Dr. Jerkyl's Hide

Dr. Jerkyl's Hide is a 1954 Warner Bros. cartoon. It is the first of three cartoons that Friz Freleng made based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the others are Hyde and Hare (1955) and Hyde and Go Tweet (1960). This is the final appearances of the antagonistic canine duo Spike the Bulldog (here named "Alfie" in this short) and Chester the Terrier from the Golden Age of American Animation; speaking with a British accent though.

This cartoon's plot follows the same formula as Tree For Two (1952), except that this time it's a Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde parody as opposed to an escaped black panther. Sylvester is trying to escape a pair of dogs (Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier). He accidentally ingests Dr. Jekyll's formula (thinking it's soda pop), causing him to become a monster cat that terrorizes Spike the Bulldog and causes Chester to call him a coward.

Plot

Alfie and Chester are walking down the street as Chester constantly asks Alfie what he wants them to do today. When Chester mentions chasing a cat, Alfie is interested. Then, the two dogs come across a sleeping Sylvester until he wakes up to realize he is being confronted by dogs. Sylvester panics and runs as he is being chased by the dogs until he takes refuge inside a place under the names, "Dr. Jerkyl" and "Mr. Hyde". Out of breath, Sylvester accidentally ingests Dr. Jerkyl's formula; thinking it's soda pop, which causes him to become a monster cat. Alfie enters the place only to confront and be terrorized by the monstrous Sylvester. Alfie comes out scared white as a confused Chester comes in to check the place only to find Sylvester, having turned back to normal. Chester then encourages Alfie to continue with his pursuit of the cat. Sylvester hides inside a footlocker, only to be spotted by Alfie. Alfie coaxes Sylvester to come out, only to be confronted by the cat's monster form again; leaving him completely scratched and falling apart into pieces literally once he comes out of the room. As the monster cat makes it way in, Alfie runs in fear while Chester has his back turned but the monster cat suddenly reverts back to normal. When Sylvester tries to scare Chester away, he gets beaten and thrown away by Chester. Then, Chester forces Alfie at gunpoint to come back inside and confront the cat again before locking the door. As Alfie panics, Sylvester escapes through the window. Relieved that he is gone, Alfie takes advantage of this by faking a fight between himself to fool Chester while throwing and smashing glasses and beakers. Then, Alfie accidentally throws the formula which makes its way on to a fly that suddenly transforms into a monster fly and proceeds to beat up Alfie and throw him out the place. When both dogs see the monster fly slam the door shut, Chester slaps Alfie out of shame and calls him "yellow". The next day, Chester and Alfie are walking down the street with Chester wearing Alfie former hat as Alfie constantly asks Chester what he wants them to do today, which earns him a slap as Alfie breaks the fourth wall by telling how brave and strong Chester is as his own hero.

References

External links

• Dr. Jerkyl's Hide on IMDb
• Dr. Jerkyl's Hide at The Big Cartoon DataBase