Sheep Ahoy

Sheep Ahoy
Lobby card.
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	December 11, 1954
Starring	Mel Blanc
Producer(s)	Edward Selzer
Music composed by	Milt Franklyn
Story by	Michael Maltese
Animation	Richard Thompson Abe Levitow
Director(s)	Charles M. Jones
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Title card
Second title card

Sheep Ahoy is the three hundred and eighty-sixth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on December 11, 1954. It was written by Michael Maltese, produced by Edward Selzer, and directed by Chuck Jones.

A wolf tries to steal a sheep from a sheepdog's flock, but must come up with ways to either elude or eliminate him or to stealthily catch them.

Detailed summary

Memorable quotes

Fred: Hello, Ralph!
Ralph: Hello, Fred.
Sam: Hello, George.
George: Hello, Sam.

Characters

Characters

Organizations

• Acme

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Sheep field

Objects

• Punch clock
• Vault pole
• Acme Smokescreen Bomb
• Dynamite stick
• Acme Artificial Rock
• Sledgehammer
• Giant balloon
• Fishing rod with giant hook
• Fake Sheep
• Shovel
• Detour sign
• Teeter board

Vehicles

• Pedal-powered submarine

Production

Development

Filming

Music

The music was composed by Milt Franklyn.

Crew credits

• Layouts: Maurice Noble
• Backgrounds: Philip De Guard

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: December 11, 1954 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The title is a pun on "ship ahoy." You're welcome
• As in their debut in Don't Give Up the Sheep, the names of the characters are inconsistent in this short. At the beginning, Sam is coming on duty to replace another sheepdog named Ralph; as the two pass, Ralph calls Sam "Fred." At the end of the short, Sam and Ralph take turns with the two referring themselves as "Ralph" and "Fred," respectively. Sam (who has a striking resemblance to Wile E. Coyote and is Ralph's replacement) refers to Ralph Wolf as "George."
• This cartoon was produced before By Word of Mouse, but wasn't released until sometime in 1955, after the temporarily shut down of Warner Bros. Cartoons two years prior.

Error

• As mentioned above, the sheepdogs "Fred" and "Ralph" refer themselves by their names at the beginning, but switch their names to "Ralph" and "Fred" at the end, respectively.

Errors

Legacy

• Ralph and Sam's respective replacements, George and Fred, would later reappear near the end of the Looney Tunes Cartoons episode "A Wolf in Cheap Clothing," except they are merely disguises worn by both Sam and Ralph, respectively, and their replacements' respective names are not used.

Critical reception

In other languages

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • March 12, 2024: Warner Archive Collection releases Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 on Blu-Ray.

References