Unnatural History (1959 short)

Unnatural History

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Professor Beest Lee

Mel Blanc (Rover, Man with Talking Dog, Talking Dog, John, Martian, Cal)

June Foray (Hen)
Ed Prentiss (Professor Beest Lee)

Mel Blanc (Porcupines)

Daws Butler (Mouse, Beaver)

18962

External links
IMDb page

Unnatural History is a 1959 Merrie Melodies short directed by Abe Levitow.

Professor Beest Lee narrates clips of animals and their quirky behavior. Scenes include:

An ant running around in circles above and below the ground with a crumb
Kissing porcupines
A Bugs Bunny-like rabbit sent into space and returning with an alien wife and kids
An orangutan that saws a hole in the ceiling to pull down a fridge
A beaver literally damning a river when a piece broke off
A man who proclaims his dog can talk (where all the dog's responses are barks though its actually true when we saw him mentioning that he probably should've said "DiMaggio" after they were thrown out of a talent agency office)
Another man doing a pigeon act, but the pigeons flew out the window (a gag previously used in cartoons "Curtain Razor" and "Show Biz Bugs")
A groundhog who uses advanced technology to predict the weather
A mouse that scares an elephant but is scared by a tiny elephant (in a throwback to "Punch Trunk")
A hospital room with a dog who has a cat latched onto his leg and won't let go
A chameleon that can blend into different color screens is soon interrupted by a plaid screen, which he doesn't want to mimic
A dog patiently waiting on the front porch for his master that hasn't been home in years; his master was revealed to be Professor Beest Lee.

Working Title: "Is Zat Zoo?"
The rabbit couple's names, Martian and John, are a reference to the 1951 Stan Freberg song "John and Marsha". "Wild Wife", "Punch Trunk", and "The Unexpected Pest" also reference this record.
MeTV aired this short 14 July 2021 on Toon In with Me, however, this airing appears unrestored.