ReFrederator Blog

Today’s “Mother Goose Week” entry is yet another ‘Big Bad Wolf’ item, a great Oscar nominated Merry Melody from 1943 called “Pigs in a Polka.” It’s the story of the Three Little Pigs, set to Brahms’ Hungarian Dances — the kind of classical music/cartoon mayhem match-up that was a specialty of director Friz Freleng.

The gang at Warner Brothers dosen’t just give a nod to Disney’s iconic 1933 version; they fearlessly rip off character designs (check out ‘Practical Pig’) and lampoon specific gags and situations from Uncle Walt’s earlier take on the folk tale. And in case audiences were a little slow getting the point that this was a spoof on you know who, the whole thing starts off with a Fantasia-like parody (an idea Bob Clampett recycled in “Corny Concerto” released six months later.)

Hard to realize there was a time when people DIDN’T automatically associate stuff like the Hungarian Dances with animated cartoons! The synchronization of music and action is pretty wonderful here, with the Gypsy sequence being a standout (and here we go with another wolf in drag number, second day in a row!)

Dave Kirwan