The Mystery Cartoon Character Game, ongoing.

Well, dang, if Roger Ramjet hadn't already been used, I believe I might have to credit PeterHale with a correct answer. The only iffy part would be "mutants", which wasn't a fling-about term at the time Snyder-Koren's Roger Ramjet was produced. Everything else fits, though. Let me demonstrate how close Peter's answer came:

4) The voice actor for this character has played an incompetent animated hero, a full-fledged competent animated hero, and a competent animated hero with an incompetent sidekick. In this case, he's voicing a mostly competent animated hero handicapped by egotism.

5) Almost out of thin air, this character gains a daughter, who is more competent than her father, less egotistic than Daddy, and even sides with her father's personal nemeses when it's the more effective course of action.

6) One might think such an egotist would refuse to call for help when it's needed. Wrong. In fact, this character's signature phrase is built on calling for more troops.

Aha! It's Commander Ulysses Feral, from "Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron."

Correct, EmeraldIsle, this is Commander Ulysses Feral from SWAT Kats The Radical Squadron, produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios. Feral is easily the largest good-aligned character in the series; perhaps only Dark Kat is physically larger. Well, him and the horrific monsters, anyway.
Gary Owens provides Feral's voice, the Gary Owens who voices Roger Ramjet, Space Ghost and the Blue Falcon.
In season two, Commander Feral suddenly gains a daughter, Felina Feral, a junior officer among Ulysses Feral's Enforcers. Felina often sides with T-Bone and Razor, as these two rogue agents tend to be highly effective against the many threats to Megakat City. Unlike her father, Felina places Reason Before Honor. And Feral has made a catchphrase out of "Bring me chopper backup." Apparently he operates on the theory that ineffective tactics improve when one uses more of them.

Good deduction, Em. Though I wouldn't try saying "Here, kitty kitty" to Feral. The Death Glare alone could crumble concrete. And not since Disney's Peg-Leg Pete have we seen such a huge, ugly cat. Seriously, Feral is feline? Yow. No matter, collect another +1 and take control of the Board.

Thanks, OUB. But for now, I'll pass my turn to Peterhale. BTW, Felina was Feral's niece, not his daughter.

Thanks, emeraldisle, and congratulations on a well-deserved point!

1) I am on a mission - as defined by the title song.

2) My short is mainly in the style of the 1940s, particularly Avery's MGM period.

3) It is supposed to be educational, but manages to subvert the message in the name of entertainment!

You're welcome, Pete. Regrettably, I'm stumped on this one.

Well, since Private Snafu has already been deployed, I'll venture that this is his seagoing counterpart, Seaman Hook.

Alas, not Mr Hook. He appeared in a series of shorts, whereas clue 2 implies a certain singularity.

The character I thought of has no title song for his short. So it must be someone else.

More clues...

4) My situation seems hopeless, but the message is 'perseverance'.

5) I get sung at, a lot, but it spurs me on.

6) Like Snafu and Hook, I demonstrate how not to do it - but I am not of their generation.

Sorry, but I still don't have it. Hope one of the others knows.

A one-time character with perseverance despite difficulty / opposition that gets subverted ... the only one I can think of is the dung beetle from Erick Oh's short film Way Home, produced at the SBA Seoul Animation Center, viewable here: Way Home from Erick Oh on Vimeo. But there's no singing in this one, and it's more a Fate-Is-Cruel aesop than a comic one. :shrug:

A lovely (if tragic) little film - thanks for sharing - but no, not the character I have in mind!

The final clues should narrow it down,,,

7) Despite the styling, my short was not made in the US.

8) After repeated failures I am pushed into action by a motivational information film on the TV.

9) You can tell me from my TV look-alike by my knee-patch.

Hate to admit it, but I never saw a character with a patch on his knee. So I throw in the towel.

In case anyone is taking "patch on my knee" too literally, I've amended clue 9!

That still doesn't help much, I'm afraid. Maybe by tonight, someone will get it.

This is a hard one. I'll keep looking.

Oh dear! When no-one guesses it after 9 clues I feel I've got something wrong!

The answer is:













Bob Dog, from Brad Caslor's Get A Job

Clues explained:

1. He is trying to get a job. The title song is the one that was a hit for the Silhouettes in 1957 (though they are not the singers on the soundtrack).
2. While the titles, and the styling of the trio who sing "Get A Job" is more inspired by underground comix artists (who were inspired by the cartoons of the 20s/30s) the majority of the film is very much an Avery/MGM homage. (I'm guessing Chris Hinton animated the trio.)
3. The short is a sponsored information film to help job-seekers understand the importance of a resume, using telephone and mail to make job applications, punctuality and interview attitude - but it is purely played for laughs. Bob Dog does finally get a job, but the pay-off gag rather undermines the film's message!
4. Self-evident.
5. Repeatedly told to "Get a job!" by the trio on the street, he is then sung at by a job-seekers' information film on the TV, with Andrews Sisters pigs who remind him of his imminent appointments ("Three o'clock - whoa-oh - Don't be a quitter, honey...").
6. The short was made in 1985.
7. The short is a National Film Board of Canada production.
8. Self-evident.
9. After a day failing to get a job, Bob heads home. Cut to a dog looking like Bob, coming home to find his wife leaving him. It is finally revealed that this is a show playing on Bob's TV - pull out to see the real Bob entering his shabby apartment. The TV dog ("John") did not have a patch on his knee.

I love this short, and I'm sorry nobody got it.


Brad Caslor had worked on commercials and animated segments for Sesame Street. In 1978 he animated two of the Canada Vignettes series for NFB and co-animated/-directed the short Blowhard with colleague Chris Hinton. He then started work on Get A Job, which, despite additional animation by Chris, took him 6 years to complete. At which point he'd had enough and quit animation for live-action editing and storyboarding!

Pete, I confess I never even heard of this character.

I know you've said before that you are not very familiar with NFB cartoons, em, but there are some great ones among them!

I think I'll hand my turn back to you, as it was yours originally.