Category: Cartoons from the 30’s

This is the time period where Looney Tunes got there start! Things may have gotten off to a slow start, but they soon became the envy of studios everywhere!

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Polar Pals

“♬Singin’ in the ba-bath-t-tu-shower!♬”

Supervision by Robert Clampett; Story by Warren Foster; Animation by John Carey; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1939.

I bet you didn’t know that Porky once lived at the north pole! The place is so cold, that his alarm clock wears mittens on its hands. After ringing, we see that his polar bear fur covered bed is still alive. Porky doesn’t kill animals, they love him enough to sleep with him. (His heart still belongs to Petunia though, if that picture on his wall is any indication.) After a quick shower, (Yeah, Porky flashes the camera, but he’s already taken. So back away from the screen, girls.) he puts on his clothes and heads outside to join his (polar) pals.

Porky is so loved that some penguins came from all the way on the other side of the globe to hang out with him. That’s the most likely explanation, considering after letters, numbers, and colors, the next thing we teach kids is that penguins and polar bears live at opposite poles! All of the natural wildlife love him! But how do these creatures manage to survive sub-zero temperatures? Simple! They rub noses! The love keeps them warm. (Does the term “Eskimo Kiss” even exist anymore? I’ve always known it, but nowadays no one else seems to.) All the animals live in harmony because of this rule. Except for the penguin who pops a walrus’ nose with its beak. (Friendly though this place may be, it looks a little too cold for me. My idea of winter is turning the air conditioner on in summer.)

There’s danger out there, though. A fur trapper named I. Killem, (I for Ichabod obviously) has his sights set on the creatures. All he can see is fur coats with price tags attached. He fires and the animals try to flee. But he is a pretty good marksmen and manages to get some targets. A penguin loses its shadow to the bullets, and a drunken walrus claims to be fine. (A drink is all it takes to prove that notion wrong.) Killem even mows down penguins like bowling peng-pins. A couple of animals try to take him on with guns of their own. (Porky has trained them well.) But this just gives Killem a group target to aim for, turning them into mounted heads and rugs.

Porky does his best to defend his pals. (Little known fact: Porky started Greenpeace.) His gun may not have the same rapid rate, but it is up to the task. While Killem ducks behind a snowbank, Porky keeps firing at the snow behind him. He chisels out a mallet which clobbers the hunter. Deciding to leave, he finds he can’t as Porky also sunk his ship. So he decides to steal the kayak he just found. Unfortunately for him, he finds it is actually a whale. Finding a blockage in its blowhole, it “blows its nose” and launches Killem away from them all. Porky is so happy that he jumps up and down. This causes him to fall through the ice and freeze solid. Living here is swell, huh?

Personal Rating: 3

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Porky at the Crocadero

“Today… you are a ham!”

Porky, from the north woods.

Supervision by Frank Tashlin; Story by Lew Landsman; Animation by Volney White; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1938.

No relation to the also awesome “Quasi at the Quackadero.” (Wish that was a Looney Tune, so I could blog about it) The Crocadero in question is based on the “Trocadero Ballroom.” Porky is outside and excited to see that many conductors are scheduled to be performing that night. It’s Porky’s dream to be a conductor! (Isn’t a conductor what you do when you can’t play an instrument? Like how a coach can’t play a sport and someone who can’t draw blogs about animation?)

His heroes include Leopold Stokowski, Rudy Vallee, and Benny Goodman. He idolizes them so much, he imitates them all. But there is one thing to dampen his glee: It’s $25.00 for a plate at this place. (Fifty cents more gets you food on the plate.) Porky can’t afford that, so he slumps off. But God is on his side, as Porky finds that the club is hiring and he rushes in. He gets the job because why wouldn’t he? And he begins washing the dishes. His boss is some sort of aquatic mammal. (I’d like to say walrus, but he has too much neck and no tusks, so maybe he’s a sea otter.)

He tells Porky to get his work done, and he just might be able to watch the music as a reward. But there’s a fly in the ointment. Actually, in the kitchen. Porky tries to get it which results in him breaking many dishes. He is fired. (And I begin sharpening my aquatic mammals carving knife.) But God is still on Porky’s side as there are no conductors for the eager crowd and the boss has received a telegram saying that they won’t make it. The boss has a good idea! Get Porky back! His fly swatting did look an awful lot like conducting. He heads out to get him back “Schnell!” (Which, a randomly appearing narrator tells us, means “fast.”)

He catches up to the pig and brings him back. Of course, since the crowd is expecting other people, Porky will have to be in several disguises. Good thing he takes to impersonating his heroes so much! He acts as Paul Whiteman (with some added gut) and gets some jazz going. A penguin waiter (there is no other kind in cartoons) has his drink stolen by a trombone player, and some lesbian kangaroos dance. (They both have pouches!) As Guy Lumbago (Guy Lambardo) Porky has his “Boiled Kanadians” sing “Summer Nights” rather shakily. (The audience dances to the beat.) And as Cob Howlaway (Cab Calloway) Porky puts on some blackface. Which… actually doesn’t look too racist here. Maybe it’s just because I’m a Porky worshiping fanboy, but he looks pretty tame. The lips aren’t too exaggerated and it’s always fun to see Cab referenced. Good work Porky!

He sings Chinatown (even dressing up as a Chinese Stereotype at one point. Less charming.) while the band plays along. A turtle makes his body a banjo, a rabbit plays two pianos at once, (with his paws and ears) and a goat plays his beard when his violin breaks. The penguin waiter meanwhile, (who has been having his drinks stolen throughout the whole time) finally one ups the thief by drinking the drink himself.

Personal Rating: 3 (Unless you really know old conductors. Then it’s a 4.)

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I’ve Got to Sing a Torch Song

“One, two, one two. Breathe Deeply!”

Supervision by Tom Palmer; Animation by Jack King; Music by Bernard Brown and Norman Spencer. A Merrie Melody released in 1933.

Once upon a time, there was an invention called the radio. It was THE form of entertainment back in the day. In fact, entire families would do their aerobics in front of it. While others got their exercise in more creative ways like tightening their wife’s girdles or rocking their children to sleep. But there was more than just exercise programs on the radio. Here, many singers who are legends today, got their starts on the radio. Like Cros Bingsby who would sing in the tub to the delight of women everywhere. (This was how many people “viewed” porn before the internet.)

And the radio wasn’t only popular in America. Wherever there were people, there were radios. In Shanghai, the police listened to it to be aware of any crimes being committed. (And tying it into a knot if it disturbed their naps.) Cannibals would tune in to listen to recipes about how to prepare celebrity soup. And even up in the frozen north, the Inuits listen to it while they fished. If they caught a whale by accident, their radio could become lodged in the creature’s blowhole. (They didn’t seem to mind though.) The radio was so popular that people would rather listen to it, than watch scantily clad women dance in front of them!

The title of this post was the name of a song that was sung by many female celebrities at the time, like Greta Garbo and Mae West. Even Lady Liberty couldn’t help but join in. Finally, the time was even told by a man who looked an awful lot like Ed Wynn. But I guess this was when he was much younger as he doesn’t even SOUND like Ed Wynn. Or maybe it could be his father? The entire family looks exactly the same.

Personal Rating: 2

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Milk and Money

“Things l-look p-p-pretty d-dark, son.”

Gotta get dough for this dodo.

Supervision by Fred Avery; Animation by Charles Jones and Virgil Ross; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1936.

Porky and his dad own a farm. Porky and his dad are both being voiced by Joe Dougherty instead of Mel. No disrespect to Joe, but it really sounds like his stutter is hurting him. I hope he had a nice life after Mel improved upon his performance in every way possible. Things tend to be pretty slow here, and I mean that literally. The horse plods along at a sloth’s pace. Things only really pick up thanks to Hank. He’s a horsefly. (And he looks just like one too! What do you mean, they have six limbs and don’t have horse heads? After last week’s post, I’m just happy to see an insect with the correct number of wings.)

Hank is “hank”ering for a bite of horse butt. (Logic dictates that the horse be named Henry.) Once bitten, Henry tears around the farm and finishes the plowing. But bigger problems are on the way. A one Mr. Viper by name has come to tell them that the farm is being foreclosed unless they can give him the money they owe by tomorrow. He confides to us that he doesn’t think they can do it, before literally slithering back to his horse. (I’ll take that bet.) Porky Sr. is despondent, but Porky offers to go the city and get the money, because he is just such a good boy.

He heads to the “Fuller Water Milk Co.” and applies for a milkman position. Because this is Porky we’re talking about, he is hired right away. However, he is warned that he is not to break one bottle or he will have to be fired. Hank meanwhile, is not happy to find his primary food source is gone. The horse was at least kind enough to leave a note saying where he went, so Hank follows. In the city, Porky is cheerfully making his round unaware of the cats that are stealing his wares. You may think there are two of them, but there is an endless supply. You see, I traveled back in time and am just off screen snapping their necks one by one. Why don’t I try and help my pal? Because that would change the future for the worse. (The last time I did that, Donald Trump ended up as president.)

Hank manages to catch up to the two and gives Henry another bite. The horse runs into a post and breaks up the remainder of the bottles. (Must resist urge to kill Hank! Must…resist…) Heading home, Henry is attracted to some oats at a racetrack and heads in. Good thing it was an empty stall, as no one is there to tell Porky that he’s not supposed to be part of this race. Turns out the prize is $10,000.00 and there’s no joke about not getting all of it this time. If only his horse was a bit faster. Where’s a horsefly when you need one?

Not to worry, Hank has room for seconds and another bite sends Henry around the track so fast, he wins first place. Come the next day, Mr. Viper is gleefully watching the last minute tick by. Where is Porky? He’s coming. He took a little extra time to spend some prize money on a limo for him and Henry. (Even Hank gets a cute little chair.) Porky pays the snake-man his due and although angry, he is at least civil enough to thank the pig. Hank then redeems himself to me by giving Viper a bite. The rich horseflies don’t settle for horse meat.

Personal Rating: 3

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Alpine Antics

“I’ll show that big stiff!”

Porky hasn’t got a hat.

Supervision by Jack King; Animation by Riley Thompson and Jack Carr; Music by Norman Spencer. Released in 1936.

Tomorrow is my sixth anniversary of starting this blog! And that means another update that any competent blogger would have started doing on day one! I think from next time onward, I’ll start listing whether or not the short discussed was a “Looney Tune” or “Merrie Melody”. That’ll make people want to visit!

Our short begins with a shot of many characters having winter fun. (If they’re having any fun outside at all, they’re not doing it right.) Skiers ski on the horizon, and some snowmen sing to us. Unfortunately for them, they dance in front of a campfire and melt to death. (Dying snowmen always make me feel warm inside.) One guy takes some boiling water and pours it in a hole in a lake to make his own hot tub. He freezes solid.

Beans the cat is having a good time with his girlfriend, Kitty. He sees a sign telling of a downhill skiing race with $100,000 in cash prizes. Or a cool $2.00. (It was the depression.) But a big bully with a Billy Bletcher laugh. (Hereafter known as Bully Bletcher) breaks Bean’s skis so there will be one less competitor. But little did he know that Beans is the kind of guy who would dismantle his girlfriend’s sled to get more skis. (In his defense, she seems okay with it.)

They take their places at the starting line. Bully is not happy to see Beans again and attaches a firecracker to the cat’s skis. Lighting it, causes Beans to fly backwards and give everyone else a head start. The other competitors are: Porky on a rocking horse, a guy whose skis are pedal powered, (cheater) someone who has a sail and bellows, and a duck on a dachshund. Bully takes the lead and holds out a trip wire. This gets rid of nearly everyone. (Don’t worry Porky, you’re a winner to me.) When Beans crosses it, he doesn’t trip, but instead the wire wraps around Bully. This doesn’t hold him for long though. He continues on with the Double D team, (the dog and duck, remember?) behind him.

Beans jumps a gap, but doesn’t quite make it, getting himself stuck in the cliff side. Bully makes it, no problem. The other two go down the slope and back up, knocking Beans loose and getting him back in the race and bumping themselves to second. They soon go on to take first, but don’t look where they’re going and crash. This just leaves the two B’s. (Bully and Beans remember?) It looks like Bully is going to win, but he crashes into the ground and ends up underwater. (The finish line is on a frozen lake then?) This gives Beans the advantage and he wins! Before he can celebrate too much though, Bully pokes his head through the ice, tripping Beans, and causing him to fall into the drink too.

Personal Rating: 2

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The Daffy Doc

“I gotta find a patient.”

Supervision by Robert Clampett; Animation by John Carey and Vive Risto; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1938.

When this short begins we see two ducks on their way to a hospital. I only bring this up because they’re wearing pants! Ducks in pants! They don’t wear pants! That’s one of the unspoken rules of cartoons!

Okay, okay. I’m calm now. Inside the hospital, (Which above the entrance has one of the best puns ever, “As we sew, so shall we rip.” Genius!) there is a surgery underway by Dr. Quack and his assistant, Daffy. (He is also a quack.) Daffy in this short has eyes very similar to the first Woody Woodpecker and he’s been practicing his ventriloquy as there are several times he talks and his beak clearly doesn’t move. The doctor wants it quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Which thanks to Daffy checking, we can confirm it is. (But not for long.)

He hands the doctor his tools but soon starts acting like his daffy self we know and love. Throwing the tools everywhere, and using the oxygen bag as a punching bag. He is thrown out and he lands in an artificial lung, which causes his body to inflate and deflate constantly. Believe it or not, people have taken offense to that. Why? Because some people NEED artificial lungs. Pathetic reason, that. People need food too. Should I be offended when a fictional character eats? Daffy is angered and vows to show that he is as competent as any doctor. All he needs to prove it is a patient. He grabs a mallet and begins his search. (I love his methods.)

Meanwhile, Dr. Quack is pointing out that his operation is too serious for any wackiness. He’s stitching a football. (Hey! That’s insensitive. Some people NEED stitches!) Back with Daffy, he has found a perfect patient: Porky. He knocks him out and carries him to his room. Daffy is clearly not the best doc. His thermometer is just a lollypop. (Labeled in case you couldn’t recognize it.) He smacks himself with his mallet which causes him to vibrate so he can consult with his ghostly selves. They agree that an operation is the only solution and he prepares to carve Porky open. (This seems to happen to the poor guy whenever he is near a hospital.) Porky runs for it, but in the resulting chase, the two of them fall into that lung again, and once more inflate and deflate.

Personal Rating: 3

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Little Red Wallking Hood

“Gee, but you’re swell!”

Supervision by Fred Avery; Story by Cal Howard; Animation by Irven Spence; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1937. (You know, I always did question the “riding” part of the title)

In this short (which contains backgrounds drawn by colored pencils. Gives it that story book feel.) we see a wolf playing pachinko. Despite his best cheating, he fails. (Don’t feel bad wolf, if “Super Mario Sunshine” has taught me anything, it’s that pachinko is near impossible.) He spies a young girl with a red hood outside and calls upon his inner pervert. (She looks like a kid, so maybe she is one.) He hits on her, but she is not interested and turns her nose up at him. Not looking where he was going, the wolf (voiced by Ted Pierce) gets hit on the head by a stop sign.

After waiting for Egghead to cross the street (and getting hit by a go sign) he resumes his flirtatious ways despite her literal cold shoulder. She tells him off (in her Katherine Hepburn-esque voice) and says that she is going to her grandmothers. Egghead pops up with a sign showing a shortcut, and the wolf drives off. Turns out that favor wasn’t free as the wolf soon sees Egghead hitchhiking up ahead. He speeds past him. At grandma’s, (where we see Egghead just jumped onto the car anyway.) He tries to get in. Grandma was smart enough to lock the door and the wolf can’t get in no matter how hard he tries. (Egghead can get in easily to the wolf’s chagrin.)

He eventually does get in the house and chases the old lady around. She calls a time-out to answer the phone. It’s the grocer and she takes her time listing her groceries. (Gotta love the wolf’s reaction.) After getting some butter and lettuce (and gin) they resume their chase. She hides in the closet and when the wolf catches up, Egghead walks out. (The wolf can only shrug by this point.) Right when he gets her where he wants her, Red shows up. The wolf begs for the stuff he needs to disguise himself with. Funnily enough, she hands it over right away. He hops into bed and the girl walks in.

After they give the usual banter this story has, the wolf tussles with her. (Taking a quick break so a couple of inconsiderate a-holes can sit down in the theater.) Just when the fight starts picking up again, Egghead walks by once more. Having enough, the wolf asks (in his own words) just who the heck this guy is. Egghead responds by smacking him with a mallet. Turns out he was the hero of the short.

Personal Rating: 4

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The Night Watchman

“I guess you’ll have to watch the kitchen tonight, son.”

Directed by Charles Jones. Released in 1938.

In Chuck’s directorial debut, our story takes place in a house. There is a cat there, but he is sick tonight. Therefore, his “The Night Watchman” duties will have to be handled by his son. His son looks like some kind of a rodent to me, with his big buck teeth. And he’s kinda clumsy too. Even smacks himself when trying to salute. He heads out to perform his old man’s job. Geez, he’s tiny! I know he’s a rodent, but he didn’t look much smaller than his father. Maybe the kitchen is giant?

Either way, he’s immediately in the company of a mouse. The mouse does the ole “what’s that and flicks his nose” gag and steals one of his buttons. Learning that the regular watchman is sick, he calls his posse and they begin to feast. They eat their way through the food and make some humorous sight gags. Like, starting at one end of a pretzel and eating one’s self into a knot, and getting into a jar of olives and eating them all. (Thus creating your own prison with only an olive jar.) The kid tries to get them to stop, but he’s not very assertive and actually ends up helping prepare a steak for the leader.

The mice perform a floor show and this forces the child to yell to get his “quiet” heard. The leader hits him and he walks off in tears. His conscience berates him for letting his father down and reminds him he’s a cat. (Really? All this time I though he was a gopher. That still doesn’t explain why he’s so small.) With newfound courage, he heads back into the fray and pounds every mouse that tries to stand in his way. Before he’s through with them, he is sure to steal a button from the leader. Turnabout is fair play.

Personal Rating: 3

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Porky’s Poultry Plant

“He-He-Here ch-ch-ch-ch-chick ch-ch-chick!”

Directed by Frank Tash. (His first for Warner Bros.)  Released in 1936

At the titular plant, a rooster rousts everyone out of bed. Porky included. He sets to work taking care of his birds. (This scene becomes less precious when you remember WHY poultry is raised. Sorry for ruining your happiness.) He has many chickens, ducks and geese and they are very hungry. Porky satisfies their cravings by giving them corn. One chick just can’t fight the rush. Porky pretends to throw a huge handful, and gives it all to the chick. He’s even willing to charm some worms out of the ground for the other chicks. Yes, it seems like nothing could ever go wrong here.

But sadly, Porky has lost several good hens. One was taken in June of 1936. (The same year Tashlin started at W.B) Another was named Dorothy. (Like Tashlin’s wife.) It seems they were all the victims of a hawk. (Looks more like an eagle to me.) Said hawk is actually cruising overhead, looking for tasty morsels. Porky rings the alarm and all the birds take cover. After the predator leaves, one hen realizes one of her chicks is missing. Yes it appears that the hawk did make off with little (lets call him) Chippy. Rather than letting nature take its course, Porky gets in his airplane and goes after him. Seriously though, if the hawk got the mother, than ALL the chicks would die.  (Yes, I am glad Porky is so devoted to his birds.)

He manages to shoot off the buteo’s tail feathers and this causes it to call for reserves. Many hawks arrive and torture Porky by pulling his tail, and dropping eggs on him. (Uhhhhhh… That’s like a human… never mind. I’m not going there.) The battle goes into a cloud, where the birds get Porky’s gun away from him. They shoot and Porky goes down. All’s good though, he crashes into a windmill and gets a brand new propeller. Then for the best part: they start a game of football WITH the chick! (That is hilarious, cruel, and adorable all at once.) The rooster (Ted Pierce) narates everything.

After a few passes, one of the hawks fumbles. Porky gets Chippy back and expels some exhaust for the hawks to fly into. I don’t know if it kills them or knocks them out, but as they fall, the hens dig a hole for them to fall into, and bury them. So, they’re definitely dead now. Porky returns Chippy to his mother and all is well. OR IS IT? A shadow flies over the plant, sending the hen into hysterics. Porky readies his gun, but all IS well. The shadow belonged to the weather vane.

Personal Rating: 4

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Cracked Ice

“I can almost feel pneumonia, embracing me in its icy grip.”

Directed by Frank Tashlin.  Released in 1938

This short starts eerily similar to the Mickey Mouse short “On Ice”, which was released 3 years earlier. Many creatures are enjoying some ice skating, and we get a few sight gags. Like a centipede’s segments scattering away from it’s body, and a fish skating in a pelican’s mouth. One bird is jumping over barrels. He messes up on the final jump and lands in a open area of the ice. His screams are heard by that W.C. Fields pig caricature we saw in “The Coocoo nut Grove.” (Obviously, his name is W.C. Squeals.) He begins to help the best way he can: calling for someone to help the bird out.

A St. Bernard hears the cries and comes to the rescue. He hauls the bird out, picks him out of his icy prison, and makes him a drink via the various liquors in his barrel. (For the record, it wouldn’t actually help.) This drink succeeds in warming the bird up. But now, Squeals is claiming he needs some too. He is deathly ill, otherwise he wouldn’t touch the stuff. The dog ignores him, so Squeals tosses a boulder into the water, and calls for help. (Even yelling “Splash. Splash.”) The dog comes back and finds he is lying on the ice. Out Cold. (Get it? Don’t laugh. It wasn’t funny.) The dog quickly mixes up another drink… and drinks it himself before leaving.

A voice begins laughing at Squeals. To those of you who don’t know your W.C. Fields lore, you’d think it was just a voice from the audience. To those of you who do know your W.C. Fields lore, you’ll know that it’s Charlie Mcarthy mocking him. (I did not know this was something the two did. I had to learn it from the commentary on my DVDs.) Squeals vows to get the goods. He fills up a plate with bones and sends it sliding towards Fido. Before the dog can chow down, Squeals uses a magnet to keep the dish just out of reach. The dog gives chase and Squeals realizes too late, that he’s going to crash. The impact sends the magnet into a hole in the ice, where it gets stuck on a fish.

While it struggles with it’s new accessory, the dog’s brandy (which was nowhere near the hole) begins to leak into the lake. The fish becomes a “pickled herring” if you will, and swims around drunk. The magnet pulls an axe above the ice after it, and the fish ends up using said axe to cut a hole in the ice around that bird from earlier. Squeals meanwhile, has come to and gets ready for a drink. The fish comes back, and Squeals’s skates are pulled along. The fish drags him to an ice skating competition, where it plays on a clock, (That is just under the ice. Don’t question it) and swims away from a bigger fish. Squeals is pulled along the whole time, and ends up winning the contest.

He is awarded a big trophy. Pleased, he calls Charlie a “Termite Terrace” (always good to slip the bosses a plug) and pours the alcohol into the trophy to drink. Before he can indulge, the fish comes back and ends up dragging the trophy away from Squeals. (Much to Charlie’s delight.)

Personal Rating: 3