Origin of "Be afraid. Be very afraid"
Sara Moffat Lorimer
> While discussing Monday's frustratingly ambiguous terrorist warning with a
> friend, I commented that they might just as well have said, "Be afraid. Be
> very afraid". Later that evening on television a CNN commentator said
> exactly the same thing.
>
> I wonder where that saying originally came from.
It was used in the posters for "The Fly" remake of 1986
(http://us.imdb.com/Title?0091064). I don't remember it being a
catchphrase before then, but I was just a young 'un then.
--
SML
Queens, New York
Simon R. Hughes
From a Tom and Jerry cartoon, "The Missing Mouse" (Fred Quimby,
1951), wherein a white mouse has escaped from a government
laboratory after swallowing enough explosives to destroy the entire
city. Needless to say, Jerry has just been covered in white paint,
and metaphorically rubs Tom's nose in it. Tom eventually cottons on
to Jerry, whereupon the real white mouse appears, is captured by
Tom, and disposed of -- along with the whole of the city.
Also appearing in this cartoon is the immortal phrase: "Don't you
believe it!" uttered by Tom when the radio, post apocalypse,
declares the mouse harmless.
--
Simon R. Hughes -- http://www.geocities.com/a57998/subconscious/
Richard Fontana
> While discussing Monday's frustratingly ambiguous terrorist warning with a
> friend, I commented that they might just as well have said, "Be afraid. Be
> very afraid". Later that evening on television a CNN commentator said
> exactly the same thing.
>
> I wonder where that saying originally came from.
There seems to be no doubt that it was popularized in recent times by its
use in promotional advertisements for the film _The Fly_ (1986). In a
scene in that movie Geena Davis says, in response to Jeff Goldblum telling
another woman not to be afraid to go through his matter transport device,
"No, be afraid. Be very afraid." I don't know whether the phrase was
taken from some earlier work.
j...@radidelmex.net
> "No, be afraid. Be very afraid." I don't know whether the phrase was
> taken from some earlier work.
Didn't Elmer Fudd used to say:
"Be qwiet. Be very, very qwiet. Were hunting wabbits!"
Simon R. Hughes
> Simon R. Hughes <hug...@tromso.online.no> wrote:
>
> >From a Tom and Jerry cartoon, "The Missing Mouse"...
>
> Good luck to you with your effort to get forwarded to
> alt.humor.best-of-usenet. My own attempts so far have failed.
Huh? The reply was serious; the line is in the cartoon, from 1951.
All other references I have seen in this thread come from
approx. 1986.
Re: alt.humo(u)r.best-of-usenet: I believe that there are a couple
of mine in there already, but I have no idea who placed them there.
I found out about it by accident (in as much as ego-surfing may be
considered accidental).
Donna Richoux
> Thus Spake Norm Y. Alike:
> > Simon R. Hughes <hug...@tromso.online.no> wrote:
> >
> > >From a Tom and Jerry cartoon, "The Missing Mouse"...
> >
> > Good luck to you with your effort to get forwarded to
> > alt.humor.best-of-usenet. My own attempts so far have failed.
>
> Huh? The reply was serious; the line is in the cartoon, from 1951.
Trouble is -- can you find another soul on the Internet who agrees with
you? I found episode summaries at a Tom & Jerry site:
http://www.lafn.org/~as823/storylines.html#1183
The Missing Mouse - (6 min. 33 sec.) 1953
While Jerry is looting the fridge Tom comes by and hammers him...
He pinches Jerry's tail in a mousetrap and while running away the
mouse spills a bottle of white shoe polish on himself. Suddenly the
radio blurts out that an experimental "explosive" white mouse has
escaped from the lab. Tom sees Jerry and is frightened to death!
Jerry takes advantage and keeps trying to fall off shelves and
such... the cat catching him no matter what. Tom lets irons and
pianos fall on him instead of Jerry. When the mouse falls in the
sink Tom realizes he's been a fool and hits Jerry with a hammer and
throws him out. The REAL white mouse then enters and when Tom
washes him and then sees Jerry he ages 50 years! The radio then
announces that the explosive mouse is no longer dangerous.... Tom
strikes him and BOOM! The cat sticks his head out of the rubble and
says "Don't You Believe It!"
At what point do you remember the line was uttered?
> All other references I have seen in this thread come from
> approx. 1986.
Yeah, there are an awful lot of people who say it came from the "The
Fly" of that year -- their advertising campaign.
--
Best --- Donna Richoux
Simon R. Hughes
The line "Be afraid, be very afraid!" is in the initial radio
announcement.
My kids have the stupid thing on video and watch it as often as they
can get away with.
If you choose not to agree with me, then it's no skin off my nose --
I did my bit.
> > All other references I have seen in this thread come from
> > approx. 1986.
>
> Yeah, there are an awful lot of people who say it came from the "The
> Fly" of that year -- their advertising campaign.
--