Walt Disney Shorts - Mickey Mouse - 1937 - The Worm Turns

In the animated short "The Worm Turns", produced and released by Walt Disney Studios in 1937, Mickey Mouse is conducting some chemical experiments in his basement, and is trying to create a "Courage Builder" potion, which he then sprays on various creatures to give them the courage to face off against their natural predators. A little fly gets the courage to take on and defeating a spider. A mouse totally humiliates a cat, and the same cat then gets the courage to face Pluto, who then gets sprayed to take care of the dog catcher, Black Pete. Heck, Mickey even sprays a fire hydrant that Pluto stops to sniff at, at the end of the short. (I think you get the picture, right?! This short is just wackiness, at its best.)

But it is the little mouse that really is the reason why I'm writing here about this short. Because when it is in a corner, scared frozen by the cat, Mickey sprays the little guy with the Courage Builder, and after some comical "starting car engine" sound effects and funny wild takes, the little mouse is now so brave, that he roars like a big lion, after which, he beats his chest in complete and serious silence.

(This is actually my second favourite chest beating scene, after Bubba's Tarzan yell in the "Ducktales" episode "Ducks On The Lam".

I guess it has something to do with the fact that the mouse makes his lion roar before he starts to beat his chest, instead of doing it the traditional way and roar while he performs the chest beating. Or maybe it could also have something to do with the fact that this short was animated at a time in history, when softness was really becoming a standard in animation. Because if you run the chest beating scene in this short in slow motion, you will notice that the mouse's hands are actually sinking into the skin and flesh on his chest. In other words, his chest is not solid as a rock, but is rather plush toy soft, which, if you ask me, gives a much more powerful feel to his chest beating, which also conveys a very mighty and powerful attitude.

In short, this short is a classic and a masterpiece, on its own, but the short scene with the mouse's chest beating… That scene is a masterpiece in its own right. Well done, Disney!)

Deviantart Artwork - By Me - Bubba's Tarzan Yell

https://optimusv42.deviantart.com/art/Bubba-s-Tarzan-Yell-738367173

I made this drawing of Bubba's Tarzan yell from the "Ducktales" episode "Ducks On The Lam", with the help of Muro, a drawing function at Deviantart.Com.

I hope you'll like it.

Ducktales "1987" - S01E64 - Ducky Horror Picture Show

In the Halloween episode "Ducky Horror Picture Show" of "Ducktales", Scrooge McDuck opens up a new convention center in Duckburg, and although no one seems to believe in his ideas, he is intent on not letting this become his first ever business failure. But his problems only gets bigger when the first people to rent his convention center turns out to be actual classic movie monsters, who are also intent on making some progress in their struggle for "monster rights".

Since this episode is dedicated to classic movie monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Blob, and so on, it's of course only natural that there was going to be a parody on King Kong here as well. Because after the monsters check in at their hotel, namely Scrooge's mansion, a giant gorilla with a ping pong racket, appropriately named "Ping Kong", shows up, and when Scrooge gets terrified by the thought of this giant ape staying at his mansion, the monsters assure him that the ape will only hang out on top of the tallest building in the city. That calms Scrooge down, for a few seconds, until he realises that the tallest building in Duckburg is his very own money bin. So that gives us the full King Kong scenario, with the giant ape beating his chest at the top of the money bin.

Ping Kong performs two variations of chest beating throughout this episode. The single fist version…

And the classic alternating fist version. "If you ask me, this is the right version."

At the end of the episode, Scrooge strikes a deal with the monsters, which both parts will profit from. Namely a live monster show by the money bin. With Mrs. Beakley taking on the role of Fay Wray in a King Kong performance.

"This episode has such a splendid variety of jokes about monster movies, as well homages to the old classic black and white movies. And it's made even more perfect by Ping Kong's chest beating."

Ducktales (1987) - S03E06 - Metal Attraction

In the Ducktales episode "Metal Attraction", Gyro Gearloose builds a robot maid, called Robotica, who falls in love with Gizmo Duck, since she believes him to be a 100% robot, just like her. And things become even more troublesome for Gizmo Duck's alter-ego, Fenton Crackshell, when he has to go on a double date, both as himself with his own girlfriend, Gandra Dee, and as Gizmo Duck with Robotica. So he has to move between being Fenton Crackshell and Gizmo Duck, without any of his dates knowing.

After the first commercial break, we find ourselves at Duckyland, where Gandra and Robotica wait for their dates to arrive. And while they wait, Robotica talks about how excited she is to go out on her first date with Gizmo Duck, claiming that her carburettor is racing with excitement, during which she performs a very strange likeness to a chest beating.

When I say it looks strange, what I mean is that she is actually beating her chest with two beats on each side. That means, two beats with the right fist, followed by two beats with the left fist. Which means, that the finished animation looks like this.

"It looks pretty weird, right?!"

But if you have an analytic eye for animation, like I do, and you know your way with a gif making software, like I do, you can actually turn this into a real Tarzan style chest beating, like this.

"Yeah, I am pretty good! Hehe!"

Ducktales (1987) - S02E04 - Ducks On The Lam

In the "Ducktales" episode "Ducks On The Lam", which was the fourth part of the "Time Is Money" special, the Beagle Boys kick Scrooge McDuck and Bubba The Caveduck out of Scrooge's money bin, and then a whole lot of accidents end with both Scrooge and Bubba, along with Bubba's pet Triceratops Tootsie, ending up in jail.

In this episode, there is one scene that features chest beating, and it is actually the very first chest beating scene that I ever saw, as well as the one that got me hooked on chest beating.

The scene takes place after Scrooge, Bubba and Tootsie break out of Duckburg prison, and they manage to get away from the police, by climbing up a lamp post close to a supermarket. As soon as the police have gone, Scrooge climb down the lamp post to use a payphone to make a phone call. But before Scrooge can even begin to dial the number home to McDuck Mansion, Flintheart Glomgold shows up in his limousine, and calls the police, and tells them that he has caught Scrooge McDuck's "imposter". Bubba and Tootsie, still up in the lamp post, sees that Scrooge is in trouble, and Bubba starts to rock the lamp post from side to side, until it breaks at the base, and falls right down on Flintheart's head, and Tootsie lands on the car's hood, and Bubba lands on Tootsie, after which he jumps up on his feet and does a very loud Tarzan yell, accompanied with Tarzan style chest beating, which surprises both Tootsie and Glomgold's driver, who both look on in shock and confusion. And in the middle of Bubba's Tarzan imitation, the scene cuts to Scrooge, who blesses Bubba's "primitive little heart", with a big happy face.

"This scene was not only the very first chest beating scene I ever saw as a kid, but it has also remained my all-time favorite scene in this trope. Not only is it silly that Tootsie and the driver just stare at Bubba while he's acting like Tarzan, but the one thing that makes this scene special, to me, is the fact that, every time Bubba's fists hits his chest, his entire chest protrudes, almost like an inflated balloon, and deflates before the next fist hits it. I would very much like to know who animated Bubba in this scene, because I would like to ask that guy what made him animate Bubba's chest beating like that. Because it has been one of my most favorite scenes of all time, mostly because of the way Bubba's chest acts."

"I've read some people commenting this scene as being illogical, with the statement that Bubba can impossibly know about the Tarzan yell, since it contradicts the fact that Bubba is a caveduck, and therefore, haven't seen any movies yet. But I think those who come with that argument are just overlooking one crucial factor with the "Primal Chest Pound" trope, namely that it is often used to show a character as more primitive than the modern man… And what are we dealing with here, in Bubba? Why, a Caveduck, of course. So the way I see it, it is very logical for him to do a Tarzan yell, because he is from 1.000.000 B.C., and therefore, more primitive than any other duck around."

Darkwing Duck - S01E06 - Apes Of Wrath

In the "Darkwing Duck" episode "Apes Of Wrath", where Darkwing Duck must go to a jungle island to rescue a famed anthropologist, who works for S.H.U.S.H., two scenes feature some chest beating.

The first scene is when Darkwing Duck, his daughter Gosalyn, and his sidekick Launchpad McQuack, first fly over the island in the Thunderquack. Gosalyn proclaims that "This place is totally Tarzan!", after which she goes into a loud Tarzan yell, accompanied with full on chest beating.

"This scene is one of my favorites, because I think chest beating is very fitting for a tomboy, which Gosalyn happens to be."

The second scene is halfway through the episode, when Darkwing Duck and Launchpad are captured by the gorillas on the island. When Darkwing yells straight in the face of the big gorilla Bongo, trying to make the gorilla tell him where Gosalyn is, Bongo doesn't take very kindly to that kind of treatment, and challenges Darkwing to a fight, gorilla style, with some mighty chest beating and muscle flexing.