Elmer Elephant 1936

Elmer Elephant arrives in the yard below Tillie Tiger’s treehouse, where several other animal children are celebrating her birthday. He has a crush on her, and attempts to give her a bouquet of flowers, but Joey Hippo blows out the candles a bit too hard, splattering cake icing all over Elmer’s face. Tillie fusses over Elmer, cleans him up and accepts the flowers. She then goes into her treehouse to get something, telling Elmer to have fun at the party up until she returns.

After Tillie leaves, a jealous tiger boy leads the other children in teasing Elmer about his trunk, calling it a “funny nose like a rubber hose.” Driven away from the party, Elmer goes to a local pond to sulk. Upset at his reflection, he tries to fold up his nose, but it pops back out again, which in turn causes his nose in the reflection to become longer. He kicks his trunk in frustration, causing it to hit his face and he begins to cry. An elderly giraffe tells him how he was once teased himself over his neck, but learned to ignore it. He shows Elmer some pelicans that look like Jimmy Durante, pointing out that Elmer is not the only one with a funny nose, which cheers Elmer up.

A fire suddenly breaks out at Tillie’s treehouse, trapping her. The monkey fire brigade and the other animal children attempt to put it out, but their efforts are thwarted by the living fire. Elmer, with assistance from the Giraffe and the pelicans, hurries back and uses his trunk like a fire hose, extinguishing the blaze. He catches Tillie with his trunk as she falls from the disintegrating house, earning the other children’s respect and Tillie’s love. Tillie and Elmer share a kiss, hiding behind Elmer’s ear for privacy.