inventive genius makes great discovery (13. 357)

The reason why we use the hole emoji as a tag for cartoons, as our faithful chronicler informs, on this day in 1955, the Robert McKimson Looney Tunes short premiered. Among the handful of Warner Brothers’ animated features not to include their usual cast of characters. Despite disapproval from his wife, Gertrude, scientist Calvin Q Calculus continues his research and develops a portable hole. The achievement publicised in a newsreel, a thief pilfers the professor’s briefcase containing the stock of his invention for nefarious purposes. The debut directorial work of McKimson for the studio convinced producers to revive their animation unit that was in the process of slowly shutting down since 1953, but lack of funding prevented other animators being recalled to contribute, with McKimson doing all of the work himself.