Lotsa Heel-Wathas

There was a gag in the old Oswald the Rabbit cartoons, and later in the Bosko cartoons released by Warners where the character would crash and split into a bunch of little versions of himself.

Whether Tex Avery’s paying homage or simply borrowing the gag, I don’t know, but he uses it in “Big Heel-Watha” (1944). And because he’s sped it up, the gag is funnier than it was 15 years earlier.



The Heel-Wathas run into each other and reform into one person. These are consecutive frames.



Heel-Watha runs out of the scene, stage right. But one little Heel-Watha runs into the scene, stage left. He’s been left behind. And he stays that way forever, apparently, as the cartoon moves on to the next scene.



Heck Allen gets the story credit. Preston Blair, Ray Abrams and Ed Love are the credited animators.