Roland and Rattfink is a cartoon series made by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises that ran from 1967 to 1972. The shorts revolve around the blonde, handsome and upstanding Roland who repeatedly finds himself up against the green, scheming, and nasty Rattfink in a variety of settings that vary by the episode, ranging from sports competitions to country westerns.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Related: "The Foul Kin" portrays Roland and Rattfink as Rotten Rattfink's nephews but doesn't make it clear if they're brothers or cousins.note
- Any Last Words?: Towards the end of "A Pair of Sneakers", Roland asks Rattfink, cornered by a firing squad, if he has any last words. Rattfink says he has three: "ABOUT FACE! FIRE!"
- The Bad Guy Wins: A couple of shorts end with Rattfink getting the last laugh, though not without some measure of pain to go along with it.
- "Hawks and Doves" ends with a defeated and poverty-stricken Rattfink earning the bonus intended for Roland thanks to tax collector Geo P. Grasp giving it to him as "rehabilitation aid for a defeated nation." He later runs into his now-struggling mother and refuses to share any of his money, earning him a whack on the head.
- "The Great Continental Overland Cross-Country Race" sees Rattfink winning the race and earning the affections of Priscilla Pettipat. This does not go over well with Roland, who begins whacking his competitor with the trophy.
- Being Evil Sucks: "Say Cheese, Please" has the duo as actors at a studio, with Rattfink bemoaning how being the villain in their pictures means always losing and getting beaten up for his trouble. Since his father is the president of the studio, he's able to demand playing the hero instead (with Roland demoted to stand-in), but he naturally suffers assorted painful slapstick, anyway.
- Breaking the Annoying Instrument: As a Running Gag in "Cattle Battle", whenever Roland takes out a musical instrument and sings, his horse takes the instrument and throws it away or destroys it. This even extends to the ending, where the horse chews the strings out of Roland's harp.
- Brick Joke: In "A Taste of Money", Rattfink briefly changes his mind about marrying a wealthy widow upon seeing how ugly she is but being reminded of her five million dollars prompts him to ask "what am I doing?" and resume his desire to marry her. In the end, he's so tired of her abuse he runs away but, right after asking who needs her five million dollars, he once again asks what he's doing and returns to her.
- Company Cross-References: The Little Man/Big Nose from Pink Panther appears as a bit character in two shorts, first in "Say Cheese, Please" as the studio director and later in "Bridgework" as the boss of the construction company Roland and Rattfink work at.
- Dastardly Whiplash: Rattfink. He has the mustache that's meant for twirling, he cheats when he doesn't have to, is usually green skinned, and always plotting some form of no good doing.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat:
- Rattfink does this throughout "Flying Feet". He even nearly made the finish line, but his rocket boot malfunctioned just as he was about to cross it.
- Averted in "The Great Continental Overland Cross-Country Race". Rattfink doesn't cheat at all throughout the race, but he didn't have to, because Roland's race car wouldn't even start at the starting line. By the time Roland finally fixed his car, Rattfink is just about to make it to the finish line, only to run out of gas. Then Roland speeds up, having managed to drive through the entire course in only a few seconds, and looked like he was about to win...except he accidentally pushed Rattfink's car through the finish line, making him the winner.
- Double-Meaning Title: "The Foul Kin" features more than one character who fits the description. First, there's Rattfink trying to convince his rich Uncle Rotten Rattfink to include him in his will and only caring about the 100-year-old man's health until he's sure he's in the will. Second, there's Rotten Rattfink, who's been described as a dirty old man and a collector of dirty money. He also turns out to be an Ungrateful Bastard who, after being helped by his other nephew, Roland, in getting rid of Rattfink, says Roland is no longer in his will because he decided to take everything with him. Third, there's Roland, who reacted to Rotten's lack of gratitude by pushing his wheelchair-bound Uncle to a moat with alligators.
- Exact Words:
- In "The Foul Kin", Rattfink inherits his Uncle Rotten Rattfink's fortune. Said fortune turns out to be a dog named "Fortune".
- In "Sweet and Sourdough", Rattfink yells at his newly-acquired husky to "mush", only for the dog to run to the general store and return with a literal bowl of mush that ends up thrown in Rattfink's face.
- Faking the Dead: In "The Foul Kin", Rattfink's rich Uncle Rotten Rattfink fakes his own death so Rattfink will stop trying to talk his way into the will.
- Gold Digger: In "A Taste of Money", Rattfink decides to marry a widow once he learns she inherited five million dollars.
- Green and Mean: Rattfink. He's got toxic-looking green skin and an equally toxic personality to match.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Roland. He's a gold-haired and gentle guy who generally aims for pacifism when dealing with Rattfink.
- Killed Off for Real: The final cartoon, "Cattle Battle", has both title characters die in a Cartoon Bomb explosion at the end. Naturally being the villain, Rattfink ends up in the Fire and Brimstone Hell, while the good guy Roland and his horse ascend to the Fluffy Cloud Heaven.
- Literally Shattered Lives: Roland accidentally dropping a recently-frozen Rattfink causes this to happen to the latter in "Sweet and Sourdough'." The former's commander laments having to reassemble him just to get his fingerprint.
- Motor Mouth: A major plot point in "A Taste of Money" is Rattfink having to deal with his stepson who continuously pesters him with his inane and constant talking, which at one point gets so bad he starts talking in run-on sentences.
- Mythology Gag: “A Taste of Money” has a similar plot in the 1962 Merrie Melodies animated short “Honey's Money”, featuring Yosemite Sam.
- Negative Continuity: This trope is in full effect across the shorts - regardless of whatever setting is established or whatever happens to Roland and Rattfink, they always appear in a different scenario and back in prime condition come the next episode.
- Never Say "Die": In "The Foul Kin", while under the belief his Uncle Rotten is dead, Rattfink says he's "gone". Later on, Rotten tells Roland he decided to take everything he owns with him instead of naming one heir and, if he can't do that, he "ain't gonna go".
- Officer O'Hara: Joe, a policeman who acts as security for Roller Skating Land in "A Fink in the Rink," is portrayed as one of these, complete with the requisite nightstick and mustache.
- Playing Against Type: In-universe example in "Say Cheese, Please". Rattfink is an actor who usually plays the villain in movies until he has enough of it and asks his father (who owns the studio) to cast him as the hero in later movies.
- Rule of Three: In "The Foul Kin", upon learning he'll inherit his Uncle Rotten's fortune, Rattfink exclaims "I'm rich, rich, rich! Oh, gimme gimme gimme my fortune!".
- The Scrooge: Rattfink says his rich Uncle Rotten Rattfink never spent a nickel. Rotten later tells Roland he won't die until he figures out how to take his money with him to the afterlife.
- Sore Loser: In "The Great Continental Overland Cross-Country Race", Roland is so upset over losing the race he grabs Rattfink's trophy and whacks him with it. Roland even describes himself as a "poor loser".
- This Page Will Self-Destruct: That message that Roland and Rattfink spent all of the short in "A Pair of Sneakers" trying to take from each other? It was a self-destructing message.Rattfink: I don't believe it.
KABOOM! - The Un-Favorite: Out of his two nephews, Rotten Rattfink considers Rattfink the bad nephew and Roland the good nephew. He even has these descriptions written under his pictures of them.
- Unified Naming System: In "Hawks and Doves", Rattfink is the ruler of Hawkland and wages war on Doveland, defended by Roland.
- Wicked Stepmother: In "A Taste of Money", Rattfink tries to kill his stepson after growing tired of his incessant chatter.