"No Barking" is a standout short for a number of reasons. For animation geeks, the fact that Ken Harris was the sole animator for the entire short is certainly notable. The only appearance of Tweety in a Jones-directed cartoon is notable. Its a Milt Franklyn score instead of Carl Stalling. But only dog owners will be able to fully appreciate its most endearing quality- the fact that it accurately captures so many goofy dog behaviors that are absolutely hilarious. Sudden barking fits. Becoming convinced that an inanimate object has attacked. Mirror terrors. Bone-burying frenzies. And its not just the gag itself, its the expressions, the raised hairs, bared teeth, and subtle behaviors that are so spot-on (bad pun intended). Someone had a dog (or dogs) that deserved a lot of the "writing" credits on this one.
9 Reviews
Direction Was Better Than The Story
ccthemovieman-118 May 2007
I like the opening scene, with peaceful and what looks like a beautiful country shot....only to have a sign illuminated in the foreground which says, "City Dump."
The schizoid dog, zealously guarding his buried bone, growling and snarling one minute but cute, cuddly and waging his tale the next, had me laughing out loud several times. The reactions of the Claude The Cat were good, too.
However, after two minutes of this dog vs. cat story, it got tiresome. The dog's barking became abrasive and the dumb pooch lost its appeal. He became more of a pain in the butt than funny. In other words, his act wore thin. Claude The Cat, his opponent, is best when he's hanging upside down shaking. He played a good foil in here. At the end, we get a "guest appearance" by a certain famous Looney Tunes canary.
This cartoon had some wonderful direction and some great overhead shots I admired. It helped make up for a so-so story and elevated this to slightly-above average.
The schizoid dog, zealously guarding his buried bone, growling and snarling one minute but cute, cuddly and waging his tale the next, had me laughing out loud several times. The reactions of the Claude The Cat were good, too.
However, after two minutes of this dog vs. cat story, it got tiresome. The dog's barking became abrasive and the dumb pooch lost its appeal. He became more of a pain in the butt than funny. In other words, his act wore thin. Claude The Cat, his opponent, is best when he's hanging upside down shaking. He played a good foil in here. At the end, we get a "guest appearance" by a certain famous Looney Tunes canary.
This cartoon had some wonderful direction and some great overhead shots I admired. It helped make up for a so-so story and elevated this to slightly-above average.
A short weakened by a running gag which is wildly uneven in effectiveness, with a great beginning and a cute cameo
llltdesq4 August 2006
This short, which I must confess has two characters I find very unappealing, starts out marvelously for about the first 90 seconds, but the action quickly turns almost entirely to a series of setups for a running gag which is repeated (to varying degrees of effectiveness) so often that it starts to get tedious. The fact that the dog is a one-dimensional character of limited personality and that Claude Cat is limited here by the running gag only makes things more problematic. To a degree, the cameo by another Warner Brothers character and the ending of the short, along with a wonderful beginning, salvages this short and raises its overall score. This is on Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3 and is worth watching, though the Collection as a whole is most highly recommended without reservation. Not the best short I've seen, but far from the worst I've watched. Recommended
Claude Cat, Frisky Puppy, and a mystery surprise guest!
slymusic15 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Directed by Chuck Jones, with an exceptionally witty music score by Carl Stalling, "No Barking" is a Warner Bros. cartoon starring a wildly animated & obnoxious puppy named Frisky, who is a constant menace for Claude Cat. Whenever Claude least expects it, Frisky will suddenly appear and ferociously bark at him, thus frightening Claude into soaring upward in the air!
Highlights: After Claude eats a bluebird, two other bluebirds drop a brick on his head! The first time Claude gets barked upward by Frisky, Claude's facial expression is quite funny as he hangs upside down while clinging to a telephone pole and curses his luck while staring at the camera. In the end, once Claude finally gets his revenge with Frisky, a much bigger dog barks him upward, landing underneath the wing of an airplane! AND there just happens to be a surprise appearance by a much more familiar Warner Bros. cartoon character near the end of this film, although it IS a bit out of place and meaningless.
"No Barking" may not be the greatest cartoon ever made but is still enjoyable to watch. It can be found on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3, with an interesting audio commentary by animation director Greg Ford.
Highlights: After Claude eats a bluebird, two other bluebirds drop a brick on his head! The first time Claude gets barked upward by Frisky, Claude's facial expression is quite funny as he hangs upside down while clinging to a telephone pole and curses his luck while staring at the camera. In the end, once Claude finally gets his revenge with Frisky, a much bigger dog barks him upward, landing underneath the wing of an airplane! AND there just happens to be a surprise appearance by a much more familiar Warner Bros. cartoon character near the end of this film, although it IS a bit out of place and meaningless.
"No Barking" may not be the greatest cartoon ever made but is still enjoyable to watch. It can be found on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3, with an interesting audio commentary by animation director Greg Ford.
Ken Harris did all the animation
lee_eisenberg12 January 2008
Chuck Jones's "No Barking" has two factors that make it very unique: aside from being Jones's only cartoon that features Tweety (albeit in a bit part), all the animation was done by one person. Usually, they would have different people animate different scenes, but Ken Harris did it all here.
Anyway, the cartoon opens with the sun rising over what looks like an idyllic pastoral setting...and it turns out to be the city dump. From there, laconic Claude the Cat and not-so-laconic Frisky Puppy - who resembles Charlie Dog very closely - come up with every possible way to battle over turf. Specifically, FP's yapping makes Claude jump, and just when he looks safe, there's more in store. It's a little bit like the Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote cartoons in that respect, but I think that it's safe to say that nothing will ever top the latter for these kinds of plot lines.
So, I guess that this was mostly a placeholder (I've seen Claude in many cartoons with wise-guy mice Hubie and Bertie, but I've only seen Frisky Puppy in one other cartoon). Mostly, it's a hoot to see what happens to Claude here. Not Jones's best, but OK.
Anyway, the cartoon opens with the sun rising over what looks like an idyllic pastoral setting...and it turns out to be the city dump. From there, laconic Claude the Cat and not-so-laconic Frisky Puppy - who resembles Charlie Dog very closely - come up with every possible way to battle over turf. Specifically, FP's yapping makes Claude jump, and just when he looks safe, there's more in store. It's a little bit like the Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote cartoons in that respect, but I think that it's safe to say that nothing will ever top the latter for these kinds of plot lines.
So, I guess that this was mostly a placeholder (I've seen Claude in many cartoons with wise-guy mice Hubie and Bertie, but I've only seen Frisky Puppy in one other cartoon). Mostly, it's a hoot to see what happens to Claude here. Not Jones's best, but OK.
One of Chuck Jones's lesser known classics
phantom_tollbooth4 November 2008
Chuck Jones's 'No Barking' was the third in a trilogy of cartoons starring a character called Frisky Puppy. An immensely entertaining character, Frisky Puppy is a masterclass in observation, capturing the mannerisms of an irritatingly energetic puppy to a tee. Co-starring in 'No Barking' is another of Jones's best lesser-known players, Claude Cat. The cartoon opens with an exceptional sequence in which Claude wakes up in an urban junkyard with the sort of tranquil serenity that befits a far more idyllic setting. This gorgeous piece of animation sets the standard for this mini-masterpiece. Claude crosses paths with Frisky Puppy who scares the life out of him with his shrill, relentless barking, causing Claude to leap into the air in fright. Having done this once, the puppy finds it is fun and sets about terrorising Claude for the rest of the cartoon. Although it sounds like a mean concept, Frisky Puppy is so warm a character that it is immediately apparent that to him this is just a game rather than a vendetta. Jones skilfully makes the character a perfect balance between sweet and infuriating. The barking sound he makes is so grating and loud that it gets funnier the more it occurs, reducing Claude to a nervous wreck. The main action is interspersed with some beautiful animation of the puppy just being a puppy, switching from happy to confused to angry in a split second as he goes about his playful antics. This gives the cartoon a delightfully loose, plot less feel as we simply follow the two characters around until their paths cross. Although a good deal of credit for 'No Barking' must be given to Jones and writer Michael Maltese, a special mention is warranted for animator Ken Harris who animated the entire cartoon himself. The result is stunning.
It's one ugly cat versus one irritating dog . . .
oscaralbert7 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
. . . in one really cheap cartoon with only three credited animator/artists. No doubt the contest between this scraggly pair appealed to the American Public about as much as The Choice between Trump and Clinton in 2016. As President Obama once said, "A pox on BOTH your Houses!" The formula for NO BARKING is "Dog yaps. Cat clings upside down from ceiling (or ceiling substitute). Repeat indefinitely until EVERYONE hits the Snooze Button." Except for the Tweety Bird cameos, NO BARKING is dialog-free. As is often the case, this no-talking zone is pretty vacuous. Since it's clear that a Looney Tuner skeleton crew is rowing with one ore in the water here, viewers are bound to speculate about just WHAT was so urgent that half an animation squad appears to be M.I.A. Were the absentees tweaking the H-Bomb? Coming up with another polio vaccine? Conferring with Aliens at Roswell? Looking for Judge Crater? Resolving the Suez Crisis? Golfing with Ike? Hitching with Kerouac? Looting the trophy case at MGM Animation? Swowden only knows.
Entertaining cartoon that begins and ends wonderfully and is fantastically animated
TheLittleSongbird19 June 2016
'No Barking' is not going to work for everybody, but while it is not one of my favourites this reviewer still found a huge amount to like.
The repeated gag, for one repeated so often, does vary in execution. Sometimes it's very funny, like when Claude is frightened upwards but at others it does feel too repetitive and a little tedious. Tweety's cameo is very cute and slightly amusing, but doesn't add a huge amount to the cartoon and some may find it on the misplaced side.
However, 'No Barking' is fantastically animated, especially the visually gorgeous beginning and some wildly inventive animation on Frisky. One cannot believe that it was all the work of one man. Carl Stalling's music score fits beautifully and not just adds to the cartoon but enhances it. It's lushly and cleverly orchestrated as always, has a delicious wit and the rhythms are high in energy and character.
With 'No Barking', the highlights are the beginning, especially for the animation, and a very funny ending. The gags with the bluebirds and Claude being frightened upwards also add to the entertainment value. While not laugh-a-minute or completely hilarious, 'No Barking' is always amusing. The story is narratively so-so and not very surprising, but is high in charm and liveliness so it doesn't matter.
Frisky is superbly animated and a balance of amusing, infuriating and adorable is achieved very well here, though understandably he is a very love it or hate it character. One really does feel sorry for Claude too, and their chemistry entertains and drives the cartoon well. Mel Blanc does a fine job as can be expected.
All in all, begins and ends wonderfully and is fantastically animated. Not for everybody, but for me there was a lot to like. 8/10 Bethany Cox
The repeated gag, for one repeated so often, does vary in execution. Sometimes it's very funny, like when Claude is frightened upwards but at others it does feel too repetitive and a little tedious. Tweety's cameo is very cute and slightly amusing, but doesn't add a huge amount to the cartoon and some may find it on the misplaced side.
However, 'No Barking' is fantastically animated, especially the visually gorgeous beginning and some wildly inventive animation on Frisky. One cannot believe that it was all the work of one man. Carl Stalling's music score fits beautifully and not just adds to the cartoon but enhances it. It's lushly and cleverly orchestrated as always, has a delicious wit and the rhythms are high in energy and character.
With 'No Barking', the highlights are the beginning, especially for the animation, and a very funny ending. The gags with the bluebirds and Claude being frightened upwards also add to the entertainment value. While not laugh-a-minute or completely hilarious, 'No Barking' is always amusing. The story is narratively so-so and not very surprising, but is high in charm and liveliness so it doesn't matter.
Frisky is superbly animated and a balance of amusing, infuriating and adorable is achieved very well here, though understandably he is a very love it or hate it character. One really does feel sorry for Claude too, and their chemistry entertains and drives the cartoon well. Mel Blanc does a fine job as can be expected.
All in all, begins and ends wonderfully and is fantastically animated. Not for everybody, but for me there was a lot to like. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Someone please shut that dog up
utgard1414 November 2015
Chuck Jones short starring Claude Cat and featuring a cameo by Tweety. Claude's in the city dump looking for food when he attracts the attention of a frisky puppy that playfully (and loudly) barks at the cat, continually surprising him and causing him to leap into the air. It's a cute short but not an especially funny one. Jones sometimes did these shorts starring "lesser" characters where he had a little more leeway than working with Bugs Bunny or another established character. The problem here is there's basically one gag repeated over and over. Since we don't know Claude as well as a character like Sylvester, it doesn't work as well. Plus Claude never speaks. Put Sylvester in Claude's place here and maybe you've got a better short. Also the dog's barking gets very annoying after the first few times. It's not a complete dud, however. The animation is very nice and colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The music is lively and cheerful. It's too bad the short's just not that funny.
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