# Identify this cartoon gangster, see? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168 "2002-04-01T06:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/1 "2002-04-01T06:24:44Z")
Now you listen to me! I have a question and you’re gonna tell me what I want to know, see? If you don’t start singing like a canary you’ll be sleeping with the fishes, see? So who is that a parody of? I know I learned it from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon (bonus q: can you tell me which cartoon it was, and the name of the character? I can’t remember that either), but I have no idea who it’s making fun of. I assume it’s somebody from vintage gangster movies, but I have no idea who. Clue me in please! Now I don’t wanna have to rough you up. So I want a straight answer and I want it now, see? myeah! myeah! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/2 "2002-04-01T06:29:35Z")
**See?** 😃 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/3 "2002-04-01T06:35:18Z")
Sounds like Mugsy from several Bugs Bunny cartoons. 1957’s [Bugsy and Mugsy](http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/detailed.cgi?film=3763) [also click here](http://members.tripod.com/~ink_and_paint/forgot/forgot3.html) Which is a parody bsed on, I believe, this movie [Little Caesar](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0021079) ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/4 "2002-04-01T06:39:42Z")
Whoops, that cartoon gangster was Rocky, not Mugsy, his partenr ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/5 "2002-04-01T15:11:58Z")
Rocky was the smart one. Mugsy was an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/6 "2002-04-01T15:35:24Z")
Didn’t an Edward G. Robinson gangster parody appear in an episode of SAMURAI JACK sometime last year, too? LITTLE CAESAR offers the quintessential Robinson mobster (and was the first great gangster flick of the talkie era, beating Jimmy Cagney’s THE PUBLIC ENEMY and Paul Muni’s SCARFACE into the theaters), but I’ve always liked his bad-guy perf in KEY LARGO more. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/7 "2002-04-01T15:54:44Z")
It was the last line that stuck in my mind and made the connection. “Is this the end of Rico?” ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/8 "2002-04-01T16:00:29Z")
The Edward G. Robinson parody was also played out on the Courageous Cat & Minute Mouse cartoon series. The villian (a frog) talked Robinson-like. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/9 "2002-04-01T18:50:54Z")
Thanks for the responses, gang. It looks like I have some movies to rent. One thing though…Rocky is not the one I was thinking of (unless there was more than one incarnation of him). Rocky is the 3 foot tall gangster (5 feet with his hat) who talks in a low, slow monotone: “sheddap shutt’n up!” So if anybody has any more info about who the cartoon was, I’m listening. I’m thinking maybe it was one of those composite cartoons with no real plot, similar to the one where they went through the library looking at all the different books (when Gone With The Wind opened, everything was blown away by a really strong wind). I love those old cartoons, and Acme Hour is my favorite show on cartoon network. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/10 "2002-04-01T18:59:44Z")
Could it be [George Raft](http://www.spumco.com/magazine/eowbcc/eowbcc-qr.html#george_raft), the coin-flipping gangster? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/11 "2002-04-01T20:13:16Z")
Good Lord, but I’m getting old when kids nowadays don’t instantly recognize Edward G. Robinson by way of Bugs Bunny. I grew up long after his heyday (although he was syill churning out films), and knew who it was. The last line of Little Ceasar, BTW, is “Sweet Mother of God, is this the end of Rico?” George Raft was the coin-flipping gangster (who Bugs also parodied). ---
**Author:** ![KXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KXL)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/12 "2002-04-01T21:06:01Z")
In **Some Like It Hot** , George Raft plays the gangster, “Spats.” At one point, he walks by one of his henchmen, who’s flipping a coin. Spats: (with derision): Where’d you learn that cheap trick? Henchman: From a movie. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/13 "2002-04-01T21:53:54Z")
Another sighting - gangster as Eustace’s big toe, from “Courage, the Cowardly Dog”. “Key Largo” is one of the best Bogart flicks, BTW - and Robinson had a lot to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/14 "2002-04-01T22:12:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe\_Cool \* > **So if anybody has any more info about who the cartoon was, I’m listening.** Ok, I can’t be certain but judging from the “sleeping with the fishes” I’d say it’s “The Unmentionables.” One of many cartoons Rocky’s in. Click on my previous “also click here” link for the complete list. In “The Unmentionables” Bugs somehow gets caught up with the gangsters in their getaway car. I believe he does something to the money and they end up giving him cement shoes and tossing him into the river. Don’t worry though, Bugs does manage to survive and get the gang arrested. In fact I have that one on disk. Let me check. It’s one of those 1963 so-so ones. Not the hey-day for sure. Bugs Bunny is Elegant Mess. Nope, that’s not it. Will keep looking. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/15 "2002-04-02T06:52:16Z")
For the record, I wasn’t quoting the cartoon. I don’t remember it well enough for that. I was only mimicking the style. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/16 "2002-04-02T08:49:15Z")
Could it be Michigan J. Frog (or whatever that frog’s name was)–in **The Adventures of Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse** –the show in its animation inspired **The Powerpuff Girls**. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/17 "2002-04-02T08:51:52Z")
I looked it up some more–he was named **The Frog**. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/18 "2002-04-02T09:14:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe\_Cool \* > \*\*For the record, I wasn’t quoting the cartoon. I don’t remember it well enough for that. I was only mimicking the style. \*\* Well in that case it could be any Rocky cartoon. All of which are mentioned in my second link above. 1946’s Racketeer Rabbit which is the best of them. In that one Bugs is grilled by Rocky. 1950’s Golden Yeggs 1953’s Catty Cornered which I think it the one where Tweety Bird is kid napped and gest ‘saved’ by Sylvester. 1954’s Bugs and Thugs 1957’s Bugsy and Mugsy 1963’s The Unmentionables rounds out the series. Of course there were other caricatures of Edward G. Robinson in other cartoons. I’d wager there were several in the very popular Porky cartoons early on. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/19 "2002-04-02T14:47:52Z")
Not very many people know this but Edward G. Robinson almost played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too see? Yeah. Popies! Sleep see! Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-cartoon-gangster-see/101168/20 "2002-04-05T00:40:45Z")
CalMeacham says > [@](#): > > The last line of Little Ceasar, BTW, is “Sweet Mother of God, is this the end of Rico?” Actually, it’s “Mother of Mercy”–I doubt the Hays code would’ve approved your version. KXL says: > [@](#): > > In Some Like It Hot, George Raft plays the gangster, “Spats.” At one point, he walks by one of his henchmen, who’s flipping a coin. > > Spats: (with derision): Where’d you learn that cheap trick? > Henchman: From a movie. Actually, the henchman doesn’t say anything.