Bartholomew Versus the Wheel

Bartholomew Versus the Wheel is a 1963-produced, 1964-released Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson. It was released theatrically on February 29, 1964 by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and produced by Eddie Selzer. The cartoon has a running length of 5.51 minutes

Plot synopsis
The cartoon is told in the form of a monologue and begins with narration by a young boy, who tells of his dog, Bartholomew, who is friendly with everyone but is bullied by the family's cat which eats all of his food. One day, Bartholomew's tail is accidentally run over by a young boy on a bicycle, which leads the dog to hate wheels. He begins to terrorise the neighbourhood, stealing wheels from bicycles and other vehicles, and burying them in the family's garden. The narrator explains "when he was little, he took little wheels, but when he got big, he took big wheels." Eventually, Bartholomew is lifted into an airplane's luggage hold whilst trying to remove one of its rear wheels, and he ends up somewhere in the Middle East. Bartholomew gets very lonely in his new environment because no-one wants to play with him or even look at him, as stated by the narrator. Worse still, there are no wheels for him to chase. Eventually, Bartholomew gets fed up with being ignored and decides to go home the same way he left, by travelling in the airplane which took him there. He boards a plane bound for the United States and is soon home again. The narrator explains that Bartholomew no longer hates wheels but "does hate what dogs are supposed to hate- cats.", which is shown by Bartholomew angrily chasing the cat away from his food as the cartoon ends.

Cast and Crew

 * Director- Robert McKimson
 * Story- John Dunn
 * Animation- George Grandpre; Ted Bonnicksen; Warren Batchelder
 * Layouts- Bob Givens
 * Backgrounds- Robert Gribbroek
 * Editor- Treg Brown
 * Voice Characterisation- Mel Blanc; Leslie Barrings
 * Musical Direction- Bill Lava

DVD availability
The cartoon is available as an extra feature on Disc Four of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Six DVD set (4).