| Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas | |
| Director: | Fred Avery |
| Producer: | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story: | Richard Hogan |
| Starring: | Mel Blanc (uncredited) Bernice Hansen (uncredited) Tex Avery (uncredited) |
| Music: | Carl W. Stalling |
| Editing: | Treg Brown (uncredited) |
| Animator: | Paul Smith Virgil Ross (uncredited) Irven Spence (uncredited) Sid Sutherland (uncredited) |
| Studio: | Leon Schlesinger Studios |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Runtime: | 8 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas is a 1938 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies series directed by Tex Avery and written by Rich Hogan.[1] The short was released on October 22, 1938 and features an early version of Elmer Fudd.[2]
In the cartoon, Prototype-Elmer Fudd plays Johnny Smith, a caricature of the colonist Captain John Smith, who arrives on the Mayflower to be met by some sarcastic Native Americans as he makes his escape with Poker-Huntas, a caricature of Pocahontas, and makes off to England with her to raise a family.
The cartoon contains many historical distortions apart from the anachronisms normally expected in such a deliberate farce. The real Captain Smith, who arrived in present-day Virginia in 1607, was totally unconnected with the Mayflower, which disembarked at Massachusetts Bay in 1620. No actual romance ever existed between him and Pocahontas, who married John Rolfe.