175. Get Rick Quick Porky (1937)

Warner cartoon no. 174.
Release date: August 28, 1937.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Bob Clampett.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Porky Pig), Earle Hodgins (Honest John Gusher) and Cal Howard (Gabby Goat).
Animation: Chuck Jones.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Porky and Gabby try to get rich quick by striking oil which was initially a scam trick by a hustler.


I think that it is Cal Howard that voices Gabby in this cartoon as his voice sounds a little different but I'm  not sure. At this point; after 'Porky's Badtime Story' Clampett and his peers were writing their own stories for the Porky Pig cartoons. This cartoon is also the final appearance of Gabby Goat.

The cartoon begins as we find the backgrounds for the title cards done in silhouette. The silhouette then fades away in which we find that there are city backgrounds but a sign in a ditch that reads: GET RICH QUICK - FOR SALE THIS LOVELY LOT CONTAINING LOTS AND LOTS OH! ~ JUST OODLES OF OIL! The word "oil" then starts to drip down as we find an oil land hustler standing next to the sign dressing rather dandy, rather rich and uses a cigarette holder to smoke.

A car full of oil then starts to drive past as the driver asks the hustler, "Hey chief, where do I deliver this oil?" The hustler then replies, "Right along here my good friend" as he points with his stick to the direction of where the oil needs to go at. I'm not sure if the oil hustler is meant to be a reference to someone but the fast toned voice sounds like as though it could be referencing a celebrity of the time but maybe it's just a voice of what a hustler would just sound like. The oil hustler then grabs out a hose in which he places the hose for the oil to go inside the sprinkler system which is a way to cheat his way of getting rich quick. 

As the oil hustler turns on the hose; his way of getting rich quick being a cheat then happens as oil squirts from the grounds for where oil is delivered. The oil hustler rubs his hands gleefully and speaks, "Now for a couple of suckers, speaking I should make prospects - someone with a little money to invest". The hustler then looks over to his opposite in which he glances at the bank.

We find that Porky and Gabby are walking to the bank as Porky is holding a bag of their money. Gabby then starts to yell at Porky on why taking money to the bank and not buy a new car or travel to Europe. Porky replies, "No, I'm going to stock my dough and get 2%". As they walk up the steps to the bank; they are stopped by the oil hustler who introduces himself to both of them. Gabby sounds much more different than he did in Porky and Gabby or Porky's Badtime Story as he was voiced by Blanc in those cartoons but here I don't think he is voiced by Blanc here but I think it was probably by story man Cal Howard but I'm not too sure - does anyone have evidence on this? Keith Scott? Anyone?

The oil hustler who speaks very quickly with is voice still introduces him as he convinces Porky and Gabby that he's "just the man you want to see". He then shows out his card just like any any hustler or manager would do to introduce people by shouting "My card" in which he quickly shows it to them and tosses it back. Some nice quick timing of the card being shown. The hustler introduces himself as Honest John Gusher who convinces them to dig for oil.

Honest John Gusher as he's been identified speaks too fast like 24/7. Honest John Gusher then convinces Porky and Gabby as he pushes them away from the bank and over to the ditch where he convinces them to dig for oil in which they'll get rich quick. Honest John Gusher then goes to say they don't have to take his word but I can't tell exactly so I'm not going to go through everything he says but I get the gist of what is being said. Honest John Gusher then proves to Porky and Gabby as he prods his walking stick to the ground as a small fountain of oil flows out to show the soil has enough for them to get rich quick.

Honest John Gusher continues to convince Porky and Gabby with his fast talking mode that the oil grounds are exaggerated with oil that you would "ring it out with your fingers". He grabs hold of the soil and rings it like doing so with a towel and oil is squirted out. At least Clampett is presenting it as it keeps the audience interesting as you see him ringing the soil with his fingers which is rather cartoony.

The hustler then hand over the deed to Porky and Gabby for them to sign the deal to get rich quick. Porky is a little unnerved about signing the contract but Gabby convinces Porky to sign it stating, "We'll never get a chance like this". The hustler then points to where it ought to be signed. Porky Pig then makes a mark on the deed which is an 'X' mark which is a rather funny gag that probably suggests they can't write or too lazy to write their full name as he would just write a simple 'X' symbol. After the deal has been made; it meant that the hustler took their bag of money in order to strike oil in which would supposedly be a cunning trick to scam their money to strike oil - what a bastard!! Porky and Gabby are rather excited to start with the job as they grab out digging tools in order for a huge oil strike.

Gabby Goat then starts to begin the goal to strike oil in which he drills to the ground. He continues to drill deeply to the ground but then tugs out something from the ground and shows a tank that has the word oil labelled inside it; Gabby shouts "Hey Porky look,  oil". Personally I find that the way Cal Howard (or whoever) voices Gabby a bit degrading.

Meanwhile as they are starting to dig for oil, a dog then walks into the area where they are still digging rather curious as to what is being seen. As the digging still continues; Porky is digging the soil off-screen but you find once he's digging that a bone pops out which eagers the dog. There is some pretty solid character animation of the dog watching what is being dog as you feel he has got the personality of a dog; like Pluto in the Disney cartoons. The dog then starts to walk off with the bone and then does what all dogs would do - bury their bone. So the dog then buries the bone underground for safe keeping.

After the dog has the bone underground and scrapes it under the soil but finds that he bone then starts to squirt from oil which scares the dog. Then the bone starts to move from the flowing oil up in the air and then hits the dog on top of the head. The dog then starts to bury the soil under the oil but then the oil ends up squirting the dog in the face in a different position. There are then action scenes following on the dog being squirted by oil even including on his head which makes the cartoon action fun to watch.

There are multiple tiny oil squirts that happen in which the dog tries to stop the oil in which the dog starts to go into these interesting swirls which makes the pacing and comic timing much more fun to watch as Clampett is making his cartoons fun to watch and you can tell he's committed to animation even when he first started directing. After the dog believes that he has solves the problem by standing on each oil flow with arms and legs; the dog starts to pant happily. The oil is so intense that it starts to squirt and the dog is standing on air with the dog having a bit of a worried face wanting to get back down.

In the next sequence following after the bone sequence; Gabby Goat is standing on a drill that would drill to the ground. Gabby Goat then shouts over to Porky Pig but finds that he drills to the ground rather deeply that the timing is rather funny. Gabby Goat continues to dig even deeper believing me knows how to dig and Porky Pig walks over to the scene to see what has happened. Porky looks under the hole looking for Gabby and stutters, "Gabby, where are you?"

Some very funny animation pops up as the drill then drills it's way out of the soil from the other side and floats on air as the drill is in control of Gabby and the 'Merry-Go-Round Broke Down' is heard in the background. The drill then stops drilling once it touches the ground again in which he starts to shout at the drill to Porky. The drill continues again as Gabby continues to dig deeper to the ground burying the soil. Porky then starts to worry about Gabby underground asking, "Are you alright?" Gabby is underground as he replies; "What do you think?" which is of course a direct "no".

After that bit of fun with Gabby and the drill; we return to the dog again who is seen in the ditch slouching rather bored. The dog is sitting down fiddling with the bone with his hand. That is some very solid character animation of the dog moving the bone - good to study if you're learning to be an animator or studying animation.

Meanwhile a gopher from underground then starts to whistle to the dog and hides underground to get the dog's attention. The dog then starts to stand up rather happy there is a hole buried to place the bone as the dog couldn't find any area to bury the bone safely. The dog then drops the bone to the ground but the bone throws itself up. The dog throws the bone back into the ground but then the dog starts to move weirdly (and that animation is rather enjoyable). The dog covers the bone to the ground so that the gopher wouldn't have luck in throwing the bone back to the surface. The dog looks over to check but the gopher whacks the dog in the nose.

After being whacked on the nose the dog then starts to pant happily as the gopher pops back with the bone. The gopher decides to perform some magic tricks with the bone. The gopher then starts to push the bone down so that it disappears. The dog is rather curious of the tricks and finds that the bone has disappeared from the gopher's hand. The gopher then grabs out the bone out of the dog's ear as the trick has been finished.

Although that magic is rather typical; but the animation of that was rather appealing. The music for the magic scene in the background is of course; She Was an Acrobat's Daughter. The dog is rather surprised as to find the bone inside the gopher's ear. The gopher then buries the bone under a small pile; the dog points to himself whether he can pick up the bone and the gopher nods. The dog digs to the ground to grab his bone but is conned by the gopher as some oil squirts straight to the dog's face. After the dog's face is covered in oil; the gopher then opens the dog's mouth and takes the bone out. The dog has been tricked once again. The dog is annoyed again for being tricked by the gopher and ends up breaking down into tears. All the clever things that gopher does.

After that rather length sequence that went on for roughly a minute - Porky is seen digging to the ground and ends up striking a bit of oil. Porky Pig starts to fill up some of the oil in a bucket gleefully shouting "Oh boy". As Porky has managed to dig up quite a lot of oil. Honest John Gusher; the sneak has turned off the sprinkler system in which the amount of oil then starts to flow down which disappoints Porky. No wonder he's probably rich - just ripping off people's money.

Porky Pig continues to dig for more in which suddenly finds that he has bit a bar in which oil is squirted at his eye. Honest John Gusher then walks over to Porky Pig trying to act as though he knows nothing of the problem

Honest John Gusher: What's the matter, sonny boy? You aren't discouraged, are you?
Porky Pig: You're just a crook and I want my money back!
Honest John Gusher: Well, if that's the way you feel about you just give me back the deed.

Porky Pig has already realized of the hustler's crooked scheme which was to rip off his money as a trick to get rich quick.

Honest John Gusher continues on as he offers a dollar note to Porky, "...and I'll give you this crispy one dollar bill". What a ripoff; no wonder this character is such a weasel which is a good portray of  the hustler. We continue to go under ground where there is a good amount of oil. The words then scream "OIL" which is also a small Clampett trademark but he only uses that sometimes in this cartoon to make the climaxes exciting.

Underground we find that Gabby Goat has got the drill and is very close to struck the amount of oil. Porky Pig is just about to return the deed to the hustler which is another part of the crooked scene; as he's only given a dollar. I like how Clampett has organized the shots and climaxes for this part: Gabby is very close to be striking oil and Porky is very going to be giving away the deed. Once the hustler just touched the deed in return - UREKA! Oil strikes. There is a huge amount of oil shooting straight up to the sky even reaching as tall as the city buildings. They're rich now. You can hear a little bit of 'We're in the Money' in the background with the shot of oil striking.

Porky and the hustler are standing on oil but both are still holding onto the deed. Now there is a fight that goes on which means Porky has to try and fight the deeed back as he immediately changes his mind. Porky shouts "I'm a billonaire" still holding onto the deed. They then try to snatch the contact from each other fighting over it.

As the fighting still continues; Gabby is still being controlled by that powerful drill in which he ends up moving at weird and funny positions. The drill then moves inside. Honest John Gusher is in pain as he screams from the drill that is hitting his rear end. Porky and Gabby are trying to stay on top of the oil but are about to slip and slide down which would be rather dangerous. They end up slipping from the oil as they land and hit the ground. Porky thinks he is holding the deed as he shouts, "Look I got it, I got it!" but instead Porky is holding a bone by mistake. Porky continues to point but ends up pointing slowly realizing that he's holding a dog's bone and not the deed which is also good character animation.

Porky and Gabby are now in a little shock as they can't find the deed so they have evidence on where they could sign the oil. Immediately after that shock there is a dig under the ground that features the same gopher that performs magic tricks. The gopher then pushes the bone down but forms it back to form the deed. Porky is about to take the deed, but the gopher hides it back asking, "Partner?" Porky accepts in which the gopher then rips up the deed so they get their share. The gopher then ends the cartoon looking at the audience - and that's the cartoon, folks.

Overall comments: With a cartoon that has good solid character animation, as well as funny gags and good personalities I find that this makes a good cartoon and this certainly adds to that effect on that cartoon. Bob Clampett was only 23 or 24 years old but he has certainly made some appealing cartoons in the first year he started directing - 1937. While there were quite a lot of bland designs in the cartoon (but that's my opinion) - the Clampett cartoons shown here have a distinctive feel to it through Chuck Jones' character layouts on the early Clampett cartoons which makes the cartoons fun to watch.

The dog however in my opinion is another ripoff to Pluto but at least the dog has character personality which is interesting to watch; and that watching the dog getting conned by the gopher makes the sequence also interesting. I wonder if the gopher was created to try and appeal to an audience; like the way it happened to Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt - I may be wrong but just a theory. This is the final appearance of Gabby in this cartoon; and I feel that it would be enough we would've seen of Gabby Goat as he may have an annoying voice but was rather funny being grouchy but I feel that 3 cartoons starring would be enough and of course Porky Pig would continue to be a star for many years - but I feel so far in the 1930s Clampett has made the best Porkies but that doesn't mean I'm an immediate Clampett fanboy just because of that. Each director has got their own unique style back then which I do appreciate in some ways.