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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Pigs is Pigs

“And please, could we have alots of ice cream, tonight?”

I remember when I first watched this. I had just got done killing off a case of the munchies, and decided to keep watching that Looney Tunes DVD set I got for my birthday. Turns out irony can be delicious too.

Our short shows a house full of happy piglets. For the most part. One piglet, Piggy (no relation to the other W.B. character named that,) doesn’t want to play. He’d rather obsess over food. Sniffing some pies his mother made, he grabs one, spins it on his finger and eats. He attempts to do this with the other, but is caught. She scolds, but her words fall on hungry ears and he just goes back to fantasizing.

Later, it is dinner time. Piggy’s favorite time. Mom says they must all say grace, but they pray instead. (Laugh. I’m funny.) During this, Piggy ties all the spaghetti strands together. As soon as the grace is over, he digs in and slurps down the rest of the family’s supper, to his mother’s anger. The next day, he is invited into the house of some creepy, yellow, hiccuping, bald guy with the voice of Billy Bletcher. (Pete the cat, Henrey Bear, etc.) He offers him a feast and Piggy happily sits down to eat. Oh no! It’s a trap! He is strapped into the chair, and a clamp clamps his snout. The mad man is going to give him all the food he can handle, and then some!

First course, soup. (Red pea soup? Oxtail soup?) A water wheel made of spoons, paddles into his forced open mouth. He has bananas shot down his throat and a gumball machine doling out olives as fast as he can be forced to swallow. Next, ice cream. Bellows puff air through the cone and launches the ice cream into his head. (What a waste of cones.) Time for the main course! A sandwich the size of a mattress! (First use of Freleng’s “Hold the onions” gag.) He is forced to chew it, and then for dessert he is fed pies (spun like the way he ate his mother’s) from a pie-a-trope.

After a montage of all this repeating, the piglet has become a ball of food inside a bag of skin. The man lets him go, but tells him he’s not half full. Piggy goes to leave, but can’t resist a turkey leg for the road. He takes a bite and blows up. Wow. That was morbid.

Okay okay, he wakes up. It was all a dream. And what does he do now that he’s safe at home? Eat breakfast of course.

And after I finished watching for the first time, I decided to go eat more too. I’m an American and therefore, I can eat pure fat like it’s carrot sticks.

Personal Rating: 5

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Porky and Teabiscuit

“They’re off! Yes, sir they’re off in a doud of clust! Err a cloud of rust! Er a bust of crust!… Ah, there they go.”

In this short Porky is just a kid. (Or maybe a teen? He can drive and is eligible for a horse race. I have no idea how old you’d have to be.) His father, Phineas Pig (and the one who gave Porky a stutter) tells him to take some feed down to the racetrack, and bring back $11.00. Porky is excited as he LOOOOOOOOVES racing!

After delivering the food, he watches an auction. An old guy asks him for the time. He is hard of hearing and Porky has to yell that it’s eleven. Just as the auctioneer is asking for that exact amount. Porky apparently bought a rope. What a ripoff. But wait! There is something at the end of the rope. A real Racehorse. No, not the beautiful creature Porky admires, but a sickly, frail, equine named Teabiscuit. (He looks like an underfed camel.)

Porky can’t believe his rotten luck. Luckily, there is a race, and after deducting prices, the prize would be eleven bucks. Porky goes to get ready and TB wanders around. He seems to really enjoy a trombone being played in a band. Just then, a child’s balloon pops and sends the horse running back to the stables, where Porky is waiting. (He somehow got a uniform. Probably killed one of the weaker jockeys.)

They race, but it is obvious they aren’t exactly the racing type. (Heck, I doubt they’re the plowing type either.) Things get more complicated when Teabiscuit watches the trombone again. Porky tries to get him to move, but can’t compete with the siren’s song. Another balloon pops and scares the horse so bad, that he runs so fast and actually wins. He gets scared again by the victory photo camera flashes, and runs to his best friend for comfort: the trombone. He plays “Good Evening Friends” to end us off.

Personal Rating: 3

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Porky in Egypt

“THE CAMELS ARE COMING! THE CAMELS ARE COMING!”

Lets start off this year with another porky short! Particularly one that will keep us warm during the long cold winter.

Our story takes place in Egypt. After a few gags we get to the main story. A camel caravan is about to make its way to view the pyramids. (and by caravan, I mean one freakishly huge camel) Porky wants to go to, but misses the departure. He sets out on his own on a camel named Humpty-Bumpty. (Stolen? Rented? Actually belongs to Porky? Never answered.)

They begin their journey. Unfortunately, the angry sun from “Super Mario Bros. 3” is here, and demonstrates its power by annihilating an oasis. The heat soon gets to poor Humpty, and he gets the horrible, dreaded “Desert Madness!” He hears disturbing, disembodied voices calling his name, he sees herds of imaginary camels, and he soon runs off leaving Porky behind to die.

Porky finds him in a pool of water in Palm Springs, (Stop sweating Porky, Pigs are incapable of doing that!) only to find the hard way that it’s a mirage. Humpty finally gets some sense knocked into him and apologizes to Porky saying he’s fine now. He begins to hear the voices again and speeds back to the town, with Porky in tow. Now back in there (House? Inn? Random building? Never answered.) Humpty is glad to be both safe and sane. Then to his horror we see Porky now has the madness.

Great way to start a year huh?

Personal Rating: 3

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Porky’s Party

“M-Mad dog!” “M-Mad dog!”

It’s Porky’s Birthday! (He’s 5 years old?) And it just so happens that his uncle has sent him a silkworm as a present. (Porky’s address states residency in Hollywood.) To get the silkworm to work, one must say “sew”. At first it works great, making a nice sock. Then we see how naughty the insect really is, as he knits a bra next.

Porky puts it away, as it is time to prepare for his guests. His dog, Black Fury, follows and watches Porky pour on some hair growth formula. The dog follows suit, and discovers it’s 99% alcohol. He starts chugging it. At the door Porky greets his first guest. Random Penguin who seems to have only come for the food. (At least he gave Porky a present. I wonder what’s in it.) His other guest is Goosey. Some moronic goose, who only gives Porky a gag handshake. Porky comments on the fact that he is “so silly.” SO silly?

The silkworm starts his stuff and various pieces of womens underwear comes out of Porky’s clothes. In panic he throws it away and it lands in the penguin’s ice cream. (He is really going to twon, ain’t he? Not even a brain-freeze.) The bird soon finds a sock and a top hat in the dessert. Worse still, he finds a hat in his head. (He ate the silkworm!) His head keeps popping up into a top hat shape, to his frustration. Goosey tries to help by hitting him with a hammer, and slamming him into a wall. (According to storyboards, these two were originally supposed to be Gabby Goat and Petunia Pig. No idea why they changed from ungulates to birds.)

Back to Black Fury. The formula seems to have worked as he is now covered in hair. Drunk, he decides to shave. He slathers on some shaving cream, and accidentally turns on the “Letrick” shaver. Scared, he runs to Porky. But because of his appearance, they all think he is rabid. All three run. (Pengy seems to not have hat problems now.) After a chase, the penguin and dog are stuck in a bed together. They fight and it is revealed who the dog is. Seeing this, the penguin rolls up his… arm? Sleeve? And says “so” ready for another fight. The silkworm who is still not digested begins making more clothes, eventually wrapping the penguin in a cocoon. Goosey then hits him on the head again.

Personal Rating: 3

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Porky’s Romance

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Introducing Leon Scheslinger’s new Looney Tune Star: Petunia Pig!”

After her grand debut makes her look like a basket case, Porky is shown happily buying a ring, candy, and flowers. (I don’t trust that ring.) He makes his way to Petunia’s place and eagerly rings her doorbell. Petunia sees it’s Porky and rejects him. As does her dog, Flumnums. (I don’t care what you say, THAT is the ugliest dog I ever saw!)

Porky somehow heard her through the door, and leaves, crying. Flumnums suddenly sees something that is sure to capture Petunia’s attention: the big box of candy Porky has. She immediately runs out, grabs him, (and the candy) and makes to her couch, where she begins *ahem* pigging out on the sweets. She shares with Flumnums and Porky can’t help but lick his lips. Flumnums won’t let Porky take any however. Porky finally gets one anyway, only for the dog to steal it. (and ruin his hat.)

Porky finally gets to why he came here at all. He proposes. (Interesting note: It’s the last time Doughtery voiced him. Blanc would come in next to show him, how it’s done.) Petunia laughs at Porky and he leaves brokenhearted. He goes to hang himself. (Woah, wait a minute Porky. Let’s talk about this, it’s not worth it!) Lucky for everyone in the audience, he doesn’t die. His weight causes the branch to snap and hit him on the head. Porky then has a vision of what the world would be like if he wasn’t born… oh wait, this short came out first. Instead he see’s what would happen if he married his dream girl.

After a wedding that everyone came to see, they drive off to spend their honeymoon in a hotel. (The license plate says 13OO13. Uh-Oh) However time waits for no pig and it munches on. Years later, Petunia is no longer Mrs. Pig, she is now Mrs. Hog. It appears that all she spends her time doing is eating candy with Flumnums. (What breed is he? Obese.) So, where does that leave Porky? Doing all the housework. He breaks some dishes which cause his children to wake up. (I think they’re all boys, as they’re all named Porky Jr.) Petunia yells at him to shut the brats up and hits him with the stereotypical housewife weapon: a rolling pin, to the piglets’ amusement.

Porky comes back to reality to find Petunia apologizing and agreeing to marry him. (Flumnums is also there, cuddling Porky.) Porky remembers what his dream told him and he runs for the hills. Only coming back to take the candy with him. (And give Flumnums a well deserved kick.)

Personal Rating: 3

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I Haven’t got a Hat

“Listen m-my-m-m-m-my children and you shall hear, of the m-m-mi-m-midnight r-ri-ride of P-P-Paul-P-P-Paul R-R-Revere.”

Hello children. You now may recite for your parents today.

(What the heck is wrong with that student in the lower right?)

Now for the birth of my favorite cartoon character ever: Porky Pig! And he’s not alone. This short starts off with a cast of characters. Also appearing is the school teacher: Mrs. Cud the teacher, Beans the cat, Oliver Owl, and the puppies, Ham and Ex. (They point at us and whisper. Am I the only one who wants to know what they’re saying? Because I love attention!)

At the local schoolhouse the students are performing for their parents. First up is a timid little guy, who had no idea he will become the worlds most famous pig. (I don’t care what ignorant children think.) This is Porky’s beginning. He tries to recite “The ride of Paul Revere.” (This is B.B. Before Blanc. Originally it was a man named Joe Doughtery, a REAL stutterer.) Porky has such a difficult time that the crowd gets tired and whistles a pack of dogs to chase Porky off. Jerks. (Yes there are dogs that are anthropomorphic and some that aren’t. Why question it?)

Next up is Kitty, and if you thought Porky was nervous, well, she is just downright petrified. Porky at least went on stage of his own free will. Kitty can’t even finish “Mary had a Little Lamb.” She’s so scared she bolts at the last verse. Next are the pups, who sing our title song. In the crowd Oliver gets out some candy to munch. Not only does he refuse to share with Beans, (Who for the record didn’t really ask) he sticks his tongue out at him. The next performance (in this line of characters that WB was pretty much using to figure out which would be a good replacement for Buddy) is Oliver himself. He takes his candy, turns his nose…beak up at Beans, and goes to play the piano.

To get his revenge, Beans sneaks around outside and puts a non-anthro cat in the piano. To add to the chaos he then adds a dog. Suddenly the piano starts playing “The Storm” by itself, to Oliver’s amazement. The audience can’t see him behind the instrument, so they think he is a musical prodigy. When the music ends, Oliver happily takes the credit. Just at that moment the animals leap out, and the cheers become jeers. Ollie sees Beans laughing and sprsys green ink at him. The force causes Beans to fall back and launch some red paint back at the bird. Caught in the same predicament, the two shake hands and share a truce.

Personal Rating: 3

(Seriously, what is wrong with that student in the bottom right?)

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It’s Got me Again!

“Oh, Mr. Cat please let me go! Oh Mr. Cat, don’t tease me so!”

It’s the first Warner Bros. short to be nominated for an Oscar! (It lost to “Flowers and Trees.” Don’t feel bad, Disney was tough to beat, even with it being the first time animation was being recognized. Just being nominated should be a huge honor.)

In the after hours at a music shop, the mice come out to play with the instruments. They make some lovely music and soon it grows into a party. Turning on a record they begin to dance to the title song. As they play the most threatening cat in all animation, (at least to me) watches with hungry eyes. After we witness the mice dance on a piano, (I think they were describing domestic abuse!) the cat sneaks in through the chimney.

He eats the cuckoo out of the clock, which unfortunately alerts the mice to his presence. Most of the mice escape but one is trapped. He pleads for help and his friends fire drumsticks and needles at the cat. (Dang. They mean business.) The cat runs away and the mice cheer. The short is ended by… Piggy? What’s he doing here? One of the mice couldn’t end the short?

Personal Rating: 2

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Sinkin’ in the Bathtub

“Hello, Bosko.”

The one that started it all!

It begins with Bosko taking a bath. (We’re off to a great start!) He plays the song “Singin’ in the Bathtub” in various creative ways. Even his tub joins in the fun. All clean, Bosko goes outside to get his car. It’s not in the garage, it was in the outhouse. (Remember in my second Space Jam article I mentioned the use of SUTBLE bathroom humor? Take notes people.) He now heads out for a date with his girlfriend, Honey. (Not before picking some tulips to the tune of “Tiptoe through the Tulips”)

He arrives to see Honey is still preparing, by taking her own bath. (Bosko! You perv!) She quickly gets dressed and Bosko plans to show her the flowers he got her. While he is not looking, a goat eats the flower heads, and Bosko cries. Honey assures him she still loves him and he happily serenades her with a saxophone. (The goat looks angry, was he trying to ruin their relationship?) Honey is not too pleased with Bosko’s music, so she empties her tub on him. He continues to play as the bathwater greatly improves his music ability. Honey dances on the bubbles to the song “I’m forever blowing bubbles.” They hop in the car and go for a ride.

After getting pass a stubborn cow, they slowly make their way up a steep incline. Bosko gets out to shove the car, and the next thing he knows its out of control going downhill. (Honey doesn’t sound too terrified.) While chasing her, Bosko ends up ahead of her. She crashes through a house (taking a bathtub with her) and they all fall down into a lake. Using the tub as a boat, they continue their date. This would only be the beginning for good ‘ole Termite Terrace.

Personal Rating: 3 (It’s a d*mn impressive start.)

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Thugs with Dirty Mugs

“I’ll get the killer yet! I’ll send him up!… The rat!”

It’s a cartoon spoof of “Angels with Dirty Faces” and the character Killer Diller is played by Ed. G. Robemsome. He robs the first national bank. Then the second one. Then the third one. This goes on until 13. Seems the killer is superstitious. But that doesn’t stop him, as he goes on to rob 87 banks in one day. The secret agent fails to inform the chief of police of what he’s learned while Killer makes his way up to robbing the 112th national bank.

He goes to the worst national bank (although, I swear he already went there earlier) which contains 225 million assets. The gang goes in and comes out leaving only 2. Killer goes back to get what he missed and fixes the sign for them. That was nice. He is so intimidating that he can rob the operator over the telephone. Back at the hideout he tells his boys that they are next going to rob Mrs. Lotta Jewels house. A man in the audience tries to leave, but Killer makes him sit. Can’t risk him telling the cops.

The police chief meanwhile figures that if he knew where Killer would strike next, he could catch him. The same audience member tips him off, and the popo surprise the gang at the mansion. Killer is sent to jail for his long sentence. Well, it’s not very long (it’s only “I’ve been a naughty boy”) but he’ll be writing it for years to come.

Personal Rating: 4

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Speaking of the Weather

“Is everybody happy?”

Around midnight, the magazines in a shop come to life. The radio star plays music before “Radioland” takes over. A beaver from “Outdoor Life” slaps a bass, and “The Dance” starts having a good time. Two boxers dance in “The Ring” and “Child’s Life” applauds. Hugh Herbert enjoys himself too. (Behind him, is a note stating that he was in Coo-Coo Nut Grove. Nice continuity.) Leopold Stickoutski conducts the storm and our title song begins, being joined by some singing tongue sandwiches and lobster/oyster castanets.

Gang magazine robs “Wall Street” but soon confesses to “Confessions”. He is sentenced to Life magazine. He goes to the other magazine nearby (Liberty) and breaks free. Walter Snicthall (Twitchell) alerts everyone, and now everyone is on the alert. The Thin Man and his Dog(world) find him hiding in “Better Babies” and he runs. He is lassoed by “Western Story”, trips over Greta Garbo’s feet and lands in “Twenty thousand years in Sing-Sing”. Hugh laughs at this and the crook drops a globe on him. He then laughs in the same manner Hugh did.

Personal Rating: 2