Sadie Hawkins Day (1944)

Director:

Bob Wickersham

Writer:

Alec Geiss (story)

Release Date:

4 May 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short

Plot:

It is approaching mid-November in Dogpatch and this his bad news for all the bachelors, including Li'l Abner...

Plot Keywords:

Bachelor | Li'l Abner | Widow | Sadie Hawkins Day | Sundown

Runtime:

USA:7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Sadie Hawkin's Day marked the first time "Li'l Abner" was brought to the silver screen

Sadie Hawkin's Day was the first of five Columbia cartoons to feature Al Capp's comic strip creation, "Li'l Abner". To anyone who doesn't know about the title's reason for being, here's an explanation: Ms. Hawkin was a homely girl whose father, being somewhat near-sighted, was puzzled why no one wanted to marry his, to him, pretty daughter. So he had a contest involving all the unmarried men running to avoid Sadie's clutches with the one caught by her "winning" her hand. Since then, this became an annual thing with many unmarried women attempting to catch a bachelor for her own. Abner, as always, is trying to avoid Daisy Mae from her catching him (though I find myself wondering why as she's quite a looker who would be great in the hay!). Anyone who's read the comic strip knows their eventual fate but it's fun watching Abner and Daisy Mae, and many of the other contestants, running around like marathon runners trying to avoid/catch each other. This was a nice start for the short-lived series though I'm sure even then there were some limitations that prevented a long run for this comic-to-screen translation. Still, for all that, Sadie Hawkin's Day is worth a look for "Li'l Abner" fans as well as those interested in Columbia Pictures animation.