we realize the wisdom that our fathers shared with us. A father is someone to be celebrated every day, especially on Father’s Day.
As I did for Mother’s Day last month, here are some classic cartoon shorts that celebrate Dads, each one of them perfect viewing for Father’s Day.
Back in 2021, I compiled Disney short subjects featuring Goofy as Dad, so this article shines a spotlight on some of the other animation studios that shine a spotlight on Fathers:
“Little Swee‘Pea” (1936) – Fleischer Studios
This classic short centers on the father-son relationship between Popeye and Swee’Pea.
“Little Swee‘Pea” opens with Popeye heading to Olive Oyl’s house. When he arrives, he presents the flowers and asks Olive if she would like to go to the zoo.
She says that she can’t but asks if Popeye will take Swee‘Pea, which he gladly does. Olive warns that he doesn’t want Popeye to scare the child. So begins the great, at times death-defying, adventure for the two of them.
Swee‘Pea crawls out of his carriage and makes his way into several of the animal’s pens. With no fear, he first crawls around an elephant’s legs, then through an alligator’s mouth, in with a hippo, and finally rides atop a leopard.
Of course, Popeye eventually breaks out his spinach and is able to face off against the hippo, getting Swee’Pea safely home to Olive. He gives Swee‘Pea a monkey toy, which, ironically, scares the infant. After this, Olive comes out, chastising Popeye for scaring Swee’Pea.
Directed by Dave Fleischer, with animation by Seymour Kneitel and William Henning, “Little Swee’Pea” features some handsome, fluid animation that was a hallmark of these cartoon shorts.
There are nice moments of personality, where Swee‘Pea walks behind Popeye, imitating the Sailor Man’s two-step, and some dynamic animation where Swee‘Pea interacts with the animals (the constant movement in the sequence where the infant crawls around an elephant’s moving legs is dizzying).
There are also the backgrounds, accomplished thanks to the Fleischer Studio’s creative method of using small model miniatures, which help the sequences spring to life here.
Voicing Popeye here is Jack Mercer, who provides some of his great, probably improvised, mumbles, “Alright zipper mouth, you asked for it!” he says when he squares off with the alligator. Mae Questel provides the voice of Olive in the short.
When Olive chastises Popeye at the conclusion, he sings to the tune of “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man”: “There’s no ifs or maybes, I’ll never have babies, I’m Popeye the sailor man!”
But we all know that’s not true – anyone who would battle an elephant, alligator, hippo, and leopard for “Little Swee’Pea” makes for a great dad.
“Pop ‘Im Pop” (1950) – Warner Bros.
Directed by Robert McKimson, this Sylvester the Cat Looney Tunes short marked the debut of his son, Sylvester, Jr. (both characters voiced by Mel Blanc).
‘Pop ‘Im Pop” opens at a circus, which features the act Gracie, the boxing kangaroo. Gracie’s child, Hippety Hopper (who made a debut two years earlier in the short “Hop, Look and Listen”), leaves the circus grounds while Gracie is on stage and wanders into a nearby neighborhood.
It’s in a backyard in this neighborhood where Sylvester is regaling his son, Sylvester Jr., with tall tales of how he battled a giant mouse.
When all of a sudden, what looks to be a giant mouse – Hippety – appears behind Sylvester, and Dad has to spend the remainder of the short then attempting to fight the “giant mouse” to prove himself to Junior.
And Sylvester, Jr. does indeed lay on the guilt: “Come on, Pop, go get the mouse like you said you would unless you want to destroy a child’s faith in his father.”
After several failed attempts to fight Hippety, Sylvester follows the kangaroo back to the circus. After Hippety ducks into a tent, Sylvester pretends to tell the kangaroo off to save face with Junior.
When Sylvester then blusters that he could have taken on a mouse twice that size with two heads and four arms, that’s precisely what comes out from the tent – in the form of Gracie carrying Hippety in her pouch.
Sylvester and Junior run away as the short ends.
Creative and funny sight gags fill “Pop ‘Im Pop,” including one where Sylvester continues to take running charges as Hippety, only to be continually bounced back, and another ongoing gag with a construction worker laying cement on a sidewalk that pays off near the conclusion.
With a story by Warren Foster, animation by such talents as Charles McKimson, Phil DeLara, and Bill Melendez, and skillful direction from McKimson, “Pop ‘Im Pop” was a perfect introduction for Sylvester and his son – a unique, comical father-son dynamic that’s a solid part of Looney Tunes history.
“Love That Pup” (1949) – MGM
This Tom and Jerry short featured the debut of the father-and-son bulldog team of Spike (Pat McGeehan, imitating Jimmy Durante) and Tyke. Spike had been around in Tom & Jerry cartoons, but this was the first to feature him with Tyke. They would become regulars alongside the Cat and Mouse and eventually have starring short subjects of their own.
In this cartoon, they are known as simply “Father” and “Son,” as noted above their dog houses. Out of a nearby house, Tom chases after Jerry, who runs into Tyke’s doghouse. When Tom lifts Tyke out of the doghouse, Spike threatens Tom never to bother his son again.
Jerry knows exactly what to do from here to stay safe and cozies up to the bulldog and his son so that Tom will have to disturb them to get to Jerry. What results from here is a series of blackout or cutaway gags, where Tom does disturb the dogs and gets Spike’s wrath.
Directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with animation by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, and Irven Spence, among others, the humor is prototypical of Tom and Jerry and well-played, including one moment where Tom accidentally winds up with Spike’s dentures and another where Tom lures Spike into a shed with a steak.
There’s also well-played subtle animation toward the conclusion, where Tom realizes that he mistakenly trapped Tyke in a barrel, and Spike is about to follow through on his promise to skin the cat.
That’s precisely what the bulldog does, as the short ends with Spike, Tyke, and Jerry napping on a “Tom skin rug.” Hey, never let it be said that fathers won’t do anything for their sons.
So, there are just three classic cartoon shorts that are perfect to enjoy for Father’s Day. There are many, many more out there, and any and all of them are an ideal way to celebrate Dad and the laughs, the love, and, as Mr. Twain noted, the wisdom that Fathers have shared with us throughout our lives.
Happy Father’s Day!
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
I’ve always loved the expertly drawn zoo “aminals” in “Little Swee’ Pea”; the studio had certainly come a long way in just the few short years since “Wild Elephinks”. I’m also very fond of the similar “Lost and Foundry”, in which the baby cheerfully explores a factory filled with dangerous machinery of indeterminate function. In that one, however, it’s Swee’ Pea who eats spinach and saves the day!
Of course, Popeye isn’t really Swee’ Pea’s father. But the less said about “Popeye and Son”, on Father’s Day or at any other time, the better.
Most of us remember that Hanna and Barbera later came up with another cartoon “Doggie Daddy” who, like Spike, frequently said “That’s my boy!” in a Durante-esque voice. Not to mention Snuffles, whose pups shared his enthusiasm for dog biscuits.
Here’s to our fathers — and to our fathers’ fathers!
The Fleischer Popeye run features more cartoons than one might expect centering around father/son relationships, of varying types: we have Popeye caring for the orphan Swee’Pea, being a father figure to his nephews, and struggling with his own cantankerous Poopdeck Pappy. I suspect a fair number of people would resonate more strongly with “Goonland” or “Popeye the Sailor with Poopdeck Pappy” this weekend than with more traditional Father’s Day fare.
I guess “A Bear for Punishment” is too obvious. But how about “Goonland”?
A review of “Gulliver’s Travels” accused Fleischer of stealing a gag (King Bombo smelling flowers with vacuum cleaner force) from Disney’s “Ferdinand,” ignoring or unaware of the fact that Olive did it first in “Little Swee’ Pea.”
There were several father figures besides Popeye: Donald Duck, of course, had his nephews; Jerry was a guardian to diapered Nibbles until the latter matured into a sidekick; Foghorn Leghorn periodically attempted to set a manly example for little Egghead; Mr. Magoo appeared to be Waldo’s guardian; Herman the Mouse occasionally had charge of one or more nephews; and Woody Woodpecker was uncle to Knothead and Splinter. One could argue Marc Anthony was a father figure to his kitten.
Then there were lead characters who had onscreen fathers: Andy Panda was originally kind of a straight man to his dad; Baby Huey’s comic book pa appeared at least once in a cartoon; Henry Hawk’s old man was given to melodramatic poses; and perhaps Betty Boop’s Grampy should be recognized as her only elder relative.
Mickey officially had two nephews, but early on he’d be tending mobs of “orphans” who looked just like him.
And Warners and C.M.Jones had the 3 bears – whose final short A Bear For Punishment (1951), was about Father’s Day.
The greatest Father’s day cartoon of all is “A Bear For Punishment” by Chuck Jones with Henry Bear, Mrs. Bear and Junyer Bear.