A Day at the Zoo

A Day at the Zoo
Production company	Leon Schlesinger Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	March 11, 1939
Run time	7:00
Starring	Mel Blanc
Narrated by	Gilman Rankin
Producer(s)	Leon Schlesinger
Music composed by	Carl Stalling
Story by	Dave Monahan
Animation	Virgil Ross
Director(s)	Tex Avery
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A Day at the Zoo is the one hundred and seventeenth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on March 11, 1939. It was written by Melvin Millar, produced by Leon Schlesinger and directed by Tex Avery.

Memorable quotes

Monkey: HEY SISTER! CAN'T YA READ!?

Narrator: Listen up, fella. This is the second time I have to speak to you. Leave that lion alone, I'm warning you.
Elmer: I'm a baaad boy!

Wildcat: What made me wild? What made me wild!? Well, I'll tell ya! They called my name out at bank night and I wasn't there!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Narrator (voice only)	Gilman Rankin
Elmer Fudd	Mel Blanc

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • California
      • Hollywood

Music

The music was composed by Carl Stalling.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: March 11, 1939 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• This short fell into the public domain, due to United Artists failing to renew the copyright in 1967.
• Elmer's repeated use of the line, "I'm a baaad boy!", is taken from a catchphrase by comedian Lou Costello.
• When this short aired on Cartoon Network, the visual gag of camels smoking cigarettes is removed.

Everlasting influence

• A brief clip of the short was used in the 2023 film Five Nights at Freddy's.