Credits: Supervision by – Rudolf Ising Summary: A henpecked king wishes he was young again. Description: The camera zooms in on a tapestry, on which we see a fountain on the bottom of long series of steps. The scene comes alive, and we watch as a procession of royal servants march down these incredibly long steps. First are the royal buglers, followed by the red carpet, a dachshund sweeping the carpet with a broom on his tail, an effeminate pansy sprinkling flowers, two empty suits of armor accompanying the servant carrying the crown, and finally the portly King Louis himself. The king scoffs at the cheers of his fans as he approaches his throne. After he sits, two guards bow to him, revealing the long underwear under their uniforms. “Scram!” shouts the king, who quickly falls asleep on the throne. The skinny queen now enters the palace, singing the title tune. At the end of her incredibly long train is an old man in a wheel-chair — not exactly the kind of person you’d expect to sing about being “Young and Healthy”. But the old codger proves us wrong by getting up out of his chair, twirling his leg around, doing a little dance and then shouting “Wheeee!”. The king wakes up and opens his Jimmy Durante-in-a-box, which gives him a good laugh. The queen approaches a guard and asks “Is his majesty ready for the ball?”. “The ball?!” asks a series of guards, leading up to the Durante-in-a-box who relays the question to the king. “Balls, parties and picnics! Bah!” shouts the king. The queen then threatens the king in song, and he responds by singing “Let’s Put Out the Lights and Go to Sleep”. The Durante-in-a-box pops out again, but the queen gives it a hard smack. “Am I mortified!” shouts Durante, just before he collapses and dies! The king begins to sob as he holds the lifeless toy, then walks over to the balcony where he sobs even louder. He stops suddenly when he hears the noise of children playing on the grounds below him. “Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” shouts the king as he runs to join the youngsters. We observe shots of the children on swings, chasing butterflies, playing merry-go-round, jumping rope (with a cow’s tail), playing on a cart, bouncing into feeding troughs, and other examples of youthful playfulness. The kings shouts “Hey kids!” as he slides down the banister of the long steps, and the children respond by removing a railing which sends the king flying into a tub of water. The children gather around him and laugh, but the king is a good sport and laughs with them. “Come on, kids!” shouts the king, and the children jump onto him as he climbs up the steps towards his palace. He resumes the title song, with the help of three little girls who sing harmony. The queen hears this and runs out, sternly shouting “Louis!”, but the children run up to her and start swinging on her skirt. The queen screams and runs into the camera with her mouth agape. The king reaches the top of the steps and laughs at this, but a steady stream of children run between his legs and cause him to fall over backwards, tumbling down the steps. As the kids run amuck in the palace, the kings rolls to the bottom of the steps and bounces into the fountain. His head emerges and spits out some fish, but the scene freezes and pulls back, revealing the tapestry with the king now placed squarely within the fountain. Notes:
Memorable Scenes: Video Availability: Laserdisc: Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 5
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