What’s Porky’s Locomotivation?
Wednesday’s auteur du jour during ReFrederator’s “Great Directors Week” is Frank Tashlin, a guy who made cartoons using feature film technique and live action movies using cartoon tricks! Watch today’s flick and just try to keep track of the fast cut edits and crazy camera angles — pretty ritzy for 1937!
All those trains zooming back and forth keep “Porky’s Railroad” pretty darn energized, and it’s a good thing too! The title Pig is at his chunkiest, stutteringest, kinda slow movingest here, and he needs all the help he can get to keep things peppy. But having said that, I be thinkin’ this early version of Mr.Porky is very appealing; all circles with really, really big eyes that make him look very cute, if a trifle buzzed.
P.C. warning! There’s a quick throwaway sight gag playing on a very old, very racist colloquialism — it happens so fast, you’ll miss it if you blink (so, maybe you should!)
A little dab of genius every day here at ReFrederator.
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On June 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Anybody know what the Looney Tunes music was? It wasn’t “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down.” It’s also neat to watch this cartoon and see how Tashlin influenced Avery, Clampett, and Jones.
On June 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It was never given a title, but was written by R. K. Jerome, who wrote the incidental music for that Warners chestnut, “Casablanca.”
I believe a version of it is still at Toonzone.net in the Looney Tunes section.
On June 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
hey anybody else catch the name on that boat?
hhhhhmmm….Leon….Leon….who do we know named Leon?….hmmm.
On June 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It’s a great short. I caught the racist colloquialism… they cleaned it up a bit… it’s just a monkey, dude. But, this toon is sort of retelling the legend of John Henry. Was that a concealed motive?
On June 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
As to the John Henry thing… hey, maybe! I did always think it was a little sad Porky got the promotion, but ‘Toots’ gets scrapped!
On June 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
ah heers a-rustlin’ in da Refredaraytah wooodpile now….
On June 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Dave, was this particular Porky toon redone in color? I vaguely remember this and quite a few more toons with Porky and Gabby Goat that were remade with some horrible looking type of color process. The black and white originals like this print look much better!!! Is there a chance we will see the toon with Porky trying to court Petunia Pig and her mean yappy little dog?
On June 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Nickelodeon I’m darn sure showed this one on its half-hour Looney Tunes show, and “Porky’s Romance” was colorized for one of WB’s 1990s syndicated shows…I recall they bowdlerized the title card to remove the names of Tash, Stalling and the animators (how rude)