After looking at pictures of characters from various one-off Looney Tunes shorts on Behind The Voice Actors, this was one of the three shorts I decided to look up and watch online late last night/early yesterday morning. Once viewing this one, I think my memories all started coming back and it seemed familiar even after not seeing it for years. I find it to be one of the more entertaining Looney Tunes cartoons of the late '50s and it's interesting to see the late Daws Butler credited as part of this series in an early role.
Junior is a boy who mistreats his dog, Elvis. Following a few times of doing so, he's sent to his room by his mother. When he takes a nap, he dreams that he's now a dog himself. At first, he sees the benefits of being a dog, like not going to school, but then he sees the disadvantages of being a dog as well, such as trying to talk but nobody being able to understand him. He is bought and brought home from the pet shop by a little girl, and her father. She is somewhat of a better dog owner than Junior ever was, though she naively goes about the improper ways of caring for him. After a few mishaps, Junior then wakes up from his experience as a canine. He's glad and grateful to be himself again, learns his lesson, and decides to be a much better owner to Elvis from now on. I won't mention the ironic twist there is at the end. It's similar to the previous WB cartoon shorts from the same decade, Boyhood Daze and A Kiddie's Kitty, from which the inspirations are drawn, and the parallels among them are evident. Despite this, I like them all equally.
I think this is one of my favorite Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts (one-off or otherwise) of the '50s. I wish this and the two others (There Auto Be A Law and Mixed Master) were available on DVD. They would've fit at home on the fourth disc of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 set. Maybe hopefully they'll show up in a future volume of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection DVD set. Whether or not you're a dog person, it's still an enjoyable enough short to watch. What more I can say about this short is that although for some time at this point this is one of those featuring a different art style from some certain, earlier ones, the animation quality is still good. The colors are moderate, the music is nice. The writing is well-written, the characters are well-voiced. Every technical thing about it is well-done. It was great seeing this again and I recommend it.