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Francis The Talking Mule

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Animal

The Resume

    Starred in ‘Francis the Talking Mule’ (1950), ‘Francis Goes to the Races’ (1951), ‘Francis Goes to West Point’ (1952), ‘Francis Covers the Big Town’ (1953), ‘Francis Joins the WACS’ (1954), ‘Francis in the Navy’ (1955) and ‘Francis in the Haunted House’ (1956)
    Voice provided by Chill Wills

Why Francis The Talking Mule might be annoying:

    He was actually a female mule called Molly.
    Most of his films follow the same shtick: a naïve GI played by Donald O'Connor teams up with a jaded, wisecracking army mule.
    He used racist terms such as 'Jap.'
    He became obese from being fed too many sweets by the cast.
    He upstaged O’Connor who resented it.
    O’Connor also lost a costarring role in ‘White Christmas’ because he caught a disease from Francis.

Why Francis The Talking Mule might not be annoying:

    He inspired ‘Mr. Ed,’ a TV series about a talking horse.
    His ‘talking’ (done without elaborate special effects) is pretty convincing.
    He was presented with the first Patsy—an award for animal actors—by Ronald Reagan (1951).
    His trainer had been an apprentice of Will Rogers.
    John Waters is a fan and wanted to make a film starring Francis and Divine.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 21 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 22 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 108 Votes: 46.30% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 22 Votes: 40.91% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 92 Votes: 41.30% Annoying