The Ant and the Aardvark

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Ant and the Aardvark was a theatrical cartoon series created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, the same company who created The Pink Panther, among other cartoons, including most of the Looney Tunes cartoons from the late 1950s. The series consisted of 17 cartoons that ran from 1969 to 1971. It followed the misadventures of a blue aardvark who tried but failed to eat a red ant named Charlie. After its initial theatrical run, The Ant and the Aardvark later became a part of The Pink Panther Show, with all 17 episodes airing in reruns.

All of the shorts were directed by Friz Freleng.

Filmography:

Copied from Wikipedia:

  1. "The Ant and the Aardvark" (March 5, 1969): The ant spots a picnic and goes there to relax and collect some food. When the aardvark shows up, he tries to eat the ant.
  2. "Hasty But Tasty" (March 6, 1969): The aardvark uses something called "Instant Hole" to try to catch the ant. When it fails, his trick backfires on him.
  3. "The Ant from Uncle" (April 2, 1969): The aardvark tries to invite the ant to a "Relaxation Club." The club is actually the aardvark's stomach.
  4. "I've Got Ants in My Plans" (May 14, 1969): The Blue Aardvark has a battle against another anteater called the Green Aardvark to see who gets to eat the ant.
  5. "Technology, Phooey" (June 25, 1969): The Aardvark builds and programs a computer to help him try to catch the ant. He listens to the computer's advice, but it doesn't do the aardvark much good.
  6. "Never Bug an Ant" (September 12, 1969): The aardvark tries to use his vacuum inhale trick so he can have the ant for lunch.
  7. "Dune Bug" (October 27, 1969): The aardvark finds the ant at a beach and tries to catch the ant like always, however, he must get past the lifeguard, who believes he's a dog and won't allow him on the beach.
  8. "Isle of Caprice" (December 18, 1969): The Aardvark is marooned on a deserted island, with another one full of ants in the distance. He tries to get to the other island by any means possible, but a shark won't make it easy for him.
  9. "Scratch a Tiger" (January 28, 1970): A tiger who owes the ant a favor is tasked with keeping him and his fellow ants safe from the Blue Aardvark.
  10. "Odd Ant Out" (April 28, 1970): The Blue Aardvark and the Green Aardvark have another battle for who gets to eat a can of chocolate-covered ants.
  11. "Ants in the Pantry" (June 10, 1970): The aardvark takes over an exterminator's job for catching ant. The aardvark tries to get to get rid of the ant by, like always, try to make him his meal.
  12. "Science Friction" (June 28, 1970): A scientist is trying to study the ant and won't let the aardvark ruin his studies.
  13. "Mumbo Jumbo" (September 27, 1970): The ant, as a member of the Brothers of the Forest Lodge 202, has a gang of animal friends, especially an elephant, that won't let the aardvark eat the ant.
  14. "The Froze Nose Knows" (November 18, 1970): A very heavy snowstorm hits the forest, forcing the aardvark to use winter-themed tactics to catch and eat the ant.
  15. "Don't Hustle an Ant with Muscle" (December 27, 1970): The ant discovers a jar of vitamin strength pills that make him have stronger and larger muscles, giving him the upper hand against the aardvark.
  16. "Rough Brunch" (January 3, 1971): When the aardvark yet again, tries to eat the ant, a termite helps the ant.
  17. "From Bed to Worse" (June 16, 1971): The aardvark and the ant both get broken legs, so they are put in a hospital where the aardvark still tries to have the ant for lunch.
Tropes used in The Ant and the Aardvark include:
  • Absentee Actor: The Ant has no lines in "Isle of Caprice".
  • Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: The eponymous Aardvark is colored blue, which is unusual for a real aardvark.
  • American Accents: John Byner imitated comedian Jackie Mason to provide the voice (and subsequent vaguely-Jewish accent) for Aardvark.
  • Androcles' Lion: This was the plot to "Scratch a Tiger", where the Tiger agrees to protect Ant and his gang from the hungry Aardvark after he pulled a thorn off his foot. In the end, the Tiger steps on another thorn and this time the Aardvark pulls it off. You can guess what happens next.
  • Annoying Patient: The episode "From Bed To Worse" was actually based around this trope.
  • Artistic License Biology: Aardvarks can eat ants, but they actually normally eat termites. The aardvark in this cartoon has its mouth at the tip of its snout like an anteater, but has ears like an aardvark. To stretch things further, this aardvark hates termites, and won't eat anything but ants.
  • Beach Episode: "Dune Bug"
  • Butt Monkey: The Aardvark
  • Deadpan Snarker: Both Aardvark and Charlie.
  • Deserted Island: Aardvark winds up on one of these in "Isle of Caprice".
  • Did Not Do the Research/I Am Not Weasel: Aardvark refers to himself as an anteater in most of the cartoons, despite the fact that he doesn't look much like an anteater.
  • Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: The shark who chases after Aardvark in "Isle of Caprice".
  • Everything's Worse with Bears: The bear who beats the crap out of Aardvark in his house in "The Froze Nose Knows".
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Happens fairly often to the Aardvark.
  • Gender Flip: Aardvark was changed to a female character named Elise in the German version.
  • Green Around the Gills: Aardvark's face turns green briefly in "The Ant From Uncle", when Charlie lights a cigar in his stomach and smoke comes out of his ears.
  • Inevitable Waterfall: In "Hasty But Tasty", this was averted and then inverted when the aardvark, on a motorcycle, falls over a cliff into a river. He restarted the bike at the last possible moment to do a miracle 180... only to fall off the other waterfall behind him.
  • Informed Species: Aardvark doesn't look very much like an actual aardvark.
  • Jerkass: Aardvark. Very much so.
  • Metronomic Man-Mashing: This happens after the ant takes some vitamins.
  • No Can Opener: This is the plot of "Odd Ant Out". The blue and green aardvarks fight over a can of chocolate-covered ants, but neither of them has a can opener.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: John Byner voiced Aardvark in the style of comedian Jackie Mason, while voicing Charlie Ant in the style of singer/western actor Dean Martin. In fact, most of the minor characters that John Byner voiced were imitations of famous celebrities of that time period.
  • No Indoor Voice: The lifeguard from "Dune Bug" who constantly mistook Aardvark for a dog.
  • The Noun and the Noun
  • Nude-Colored Clothes: Aardvark is a rare animal example.
  • Panthera Awesome: The tiger from "Scratch a Tiger".
  • Pepper Sneeze: In "Ants in the Pantry", the aardvark inhales a large amount of pepper and sneezes hard enough to go flying out of the house through a brick wall. When he sneezes again, he re-enters the house through the same hole.
  • Picnic Episode: The first episode.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: In "From Bed to Worse", Aardvark says while whacking with his cane on the dog's leg cast: "DON'T! BE! A! WISE! GUY!"
  • The Rival: The green aardvark in "I've Got Ants in My Plans" and "Odd Ant Out".
  • Road Runner vs. Coyote
  • Rule of Funny: Whenever Aardvark tries to suck up Charlie, the sound of a vacuum cleaner is used.
  • Running Gag: So many to name;
    • "Hasty But Tasty", the instant hole showing up at unfortunate times and foiling Aardvark's plans.
    • "Dune Bug", Aardvark getting kicked off the beach by the lifeguard who keeps telling him "OFF THE BEACH!!!!".
    • "Isle of Caprice", the shark chasing after Aardvark every time he tries to invade the ants' island.
    • "Scratch A Tiger", the tiger beating up Aardvark every time he tries to eat the ants.
    • "Science Friction", the scientist kicking Aardvark out of his lab when he tries to eat Charlie.
    • "Mumbo Jumbo", Aardvark getting beaten up by Charlie's friend, Tiny the elephant.
    • "Don't Hustle An Ant With Muscle", Charlie using his newfound strength to give Aardvark the what-for.
    • "Rough Brunch", Term eating any of the wood around him to help Charlie out against Aardvark.
  • Sarcasm Failure: In "Technology, Phooey", the Aardvark's quicksand trap backfires on him, prompting him to quip "I'd say something right now, but it would only be censored!"
    • In "Never Bug An Ant," Charlie moves his anthill over flat land. Aardvark puts a lit stick of dynamite in the anthill, runs and covers his ears. Charlie yells "POW!" as Aardvark puts his head in and says "Hey, Ant! Whaddaya think of that?" After the dynamite explodes in his face, Aardvark walks off saying "I know what I think of that...but I shouldn't say it in public!"
  • Seldom-Seen Species: Aardvark
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: The Boris Karloff-sounding scientist used this a lot when examining Charlie in "Science Friction".
  • She's a Man In Japan: The Aardvark is supposed to be female in Germany, for unknown reason. It`s given a female voiceactor and is called Elise or "(die) blaue Elise" ("blue Elise") by the Ant (who`s called Charlie) and sometimes herself.
  • Shout-Out: To Charley's Aunt (1892), a classic Broadway comedy also adapted to numerous films over the years. 1950s revivals featured the likes of Jackie Gleason and Ray Bolger, making the name choice for Charlie Ant quite obvious.
  • Strong Ants: Charlie himself. Played to ridiculous proportions in "Don't Hustle An Ant With Muscle".
  • Talking to Himself: As stated above, Aardvark and Charlie are both voiced by John Byner.
  • Termite Trouble: The episode "Rough Brunch" had Aardvark being accosted by a termite named Term, who just so happened to be Charlie's cousin.
  • Through a Face Full of Fur: Aardvark's body color diverted from normal in a few of the featurettes in various cases (even his clothes). The following in which these occurred include:
    • In the very first short titled "The Ant And The Aardvark", Aardvark's entire body turned red after sticking his snout in Charlie's ant hill, trying to suck in the ant. The hue change happens when he inhales Tabasco sauce, flames emit from the bottom of his feet, and he launches into the air like a rocket before landing in a lake. He then drinks up some of a lake to cool down, which reverts his color to his usual blue.
    • In the same short, Aardvark's full body turns green from illness, after inhaling and exhaling cigar smoke into Charlie's ant hill in an effort to smoke him out of it (his eyes become a bloodshot reddish/pinkish color as well).
    • In "Hasty But Tasty", Aardvark's usual blue hue is changed to black, following an explosion from a rocket when it and Aardvark fall into the "instant hole" at the end.
    • In "Isle of Caprice", Aardvark's body also turns black from another explosion after attempting to fire himself from a cannon and to another island. It does fire, but he isn't shot out of it, so he doesn't launch.
    • In "Technology, Phooey", Aardvark attempts to use some spray on Charlie. But instead, he inadvertently ends up spraying himself, which results in the side effect reaction of him switching positions quickly and spasmodically, and changing into an assortment of colors and patterns.
    • In "The Froze Nose Knows", Aardvark's body becomes a pale shade of blue twice, covered with ice, shivering and walking away stiffly once, and back to his cave to warm up, and thaw off the ice, after having fallen into a hole in a frozen lake while pursuing Charlie; the other time when he gets into bed with a bear (who moved into what was the anteater's cave, having stolen it and claiming it as his home), who pummels and sends him flying across and back outside. Aardvark climbs out the hole the second time, quits pursuing Charlie and hitchhikes to Palm Springs.
  • Tree Buchet: Happens a lot.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Ant_and_the_Aardvark?oldid=1963197"