Meany, Miny, and Moe explained

Meany, Miny, and Moe
First:	Monkey Wretches (1935)
Last:	The Air Express (1937)
Creator:	Walter Lantz
Voice:	Mel Blanc (The Stevedores; drunk singing) Danny Webb (Ostrich Feathers; explorer voice)
Species:	Monkeys
Gender:	Males

Meany, Miny, and Moe are animated characters created by Walter Lantz, who made their first appearance in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon Monkey Wretches (1935).^[1] Their final animated appearance was in 1937 in The Air Express.^[2]

Personalities and development

According to their theme song, the trio are "just three monkeys from the sticks / just a bunch of jungle hicks / but they know a lot of tricks". At first portrayed as unclothed identical triplets in the Oswald cartoons, the monkeys began wearing clothes and behaving individually when they graduated to their own series. Meany is a wannabe tough guy, often bullying his shyer, clumsier brothers. In animation, the trio rarely speak coherent English, instead rapidly gibbering in an imitation of real-life monkeys.^[3]

While usually depicted as monkeys with tails, the three brothers are occasionally drawn tailless, making them look more like chimpanzees.

List of appearances

• "Monkey Wretches" (11/11/1935)^{[4] [5]} - 1st in Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon
• "Beauty Shoppe" (03/30/1936)^{[6] [7]} - 2nd in Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon
• "Farming Fools" (05/25?/1936)^{[6] [8]} - 3rd in Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon
• "The Battle Royal" (06/22/1936)^{[6] [9]} - 4th and final in Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon
• "Turkey Dinner" (11/30/1936)^{[6] [10]} - 1st solo cartoon
• "Knights For A Day" (12/25/1936)^{[6] [11]}
• "The Golfers" (01/11/1937)^{[12] [13]}
• "House Of Magic" (02/08/1937)^{[12] [14]}
• "The Big Race" (03/08?/1937)^{[12] [15]}
• "The Lumber Camp" (03/15/1937)^{[12] [16]}
• "The Steel Workers" (04/26/1937)^{[12] [17]}
• "The Stevedores" (05/24/1937)^{[12] [18]}
• "The Country Store" (07/05/1937)^{[12] [19]}
• "Firemen's Picnic" (08/16/1937)^{[12] [20]}
• "The Rest Resort" (08/23/1937)^{[12] [21]}
• "Ostrich Feathers" (09/06/1937)^{[12] [22]}
• "The Air Express" (09/20/1937)^{[12] [23]}

Comic appearances

In the later Lantz comic books Woody Woodpecker Back to School #1 and 2 (1952-53), the three monkeys starred in comic stories of their own. The spelling of their names changed to Meeny, Miney and (sometimes) Mo. In the comics, the trio spoke English in a style roughly mimicking the Three Stooges. While Meeny's name no longer exactly matched the word "meany", he was still portrayed as a wannabe tough guy.^[24]

See also

• List of Walter Lantz cartoons
• List of Walter Lantz cartoon characters

External links

• The Walter Lantz-o-Pedia

Notes and References

1. Book: Adamson . Joe . The Walter Lantz Story: with Woody Woodpecker and Friends . 1985 . G.P. Putnam's Sons . 100 . 1 April 2024.
2. Book: Lenburg . Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons . 1999 . Checkmark Books . 0-8160-3831-7 . 6 June 2020 . 103–104.
3. News: Meany, Miny and Moe, Three LIttle Monks, Soon to Make Bow on Screen . . October 12, 1936 . 19.
4. Web site: The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1935 . 2010-08-18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101219132758/http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1935.html . 2010-12-19.
5. Web site: Monkey Wretches (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120722220455/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2589-Monkey_Wretches.html. dead. July 22, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
6. Web site: The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1936 . 2010-08-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120326124228/http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1936.html . 2012-03-26 . dead.
7. Web site: Beauty Shoppe (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20130117230941/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2543-Beauty_Shoppe.html. dead. January 17, 2013. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
8. Web site: The Farming Fools (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120728110727/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2529-Farming_Fools.html. dead. July 28, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
9. Web site: Battle Royal (Walter Lantz Productions). https://archive.today/20120721191844/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2526-Battle_Royal.html. dead. July 21, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
10. Web site: Turkey Dinner (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120719013412/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/5179-Turkey_Dinner.html. dead. July 19, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
11. Web site: Knights For A Day (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20130117195126/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2825-Knights_For_A_Day.html. dead. January 17, 2013. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
12. Web site: The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1937 . 2011-05-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110514220558/http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1937.html . 2011-05-14.
13. Web site: The Golfers (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120723100934/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2461-Golfers.html. dead. July 23, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
14. Web site: House Of Magic (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120721183157/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2854-House_Of_Magic.html. dead. July 21, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
15. Web site: The Big Race (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120721232912/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2487-Big_Race.html. dead. July 21, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
16. Web site: The Lumber Camp (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120723144924/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2809-Lumber_Camp.html. dead. July 23, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
17. Web site: The Steel Workers (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120729032254/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2510-Steel_Workers.html. dead. July 29, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
18. Web site: The Stevedores (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120722053536/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/5150-Stevedores.html. dead. July 22, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
19. Web site: The Country Store (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120719140136/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2619-Country_Store.html. dead. July 19, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
20. Web site: Firemen's Picnic (Walter Lantz Productions). https://archive.today/20120728235503/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2924-Firemans_Picnic.html. dead. July 28, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
21. Web site: The Rest Resort (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120730170801/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2579-Rest_Resort.html. dead. July 30, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
22. Web site: Ostrich Feathers (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120719234615/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2763-Ostrich_Feathers.html. dead. July 19, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
23. Web site: Air Express (Walter Lantz Productions.). https://archive.today/20120724005908/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/2717-Air_Express.html. dead. July 24, 2012. The Big Cartoon. DataBase. Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). 29 December 2021.
24. Harvey Eisenberg (artist). "Meeny, Miney and Moe" (untitled story: boxing match), Woody Woodpecker Back to School #2 (Dell Publishing, 1953).