Nelly's Folly

Nelly's Folly
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	December 30, 1961
Starring	Gloria Wood Ed Prentiss John A. Ford Mel Blanc
Producer(s)	David H. DePatie John W. Burton
Music composed by	Milt Franklyn
Story by	Dave Detiege Chuck Jones
Animation	Richard Thompson Ben Washam Tom Ray Ken Harris
Director(s)	Chuck Jones
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Title card
Second title card

Nelly's Folly is the four hundred and seventy-third Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 30, 1961. It was written by Dave Detiege, produced by David H. DePatie, and both written and directed by Chuck Jones.

The plot centers on a giraffe named Nelly, who made to the big city, became famous as a signing idol, found love and lost everything to due her follies.

Memorable quotes

Bird: Poor, wittle gurl...

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Nelly the Giraffe	Gloria Wood
Narrator	Ed Prentiss

Locations

• Earth
  • Africa
  • United States
    • New York
      • New York City
        • Central Park Zoo

Music

The music was scored by Milt Franklyn.

Songs and Cues

• "Voices of Spring", by Johann Strauss
• "Auld Lang Syne" - used for Algonquin Rutabaga Tonic jingle.
• "The Flower of Gower Gulch" by Michael Maltese
• 'lAloha Oe" by Queen Liliuokalani
• "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" (also known as "The Red, White and Blue")
• "Then You'll Remember Me" from Balfe's opera "The Bohemian Girl"

Crew credits

• Co-Direction: Maurice Noble and Abe Levitow
• Layouts: Maurice Noble (uncredited)
• Backgrounds: Philip DeGuard
• Film Editor: Treg Brown

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: December 30, 1961 in theatres

Behind the scenes

End card.

• While this short was the last one of 1961 to be made, it is very much different and unusual among other Warner cartoons of the time, as it is not classified as a comedy. Instead, it is more of a musical-type, romantic drama.
• It also does not end with the familiar "That's all Folks!" outro card, but rather, with a different ending title.
• One of the songs that Nelly sings in this cartoon is "The Flower of Gower Gulch", which was previously sung by Porky Pig in the 1951 short Drip-Along Daffy.

Critical Reception

The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 1962 for the Best Short Subject in Cartoons category.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection
  • Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3