Summary
Bud Fisher’s 'The Fallen Archers' serves as a subversively whimsical deconstruction of the Swiss national mythos, specifically the hallowed legend of William Tell. Within the flickering, monochromatic confines of this Mutt and Jeff escapade, the high-stakes drama of the crossbow and the apple is repurposed into a theater of the absurd. Mutt, assuming the mantle of the legendary marksman with a characteristic blend of unearned confidence and lanky ineptitude, attempts to replicate the feat of precision that defined a nation's struggle for liberty. However, the narrative trajectory takes a sharp, porcine detour. Rather than the apple perched precariously atop a head, the projectile finds its home in the unsuspecting hide of a pig. This shift from the heroic to the domestic, from the sublime to the ridiculous, encapsulates the kinetic energy of early 20th-century animation, where the laws of physics and the dignity of folklore are routinely sacrificed at the altar of the sight gag.
Synopsis
William Tell and his famous shot inspired the comedy in this Mutt and Jeff cartoon. The arrow has a less noble destination, however, as a pig is the victim.
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