Back Alley Oproar is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodiesanimated short directed by Friz Freleng The short was released on March 27, 1948, and features Sylvester and Elmer Fudd. The title is a play on "uproar" and "opera". This is a rare exception for Sylvester as he wins in this cartoon. It is a remake of Freleng's Notes to You.
Summary
Elmer is ready for bedtime, but Sylvester has other plans as he starts singing in Elmer's back yard. A series of gags play out, as Elmer tries everything up his sleeve to get rid of that unwanted pest. Elmer eventually confronts Sylvester, but before Elmer can blast him with his shotgun, Sylvester sings a sweet, gentle lullaby to ease him into a deep sleep. However, this doesn't last, and the insanity continues. Elmer eventually dies from explosives from his attempts to get rid of Sylvester. His spirit ends up in Heaven, on a cloud ascending into space. Momentarily, he thinks he will finally get some peace and quiet. However, the spirits of Sylvester's nine lives ascend around him, with the male and female cloned ones following them, each with a numeral on its back, singing in a multi-nonet from "Lucia di Lammermoor", with their voices. Just after one of the cat spirits steals his halo, Elmer's spirit dives off his cloud and a crash is heard off-screen.
Production
Back Alley Oproar is a remake of Notes to You, a Looney Tunes short that was also directed by Freleng. It has a similar plot, although the ending of the original does not have the characters die from an explosion, and the roles of Elmer and Sylvester were taken by Porky Pig and an unnamed alley cat. Back Alley Oproar is one of the few entries in which Sylvester "wins out" over another character, albeit at the presumed cost of his life. Back Alley Oproar was remade by Freleng in 1967 for The Inspector series as Le Quiet Squad.
Release
Back Alley Oproar was reissued with new Blue Ribbon opening titles and aired on television like this as well. The original title card was restored for the ' DVD and ', uncut and uncensored.
