212. Wholly Smoke (1938)

Warner cartoon no. 211.
Release date: August 27, 1938.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Frank Tashlin.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Porky Pig / Bully) and Ted Pierce (Nick O'Teen / Porky's Mother).
Story: George Manuell.
Animation: Robert Bentley.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Porky encounters and ends up in a hallucinated dream about the dangers of smoking.


This is the last Porky cartoon that Tashlin directs in his second stint at Warners, and his remaining cartoons are coloured Merrie Melodies. I seem to notice in the 'B/W' Porkies he has separate teams of Joe D'Igalo, Robert Bentley or Volney White animating for them while Harris, McKimson and Monroe animate the colour cartoons (judging by the credits). I've also noticed in the credits that even White and D'Igalo have animated for Hardaway/Dalton - unless both directors were sharing these animators.

The cartoon begins as we hear the sounds of a church choir sing the church song: The Little Old Church in the Valley which would sound a little appropriate to use at the beginning. We then find that outside appears to be the priest as he steps out to make the sound of church bells meaning that it is time for church. However it is being presented as a gag where he appears to be hitting it like using a strength tester in a carnival style and its a pretty clever charming gag to show it.

There is a neat little filming technique by Tashlin where we see a long shot of the church tower as we notice the bells are still ringing. We then truck back as we find that Porky's mother is in fact calling for her son, Porky Pig. The filming technique even continues on where there is a slow pan representing the staircase - and overall it makes it a very neat background and filming effect which would've been difficult for animation. Porky's mother then continues calling for Porky and even hog-calls for him. She remarks, "Hurry it up, please, or for Sunday school you'll be late". Porky Pig then makes an appearance and we see him in this cartoon being presented as a young child. Mmm, this definitely shows that the character DEFINITELY hasn't been settled yet. We have seen him play a modern character and recognisable in cartoons like 'Porky's Party' or 'Porky at the Crocadero' where he appears to be a young adult but he keeps on varying and they could never finalise Porky in the 1930s. Porky's head pops out of the banister of the stairs as he slides down the rails of the stairs - a good use of timing there. Porky immediately halts sliding when he nearly hits himself on the model part of the staircase. Porky then climbs back down the railing of the stairs and listens to what his mother has to say next.

Porky's mother (appears to sound rather Irish there, but I'm not so sure) as she then hands a nickel to Porky which is donation money to the Church. "And the nickel what I give you is not for the candy. No, no. But in the plate goes it". She then hands the nickel over to Porky for him to put in the donation plate. Porky then agrees - and we find that so far he is seen as a good boy being raised by clean living.

Porky's mother then pecks him goodbye as he is on his way to church. She then remarks like a mother would always do: "Nix on talking to strange people and crossing the street without getting bumped or nix on the mud playing in". Porky is already walking out of the front porch on his way to church trying to remember all of what his mother had just said to him. Mmm, I wonder why his mother isn't attending church because I thought Christians would still turn up to Church even in their adulthood - oh well, shows how little I know of going to church. Porky Pig walks out remembering her orders, "Don't talk to strangers. Don't get your clothes dirty. Don't spend a nickel. Be careful crossing the street. It sure is a lot for a little old fellow like me to remember". Look at that very shot - where it begins with a long-shot distance of the church bell and Porky walking out of the house - that is some very incredible simulated camera movement and it was only one shot. It also must've been very difficult to film as well, considering they had to film inside the house as well as outside.

In the next sequence we then find a rather tough-looking dog creature who is loitering behind a fence puffing his cigar heavily. The tough little dog is in fact puffing out horseshoes and there is a little neat smoke gag where the smoke horseshoes land into a fire hydrant before the smoke clears away. Meanwhile Porky Pig walks into the scene and he notices the amount of smoke above him coming from behind the fence. Porky is afraid of encountering a stranger so he dashes back to check.

A little gag appears where the smoke then forms into fingers and they poke his two eyes to get Porky's attention. Porky then runs out of the way and he climbs up at the top of the fence and attempts to portray being the voice of reason - or in other words; being the punk's good conscience. "Don't you know what happens to little punks (stutters) boys who smoke?" The bully then looks at Porky sarcastically believing that Porky is a tough character. "Kinda tough ain't you? You wanna fight?" and I like how he immediately changed mood from calm to aggressiveness eager to pick a fight on Porky. Porky then stands up for himself in front of the bully - and there appears to be a rather interesting camera angle of where Porky looks huge as though its meant to represent Porky as the mighty one.

The bully then begins his little fight with Porky which doesn't involve any injuries other than potentially being diagnosed of cancer. It turns out that the bully is in fact puffing out smoke from the cigars and is creating from visualised decorum from smoke. He begins off where he puffs out a dartboard and an arrow hits the bullseye. He then begins the next part where he puffs smoke inside his bowler hat and he pulls out a smoke rabbit until it dissolves away.

The music for these puffing scenes are in fact cliched to the 'Merry-Go-Round Broke Down' theme which is of course the main theme to the 'Looney Tunes'. He continues his puffing where he then ends up puffing out a dove that even flies out of the scene. More music cliches from the music cue (chosen by Stalling) is all timed very well. The bully then finishes off by using some movement with his legs kicking the cigar which looks like a football manoeuvre. He then slides his bowler hat up ready to act tough again towards Porky. "How do you like that, puny puss?" Porky then goes into denial, "I ain't a puny puss". They then argue back with each other back and forth where Porky denies and the bully refuses to believe. There is some pretty cool timing where it is rather jerky as Porky just fights straight back towards the bully numerous times denying he is a 'puny puss' and even the bully fighting back quite a few times. I can see where Tashlin's timing is getting to as it makes the dialogue scenes more interesting there.

Porky then goes on as far as to say that he bets the bully a nickel the the could prove that he is not a wuss. He is completely forgetting about his mother's orders that it is not for candy, cigars, etc. and even forgetting about the idea of going to church.

Porky Pig: I bet ya a nickel.
Bully: A nickel? One twentieth of a dollar? Five cents? One half a dime? Did you say a nickel?

The bully then quickly impersonates Katherine Hepburn - even with Mel Blanc attempting to put on a falsetto voice shouting, "Really?" Porky is also regretting about what he said but the bully is already being very persuasive about receiving the nickel that it would be difficult for Porky Pig to back on his word. He then backs down, "Yeah, uh, a nickel". Porky then slowly hands out his nickel from his pocket nervously waiting for the bully to take it away from Porky. The bully ends up shaking Porky's hand rather violently that Porky shakes himself. The bully replies: "That's all I need to know. Okay, its a bet. Here's the cigar, I'll hold the nickel and you do the stuff". He just takes away the nickel because he assumes that he would beat Porky easily and Porky is acting too confident that he would have to find an excuse later to how he lost the nickel. The first couple of attempts - Porky actually tries to perform the same tricks the bully managed to do very well - but his attempts fail. At first he tries to puff out darts - but the arrow aims straight for his rear end. Then he tries to puff out the bird but the bird drops an egg on his face. These gags of Porky's attempts are very funny. Porky then finishes off as he attempts to kick the cigar and land it right back into his mouth. Instead, he ends up with the other side of the cigar in his mouth and he coughs out fire from that effect.

After numerous attempts and failures, we then fade out and dissolve much later on to the cause of Porky after smoking. Notice that the sign on the fence reads some information about a bowl game going on tonight. Porky then walks away from the fence and he ends up feeling rather dizzy and weary that the camera angles and effects are a point of view to him. The dissolving scene is rather great and effective for Tashlin to use (although any director could use it).

It turns out after the dissolve - Porky is then standing outside a smoke shop. Porky is still rather dizzy and he ends up collapsing inside the cigar shop. What Frank Tashlin then uses which I think is a really clever way of timing and its rather cool. We then appear to find this smoke looking creature who pops out form each floor of the stools where they keep cigars, cigarettes, etc. The smoke looking creature then looks down the table looking at an unconscious Porky Pig. It turns out that the smoke creature actually has powers and he ends up using his fingers to help shrink Porky and he gives him the powers. The smoke looking creature then walks over to a shrunk Porky who is roughly around his size but smaller in height. There is a pretty cool long-shot scene from a bird's eye view of Porky fully-awake and he discovers the smoke creature. He stutters frightened, "Who are you?" Then it switches to a point of view shot of Porky crouched to the ground looking up at the creature. "Who am I? Why, I thought all smokers knew me. Here's my card". Some good Tashlin shot pacing where it really feels like looking at a live-action film. The creature then gives Porky his card which identifies himself as 'Nick O'Teen' - a pun use for nicotine. The card also identifies his own address which is read at the bottom corner of the page: 1313 Tobacco Road.

In the next shot we see that Nick O'Teen is walking along with Porky on the stools where there are a lot of nicotine merchandises that gives Porky a glee-looking face. Nick O'Teen walks over with Porky chatting, "So you like to smoke, eh? Well, you came to the right place, sonny". Nick O'Teen then quickly grabs Porky and he is caught tied up, he shouts; "Then you can get all the smoking you can handle!" I just love how that flowed - it started off with Nick O'Teen starting off very calmly - and then the atmosphere immediately changes.

Nick O'Teen then jumps onto an organ playing of a cigarette packet and as he plays the organ - we find that there are smokes coming out of the pipes. We then discover that there are matches striking themselves (and notice how the end parts reveal blackfaces). They then start to go into rhythm as they then begin to sing a song about the dangers of smoking. They then begin as they go into rhythm as they sing 'You shouldn't smoke' and they chant it in whispers. It appears the lyrics of this song are substitute lyrics of 'Mysterious Mose'. We then discover a lighter is lighting some cigars while Nick O'Teen is playing the organ. We even discover a British pipe where there is a British stereotype who comments, "Children should not smoke, rather". Interesting how that this was before the days when it was told smoking was dangerous for all-ages. The matchstick chorus then continue to go into song about smoking.

There is then a couple of animals that then go into song about smoking; as there is a cow as part of a cigarette manufacturing company that sings, 'This is not a joke'. We even find a fat bell dancer (oddly enough) you sings about some of the conditions of smoking (for children) and we even find an owl in a cigar box that hoots.

There is even an old man that goes on and sings, "Little kids shouldn't smoke tobacco". The chorus sings: "You'll feel ill - and see spots. And get a tummy ache". Then we find the Three Stooges that pop up as they're faces are on cigars. They then give Porky a poke in the eye which is a little trademark of the 3 Stooges. A cigar box of crooners then appear at the top as there is a caricature of Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee who sing about the causes of smoking a lot and the causes could cause a stroke. A grandfather pipe appears to be speaking in some accent I can't identify, "Little boys should not be smoking cigarettes". Porky then finds that his punishment is to suffer by being stuck on some force-fed machine. Nick O'Teen then starts to feed him some tobacco by force feeding it into his mouth as he ends up chewing it.

Afterwards - we then discover that there appears to be a rather thin plastic man that is walking around the shop. He then spots a pipe and there is a little stereotype afterwards where his face forms into Cab Calloway and he sings, "Little boys should not smoke". Of course, they had to add celebrities into this sing-song sequence to at least show that even though this song is teaching you the message of the dangers of it - but they at least had to make it humorous for the dated times.

Nick O'Teen then begins to play some drums as we discover that there are cigars formed as Indians that have Porky tied up to a pole being burnt at stake and they perform an Indian tribal dance. Then we discover that there are these Mexican cigars that jump out of the box as they appear to be performing some type of Mexican dance to Porky - and this just reminds me of the mid-1930s cartoons where they had the inanimate creatures just dancing. Poor Porky ends up having to have smoke puffed all over his face as that is his sacrifice which is unnecessary for this sequence but it does teach him a lesson. A really good animated shot which must've been complicating to animate (probably done by Ace Gamer) where there are these cigarettes walking at the scene and they are marching like soldiers, they form the letter 'X' and then they form a sign that reads 'No Smoking'. Montage shots then follow on as we see the more sufferance Porky suffers in this acid trip sequence and its the same shots reused for this montage effect.

Afterwards; Porky then ends up with a fall to the ground after being chased by Nick O'Teen. Porky's small size then starts to shrink back up to his normal size and it turns out that the nightmare he had was obviously just a dream. Porky then wakes up from his nightmare - he hears out for the sounds of church bells. He has completely forgot about the state he has been in and realises he is late for church. He also realises about the coin that he has given to the bully from the bet he had.

He then starts to dash out of the scene as there is a speed effect timed by Tashlin where he dashes inside the church and he sits in one of the pews trying to sing hymns like everyone else attending Sunday church. Porky turns around as he notices the donation plate is being handed over and Porky realises about the nickel that he has given to the bully. This means he has to make a real quick dash to return the coin back to himself and beat up the bully. Porky opens up his pockets and realises that he hasn't got the nickel with him. This means he runs out of the church and find the punk who has it. It turns out the punk is in fact flipping the coin - and Porky dashes at the scene as he grabs the coin away without the bully noticing. The punk continues to flip but turns and finds that the coin has gone missing. Porky arrives at the scene giving the punk his revenge by stuffing a cigar right into his mouth. Porky returns back on time as he quickly places the coin into the donation plate as it is being handed straight back into him. Porky has decided to stay a good Christian as he sings his hymn and there is a halo on top of his head representing his goodness. Porky then sings the last verse to end the cartoon, "I will never smoke again".

Overall comments: The cartoon really interests me because of how I consider that is very dated when you compare it to today. Back around the days when this cartoon was made; smoking was very common among most adults and today there are less people smoking. Back in those days; many folks were unaware of the fact that smoking can cause health issues and likeliness of dying. Most people didn't know - and what interests me is so little was known back then as they would believe smoking is very bad for children when in reality it is bad for anyone - but it just wasn't really known back then. This cartoon must be one of the earliest known films that probably bring up the awareness of smoking. Of course it was regular for adults back then to smoke cigars and cigarettes and even allowed it in public places - and probably the favourite place was the cinema. I wonder how the audience were handled with cigarettes and cigars when they were watching this cartoon?

What I find look about this cartoon is this cartoon actually has some morals in there and it teaches anyone a good lesson of why they shouldn't smoke - even if they had to add pointless celebrity caricatures and a silly song to explain the reasons but I like how it shows Porky's punishment and also how unhealthy it is. It also appears to have a religious side as well in this cartoon since it appears to be teaching you to become a good Christian and to attend church every Sunday. With that asides, Tashlin even got to use some very good techniques with the camera. I love the opening scenes with Porky's mother and they are in the house where it was all filmed in one shot which is just incredible simulated camera movement - all without the infamous Disney multilane camera - shows how really talented the WB cameraman really were, as well as skilful. There weren't too many gags in this cartoon but I do find that the competition between the bully and Porky to features some funny visual gags - even when we find that it goes wrong for Porky.

208. Porky's Spring Planting (1938)

Warner cartoon no. 207.
Release date: July 16, 1938.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Frank Tashlin.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Porky Pig / Dog).
Story: George Manuell.
Animation: Joe D'Igalo.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Porky grows crops in his garden until its infested by chickens.

The cartoon begins as we find that Porky Pig is in fact ploughing in his own farm and there is some arcing in that bit of animation which moves really well. I how that the camera is just staying still and how that he ploughs upwards and downwards he ends up larger in size. That sequence with the tree trunk moving sideways was a rather little funny bit of entertainment and even when the tree trunk then steps back. That is a rather appealing Tashlin technique shown of Porky ploughing and he appears to be experimenting with that technique around that era - particularly in cartoons like Now That Summer is Gone or Cracked Ice.

Porky Pig is still ploughing on the fields to create some crops and he is then moving with some interesting perspective animation. He stutters as he continues to plough, 'All ya gotta do is plough...then throw in some seeds...and (stutters) add a little water..and a swell garden grows'. Porky then breaks into a Elmer Blurt characteristic phrase "I hope, I hope, I hope" and even intimidates the voice. Okay but the Elmer Blurt voice really doesn't sound so good when Porky intimidates him - probably because it just doesn't sound natural for a stuttering, appealing character. Porky continues to plough and even when there is a haystack pile. He ploughs up through to the haystack where there are steps being cut as he steps up and slides down which is also an appealing technical gag.

Porky Pig still ploughs through his garden in that perspective shot as he then starts sweat from the hard-, labour work that he is doing. Porky appears to have a button on top of his own hat which he then pushes the button and it produces some windscreens from his hat that wipe the sweat off his eyes. That is a rather fun Tashlin technical gag where he would just have to use his wind-screens to do the job as he ploughs. Tashlin was good with technical gags.

Meanwhile his own dog named Streamline is sleeping in his kennel and he is snoozing and snoring. As he snores - his ears appear to blow upwards like a party blower and as he snores out they fly out flat which is very typical in these 1930s gags. As Porky continues to plough (and in perspective animation) he then finds that under the ground is Streamline's bone that was dug under there. Porky then discovers the bone as he picks it up and throws it over to Streamline. He calls him to wake him up as he then tosses the bone over to him. The bone then lands on top of Streamline's head as it creates a lump on top of his head. So after the lump, Streamline then uses his own ear to feel the lump as it forms into a hand which is just...weird. He cries and sniffles just briefly for a moment before he goes after the bone.

Streamline picks up the bone as he walks through the garden happily with the bone attached to his mouth. The dog is walking over to spot and we believe that he's just going to dig his bone in a hiding spot so none of the other dogs know. That is sort of true, but instead he digs up a lock vault as he unwinds the passcode and he opens up the vault. He already has different categoric bones like T-bone, beef bones, marrow bones, and chicken bones. He puts his own bone in the beef section.

After closing the vault he then thinks to himself as a voice comes from his mind: None of this share the wealth business for me - performed in one of Mel Blanc's gruff voices which he liked doing. I'm not sure exactly what he means but I suppose its a dated catchphrase from a radio show - but still I find it random, and it must be dated since I don't get it. Any takers?? Porky then continues on with his gardening as he then starts to unroll the grass just like unrolling a carpet. He then grabs out some flower seeds from a bag simply labelled that. After grabbing hold of the seeds he then tosses it over the soil and he walks over to the rolled-up grass. He pushed the rug over as the grass is now back to its normal look. Well, if it were back in the 1930s then rolling up the grass like a rug would be considered a clever gag but since its been pretty overused it makes the cartoon gag a little out of date by comparison.

Porky then walks over as he is grabbing onto a toilet plunger. He is using the toilet plunger to stomp them on to the grass as flowers then get formed from the flower seeds. While I see what the gag is supposed to be and I guess we've never seen that before but wouldn't you need to WATER the plants with a water can before you GROW the flowers?? Unless that gag was used since its trying to show that the plunger is being sucked up that it transforms into flowers (from the seeds).

A flower then starts to form to life as Porky then hands the flower over a small shower for the flower to rinse (or I guess to live). Wait a minute, flowers need water to help grow - they can't be created by a plunger and then grow before being rinsed!! Anyway the flower then starts to come to life and even takes one of her petals off as she rinses herself in the shower. Okay, when Tashlin says he was influenced by Harman-Ising - that petal gag is DEFINITELY a Harman-Ising influence. She then screams when she notices that Porky is staring at her washing (assuming that she must be 'naked'?) and she then grabs out some shower curtains to chose them while she washes. That little sequence with the flower was just bizarre and its already bringing me back to the old Harman-Ising days.

Porky then calls for his dog, Streamline to come over who is seen asleep inside his kennel. He then wakes up as he is rather grumpy; he thinks in his head; 'I'll be able to sleep all day when I get my social security'. I think that means when you get a social security at aged 16 (at least it is in the UK) and probably meaning he'll be able to sleep once he's that age - and 16 is an old age for a dog. I believe that is the joke but correct me if I am wrong.

Meanwhile Porky is busy sorting out his farming as he is placing some seeds inside a sack which is  a job for Streamline. Streamline then walks past the shed as he walks over to do the job for Porky Pig. Porky places the bag of seeds on top of Streamline's head. Streamline then walks over to the soil as he uses his own tale to drill a hole to place the seeds inside one at a time. I like the tail forms into a type of screw which is rather neat. I also like how the seed just rolls down the dog's back and into the hole - some really neat timing on that. Porky is tossing some seeds from categoric seed bags as he is going to grow some crops in his garden. Porky's dog, Streamline still digs a hole to grow the seed with his own tail.

Porky Pig is still throwing the seeds to the soil as he is going to throw them. What he does is he grabs the seeds into a mixer. He mixes the needs like mixing a smoothie as he then tosses them out in a row. He then pushes the soil forward so the seeds can stay under there. He then grabs a sign as it now reads: Combination Seeds which shows that there is a variety of seeds in that row (and notice each row in the background at least show a row of carrot seeds, pea seeds, etc.).

During a slow camera pan through the garden - much, much later...it's discovered that Streamline has already dug so many tiny holes through the garden--even overdoing it. There are holes through the gate and even through the bark of the trees as we continue the pan. Even the water machine that he is sitting on has holes in it - it sure is an exaggeration but its a rather funny gag in the backgrounds but it must've taken ages of a layout artist to do all that which must've made the task to be rather tedious. It also reminds me of those gags that are featured in the backgrounds that was really a trademark that appears to have started off with Tex Avery (and he appears to use backgrounds a lot for gags in his spot-gag cartoons) and here Tashlin uses it here - but I wouldn't say its an influence since all directors would have gags in the scenery. I like how that Streamline just cools his tail from the exhaustion of digging holes and its a fun harmless gag. Porky then tries to call Streamline over to him (although when stuttering his name, he calls him 'Bognose') he tells him the job is over as they walk away completing the job. Streamline slides away still sitting on the bucket of water.

After Streamline slides past the fence; we find a peephole where there is an eye of a chicken. It turns out to be a chicken spy who is clucking continuously and making notes of what is featured in the garden. He clucks in a chicken voice listing the vegetables inside the garden (already grown - and we never saw it grow). 'Peas, potatoes, corn beans, etc.' That chicken voice is a rather good chicken voice voiced by I don't know. There is a POV shot by Tashlin of the chicken scanning through the vegetables in the garden.

The chicken comments: 'My my, just look at the delightful garden. Such variety'. The chicken then finishes writing notes as he then attached the pad of paper to a pencil as he sticks it into a tree, and it turns out to be a menu for the chickens that are going to infest the area. The menu reads the following:

MENU Specials Today -- Fruit Cocktails: Shake It Down Yourself & Save Lettuce & Gravel Salad. -Entree- Corn Beef & Cabbage - Side Order of Worms...5 cents EXTRA! 

Afterwards; many more poultries then discover the menu as the plan is to raid Porky's garden to take their vegetables. It appears that there is a hall monitor outside the fence as the line of chickens are given a tray each so they can invade Porky's garden.

The chickens are given their share as they have a tray to carry and there are enough vegetables for them to steal. As the chickens are stealing all the goods in the crops (and Porky and his dog haven;t yet discovered) the leader chicken then claps his hands with effort as he walks slowly back to his desk where he is waiting for more chickens to register to enter the garden. As he walks to the exit gate; the chickens exiting (already with foods) then arrive back with a ticket as the chicken then hole-punches it which would make it a little amusing little gag I guess.

A chicken then runs at the scene in perspective holding onto a tray where he finds some corn on the cob for him to take since chickens like corn. As he is trying to grab some corn out of the crops - he struggles and he ends up tugging at it. As he keeps on tugging at the corn - it produces a funny little sound effect which is famous before the Treg Brown sound effects (done by a trombone). He then grabs out a cork opener as he ends up opening up the corn in the cob. Most of these scenes now remind me of the lame gags that Avery used in Porky's Garden done by Tex a earlier earlier. Well it is a little charming when we find the chicken who is just cheating the corn on the cob like a typewriter as it moves from right to left and he just pushes it back to beginning eating another layer of corn - okay, I haven't seen that before and the typewriter part makes it rather amusing. A chicken then grabs some carrots which the chicken is going to feast. After tugging the carrot; the chicken eats it and weirdly enough the chicken then takes the layer part off and its revealed that the carrot already has fishbones in them. Okay, but that's just an awful gag - since how can carrots already have bones in them when they're not living things. If that is the gag then its terrible!

One of the chickens then finds some peas in a pod and he then grabs out an opener as he peels the pod open as peas land into his mouth. He peels like like opening a can of sardines. That gag was also reused from Avery's Porky's Garden. Meanwhile Porky is at his porch sweeping and he hears the sounds of eating. He turns around to check and much to his surprise his crops are infested with chickens. I like that crazy 'take' Porky makes as its rather exaggerated.

The chickens are at another part of the crops as they are in a line cutting the crops like grass from a lawn mower. Porky then scares the chickens out of the way from trespassing in his garden and the amusing part is that they scat backwards and the crops that they had eaten then get back to its usual size. It must've been difficult to stage and interesting for Tashlin to use that idea but I find it rather amusing since how could they get that out while in digestion. Porky chases them away with a broom and some Tashlin pacing is used in these fast shots of the chicken scatting away from Porky's broom with some interesting camera angles. One part that really amuses me is the chicken chewing the corn on the cob like a typewriter scats out of the way (as Porky runs through done by arc animation) and after dust spreads at the scene - the corn of the cob is still standing and chewing like a typewriter - its a rather wacky gag there.

Porky and the chicken then go into speed as Porky is chasing the chicken out of the garden and there is some good quick pacing there. The chicken manages to escape and Porky ends up crashing into the fence before noticing. He becomes slightly weary before he gets back up. Porky looks up as he notices a chicken at the top chewing on some corn. Porky is disturbed of Porky as he then grabs his brush and tries to whack the chicken with the brush. The chicken tuts at Porky to show he failed to catch him - I presume.

The first time Porky tries to whack the chicken - he misses and another chicken arrives at the spot also tutting him. More more attempts he tries to hit a chicken - more chickens arrive at the top of the fence as they continue to tut at Porky. Afterwards as there is a whole group of chickens at the top of the fence - they then grab the broom off Porky and they whack him with it as they have managed to outwit Porky. In the next sequence - we find that Porky then starts to build his own scarecrow to try and scare off chickens - but yet, they're supposed to scare away crows, not chickens. He comments, 'There! Why didn't I think of this before?! This oughta scare those pesky chickens away!' He then places an overcoat on as he walks away. How is that supposed to scare them away without a mask on there?

A chicken has his eye looking through the fence to check if the coast is clear. The chicken leader then arrives at the spot feeling the overcoat of the scarecrow and obviously not scared of it - who would be? The chicken then comments, 'Mmm. Nice material'. He then takes the overcoat out and he wears it himself. He places a cigar out as he is holding one in his mouth. The silly sailor hat on the broom's top is taken off by the chicken and he wears it on his head.

He just stands there and he strikes a match and lights a cigar. I don't see how that sequence is supposed to be funny - I really don't find it funny. Porky is still annoyed of the chicken and he even suggests to Streamline to find a way to chase the chickens away. Porky stutters:

Porky Pig: Why don't you do something to keep those chickens outta here. Are you a watchdog or aren't ya?'
Streamline: (thoughts) Sure, I'm a watchdog. I'm full of ticks (ticking sounds).
Porky Pig: Go on, chase 'em out of the garden!

The ticking sound gag was a little bit amusing. Porky then forces his dog to run over and chase the chicken near the scarecrow out of the way. As he scampers on - there is some violence occurring as its censored by clouds and dust covering the scenery as well as sockets. Streamline is then taken out as he is tossed to the ground by the chicken leader who has outwitted Porky and the dog once again.

In this final sequence - we find that Porky is still trying to chase his chickens out of his garden and is trying to get even with them. That facial expression on his face where he's really trying to get them to leave is really believable and funny. He then stutters, 'Let's you and me get together. You leave my garden alone and I'll plant a separate garden just for you and grow anything you want'. The chickens look together as they like the suggestion that he has made. Wow, Porky is really going to go through the trouble and waste his time just to plant a separate garden for the pesky gardens - well he couldn't win against win which makes him foolish.

Porky then starts to hand out some bags of seeds that grow vegetables. The first he hands out is a bag of carrots. 'Do you like carrots?' he asks the chickens. The chickens then look together as they cluck together evidently meaning that group don't like carrots. He then hands out a bag of asparagus and he asks, 'Do you like asparagus?' the chickens then cluck together in dislike and rather indecisive of their decisions. He then hands out a bag of spinach and the chickens then cluck the exact same reason and decision. Then he grabs out a bag of their favourite - corn and asks 'Do you like corn?' when its pretty obvious. They then shout together 'OH YEAH' a reference to the Oswald character in the 'Ken Murray' show which must've been a huge hit back then since it was referenced many times already in the 1938 Warner cartoons.

Overall comments: Admittedly I couldn't really think much of this Tashlin cartoon as it really wasn't a cartoon that was particularly special to me. There were a few Tashlin techniques like at the beginning where he appears to focus heavily on perspective animation of Porky ploughing which I thought was pretty important and it looked quite food. There were also some speed effects which he had experimented on in his earlier cartoons but not so much here. He was already making 'Merrie Melodies' cartoons at the time and most of those cartoons were Harman-Ising influence. I believe that there is some Harman-Ising influence in this Porky cartoon - at least the shot with the petals and some of Avery influences like the chickens eating the crops.

Some of Tashlin's timing here was rather neat and I like the rough timing of Porky using the plunger to plunge the seeds to make the flowers grow. However, I have mixed feelings for much of the gags - I think its a little bit too much for me to say the gags were funny - they were charming but they just reminded me much of any other 1930s cartoons and Warners were already more advanced with gags and story already in this period in the Avery cartoons. The gags were either re-used or either just some unfunny 1930s ones that just seem last season when I compare it to the other 1938 WB cartoons from this era. Just my two cents but I believe that Frank was just making his own type of films. At least the design of Porky still looks better in Tash's Porky cartoons in this year when a year earlier he looked much beefier looking. In fact some of the story in this cartoon or at least parts of it reminds me of 'Porky's Garden' even though I wouldn't consider it a remake.

202. The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1938)

Warner cartoon no. 201.
Release date: May 28, 1938.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Tex Avery.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Egghead/Canary Bird/Eskimo&Polar Bear), Gil Warren (Narrator) and Tex Avery (Native Football Coach) (?).
Story: George Manuell.
Animation: Irv Spence.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Travelogue parody where we take a look at the land of 'Pingo Pongo'.

This is another cartoon that has fallen into the Censored 11 as it features black and racial stereotypes. This is also the first of what Tex Avery would be famous for in his Warner Bros. career which is the many travelogue and spot-gag cartoons that he has made which would he very dated in today's standards.

The cartoon then begins in which the narrator of this cartoon begins his lines for this cartoon: Pingo Pongo - the pearl of the oyster island. The scene then fades to the funnel of a boat where it is called the S.S. Queen Minnie. The sign then reads 'Half Dollar Lines'. The narrator then makes the comment that the 'Queen Minnie' is in fact in New York. The whistle at the funnel of the ship whistles to the theme Shave and a Haircut which is just too typical.

The ship then starts to get sail in which it starts the expedition to Pingo Pongo. As the Queen Minnie then starts to get sail - what I find interesting but I guess this was because of budget purposes as it shows just one drawing of the liner moving away from the docks. Of course - it's cheaper and easier to do so. The Queen Minnie liner then starts to look at a part of New York and even find the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty then starts to make some movement as it shows that it is the traffic for the liners. As the liners coming past then halt - it turns out that a small boat is rowing past which controls the traffic before the Statue of Liberty can then let the other liners go past. Okay, that is a decent gag idea since the Statue of Liberty could make a good traffic for the ships and I like the little boat that just sails past. There is then a map going from New York all the way to Pingo Pongo and I imagine it was a type up map and world for gag purposes. There is a line that they travel through in which it turns out they end up travelling all over the place.

The ship that then starts to steam past then start to go through some interesting islands as the narrator identifies the islands that they travel past. The islands that they end up travelling are just a mere visual puns that are just in my opinion - not funny. The first sign from a tiny island reads "Los Angeles - City Limits".

The Narrator then identifies the first island being the Canary Islands. The island then features many cages that have canaries in them which is the visual gag as the Canary Islands do exist near the coast of North Africa. Another island then identified is the "Sandwich Islands" - which is one of the Hawaiian Islands. The island then has a picture of a hot dog sitting on of the island as we hear a dog barking - hence the hot dog sitting there. The ship then sails past the 'Thousand Islands' - another island where located in the U.S.-Canadian border - but it is also a brand which is a special type of salad dressing and is still in use. These gags are just too corny for me as I'm not too keen on visual puns. The island next to it as he sail along then features Egghead standing there holding a guitar as he asks "Now, boss?" which is one of the spot-gags that is going to be seen through the cartoons before reaching their conclusion at the end of the cartoon. The narrator then responds to Egghead, "No - not now". That whole scene is Irv's animation (who probably animates all of the Egghead scenes here) but at least the Egghead part is his scene.

The narrator then comments (camera shot done by telescope view) in which he comments that the Queen Minnie has been out at sea for 10 days and finally spots Pingo Pongo "which rises suddenly on the distant horizon. The visual pun then appears as the island then suddenly starts to pop up from the sea which makes it rather interesting and amusing.

As explained by the narrator; before the ship docks slowly to Pingo Pongo - the passengers on the ship then start to throw some coins to the river so that the natives can do so. Irv Spence also animated that short sequence. There is a fat lady who then starts to open up her purse. As she opens her purse there are a couple of passengers standing beside her. She places her hand inside the wallet digging for the coin. As soon as she has finished picking up one coin she then starts to toss it to the native who is sailing on a small rowing boat. The native then jumps under the water to grab the coin which is where the coin landed. Suddenly all the other passengers (except for the large lady) then start to dive under the water as they also want to grab it. My guess is that the gag of the cartoon is that this is still the Great Depression (though not as serious in 1938) and that every penny would be luck which is why they dived down there. Afterwards - the ship then docks as all of the other passengers run out and arrive at Pingo Pongo. The last passenger to leave is Egghead who keeps on asking for his cue in this part but the Narrator replies, 'No, not now'. Okay, but I don't think that long-shot with Egghead looks like a Irv scene - it looks like somebody else. What I forgot to mention is that every time Egghead pops in in case his cue is ready - the music heard in the background is called 'Organ Grinder's Swing' which was used a lot in those 1930s cartoons.

We then start to arrive at the scene near the villages of Pingo Pongo but arrive at tropical foliage. There are birds that are flying around the tropical forest but the narrator describes that the birds are rare and unusual. The narrator then starts to speak about one of the species sitting on a limb that is a hummingbird. It turns out that this 'hummingbird' in fact just stand about humming to himself - which is the visual pun.

After we then view the hummingbird - the next grid to be seen is the mockingbird. The narrator then comments about the specie, 'Intensely interesting is the mockingbird'. The mockingbird then responds back but in a mocking voice - 'intensely interesting is the mockingbird'. That is basically the visual pun shown here but at least Avery is coming up with new gag ideas. The narrator continues, 'Notice it's brilliant plumage'. After the mockingbird then responds with that mocking voice - the narrator responds to his mockingness, 'Mmm - this bird must've been crossed with a cuckoo'. The mockingbird continues to mock what he has said but realises his smart comeback as the mockingbird then shouts out in a reply, 'WHO ME?!' I don't find those visual puns very amusing to me but I suppose it's because I'm not a terrible fan of spot-gag cartoons though. I did like it when the jokes on the mockingbird as he reacted to what the narrator said 'crossed with a cuckoo'.

After the visual puns that feature the mockingbird and the hummingbird - we then PAN forward to how the narrator describes it in his own, descriptive words of a baby canary lying in a bird's nest. The baby canary bird is in fact (as told by the narrator) calling for his mother. The gag that builds up then starts to show the canary bird slowly rising but then shouts out "MAMA" in a loud Blanc voice before resting. We would've expected at least the bird to chirp to his mother but the loud roar to his mother was what I thought was funny.

After the view of the birds in the tropical forest - we then start to go over to a different location as we find that the narrator moves to a different part talking about the intelligent facial features of a pachyderm. It turns out that a mistake happened deliberately on screen as Avery was trying to gain some laughs. Afterwards - the camera flips aside as we find the front part of the elephant as the narrator explains 'That's better'. The elephant then makes a response to the Narrator's comment as he replies back with a "Ohhhhhh yeeeeeeaaaaaah!' which is ANOTHER reference from the Ken Murray show as the line was answered by Tony Labriola's character - Oswald. I do wonder who at the studio was a big fan of that catchphrase as it sure must've been a hit with gags back in that era. Irv Spence also animated that scene with the elephant as the timing and his facial features are there.

After that sequence with the elephant - we then start to view at another sequence where it focuses on the fastest animal running in action - the Pingo Pongo spotted gazelle. The narrator is also calling it the first to be spot in camera. The narrator then comments 'Notice its beautiful markings'. The gazelles then start to zip through the scenes which is some very good timing.

One of the gazelles is then paused in which the narrator comments, 'Whoa - slow down girl, we want to know what you look like'. The humour that is based in that shows that the gazelle then starts to stand up like a model and poses. I'm really unsure of the name of the music that is played in the background to where the deer dances and shows herself. This is also the first time in his spot-gag parodies where we find that a deer or any four-legged animal stand around like a human as they either model or expose themselves. I never particularly found it amusing but I just particularly found rather creepy looking rather than funny. After the gazelle finishes dancing the narrator thanks the deer as the deer zips back replying 'Thank you!'. Egghead pops back at the scene again in which he asks 'Now boss?' but the narrator still isn't ready for Egghead's cue. That whole sequence that is a continuous shot is all Irv Spence's animation - and did all of that sequence - even with the deer. Even though watching the gazelle model in that movement showing herself may not seem to look like the work of Spence - but that's definitely his posing.

As the narrator then starts to PAN forward through the scene moving on to another part of the jungle - all of a sudden we find an Eskimo and a polar bear turn up. The narrator then interrupts his lines as he asks curiously, 'Hey, what are you fellas doing here in the tropic?!' The eskimo and the polar bear then respond to that, 'We're on a vacation' - which makes the excuse reasonable and amusing.

They then pull faces at the camera as the Eskimo continues to feed the polar bear with fishes. Besides; it feels weird that gag since I thought polar bears hated tropical weather - but not in this cartoon. Irv Spence also animated that eskimo scene (but it's still a part of that continuos shot). After the sequence featured with the eskimo (Well, they prefer to be called Inuits now) - the narrator continues the travelogue: 'the islanders are skilled hunters'. As there are some deers standing around - they then spot some hunters coming their path. The hunter that is chasing after the deer turns out to be an African tribe chasing after the deer. As they are seen behind the bush - off-screen violence then goes on. After some violence and punching that goes on - the violence stops and it is revealed that the two deers have caught the hunter in his own stick. The fact that the deers even captured him with so struggle at all makes the satire funnier for the animal hunter.

After the sequence with the hunter captured by the animals - we are then nearing the village of where the Pingo Pongo civilians live. We hear the sounds of African drums that are performed by the natives in the village. The narrator continues, 'We come upon a group of native musicians beating out the savage rhythm that let us all primitive as the jungle itself'. We then start to get even closer as we find the natives are walking around in a circle to the tribe.

In a median close-up shot - we find that the natives are beating on the drums to the savage rhythm. As they continue to repeat that serious beat and even with serious - the atmosphere then changes. Suddenly they then get rid of their own drums and they stand up singing the song to She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain When She Comes. There are three backup singers from that group as they sing the lyrics whilst tapping their feet and the other native at the far right is playing the guitar to the traditional folk song. The atmosphere change is rather amusing in my opinion as we expected some seriousness going on but then they start to lighten up by singing folk songs which Avery was trying to make laughs with that change. As they continue to sing the lyrics - I really like it when the native playing the guitar yodels like a yokel - makes the stereotype even funnier. After a moment of singing a folk song which lightened up the sequence - they stop playing music and return to the drums. They continue with their serious faces just banging on those drums repeatedly over and over to the same rhythm.

In the next sequence - the narrator then narrates the next part of the civilisation in the Pingo Pongo village. We find that there is a villager walking around and eating a peeled banana. The narrator explains that the native is untouched by civilisation and rather ignorant about the cameraman, the narrator and 'their presence'. The response to that lineup results with the villager taking a snapshot from a camera. The words that pop up then reads 'Life Goes to a Party'.

That is rather funny since he proved him wrong. The animation where he walks chewing the banana is just very solid and I love that walk he makes which feels very realistic. The music heard in the background is the 'Congo' music. Another part of the civilisation in the village shows the villagers enter their own restaurant that is called Dark Brown Derby. The reference to the name of the restaurant is a reference to an old, food-chain restaurant called Brown Derby which was very popular around Los Angeles back in that era - it was even changed exactly like a brown derby but huge in size. Inside the restaurant we find a native that is cooking a meal for the native which is some boiled eggs as well as a ice-cream to go on top of that. I see that a reference to that is the lower mouth is a black stereotype because they would have a lower lip sticking out quite a bit but its greatly exaggerated for it to be used as a plate inside the restaurant but again I guess it would also come in handy since you could just eat it in one bite.

The narrator then moves onto the next part and explains that a popular drink to the islanders and villagers is the milk coconut. The native is holding onto a can opener to open up the coconut. That is a rather cool and interesting way to open it. After opening up the coconut - the native then guzzles it down his mouth and throat. I love the looseness Irv Spence animation where the liquid flows through his lips. The native then starts to hiccup in which his slinky neck springs up - which is a stereotype to their slinky necks that they would have.

After that sequence - the narrator then reports on another part of the island until all of a sudden footage from out of nowhere then appears. It is footage from a horse race in which the narrator then starts to yell "Hey...I'm sorry folks, I'm sure I don't know how it got in here". The satire there is also very amusing and that is also Avery pushing the boundary to where he is using stock footage on purpose just for laughs which you must give Tex credit for that. After the footage of the horse races finish; the travelogue then starts to focus on a part about culture in the island - beginning with sports. The sports that the natives play is equivalent to what the Americans would play which is American football. The coach then starts to call for signals for several numbers - as he mentions '34'; the native then responds to that '34 - that's ma number!' Okay, but I don't understand that gag but it feels really dated.

The narrator then moves to another part in this travelogue where we listen to the sounds of the drum beating and mentions the villagers are having a native celebration. We PAN around as we find that the natives are seen with partners as they are about to dance. Their dancing starts off to begin as they are dancing very slowly and formerly as the animation there was rotoscoped. The designs of the natives there in my opinion look really ugly with rotoscopes and those huge lips, too - it really doesn't look right as well as their own bodies that is featured there, too.

After that slow and smoothing introduction to the dance - the rhythm starts to quick up the voice which more liver music heard. A Fats Waller native then pops over at the screen then says, 'OK' - I think before going off. The natives then start to dance to the music to the song Sweet Georgia Brown. The way that they are dancing to one another is that they appear to be moving their heads close together up and down and they continue their dance. Notice that the animation from where the natives start off their dancing was later reused animation five years later in Bob Clampett's classic Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs.

After the natives then start off their own dancing - the natives then start to sing in the microphone to the song Sweet Georgia Brown as it even looks like a radio microphone - which makes it slightly amusing as they appear to have their own radio station. The small letters of the radio station is called 'Foo'. As the vocalists are singing the song - the Fats Waller stereotype villager is walking up and down but is picked up every time when he sings the verse 'Georgia Brown' in his gruff singing voice.

What I find rather amusing is that every time he gets placed back down - the native that keeps on picking the Fats Waller caricature up for the backup rhythm voice effects but then keeps on holding onto him and keeps on picking him up and down but it is only shown here in a subtle way. The native even starts to change his body position where the Fats Waller caricature is even standing on his backside and he sings his part. The whole vocal groups that they have then finish off the song 'Sweet Georgia Brown' with Waller providing the vocal effects that were heard. A part of the song or at least the music was heard earlier on in the cartoon Buddy in Africa but I suppose much of you would've probably have forgotten about that cartoon.

After that song sequence; the natives then play the drums along with the song. The natives that are playing music then start to show Pingo Pongo's own orchestra band which I believe shows a similar finale to what Avery previously had in The Penguin Parade. We find a large native couple that dance to the music. Another stereotype is featured as we find a native using his own big lips to play a type of trombone sound.

Some reused animation even turns up as we find that it is the famous reused scene from Clean Pastures. There is one part that I do quite like where it features this couple as they appear to be almost puckering their lips together but they both move upwards and downwards but not at the same time - if you know what I mean and I like that rubbery animation on that. The band then still continue to jam to the music until the music itself then fades out.

After the sequence with the tribal music and their own band dancing is now over. The scene now reaches sunset as we have reached the conclusion to the travelogue parody at Pingo Pongo. The narrator comments, 'But - all good things MUST come to an end'. We then start to hear the music to 'Aloha O' in the background as we continue the pan through the  village during the sunset setting.

The narrator then starts to conclude the travelogue parody in which we view the actual sun standing by the sea. The narrator then comments as he is finishing his part, 'As the sun sinks slowly in the west'. There is no movement of the sun sinking slowly at all as it is still staying afloat. The narrator then tries again believing he could've delayed himself. 'As the sun sinks slowly in the west!' As he is about to try again the third time - Egghead then enters the scene (as we almost forgot about him) as he enters the scene asking for his cue, 'Now boss?' - the narrator then finally found the appropriate time for him to turn up in this part in which he replies, 'Yeah now'. Egghead grabs out a gun out from his guitar case as he shoots straight towards the sun. The sun then reacts to the shotgun in which he then sinks downwards and we reveal nightfall at Pingo-Pongo. Egghead laughs at his own little trick he did to get the sun to sink down in that Irv Spence scene which finishes off the cartoon. Egghead in this cartoon was the recurring gag of this travelogue parody and was the result of the conclusion which shows it's rather amusing since he interrupted moments in the travelogue when not needed.

Overall comments: With that being Tex Avery's first travelogue parody and also being a part of the Censored 11 - I personally think more of it as a spot-gag cartoon of the 1930s. Tex would later love to experiment with dated spot-gag cartoons later on in his period and even influenced the other directors, too. This cartoon being the first of Tex would later encourage him to make more of those parodies which did get too much afterwards. As also being a Censored 11 - I have to say that I really don't think of this cartoon as much of an offensive cartoon at all. There is very little or if, no stereotypes in this cartoon other than the designs that they were given. I don't feel as though the cartoon would be enough to carry the Censored 11 title since only about half of the cartoon really features the black stereotypes. I mean September in the Rain managed to be cut in such a short amount of time  - and they could've done it that way if it was on television but yet again - it would feel pointless to do so.

What interests me about this cartoon is that this is another approach to Tex Avery himself. Before that -he was really developing satire in the past and really focusing on humour and getting edgier in his cartoons. It really feels like the humour and style he's trying to make is really no edgier approach at all as it feels much milder being a travelogue parody but I feel as though he managed to try and pull it well. However most of the time he would have to heavily focus on the backgrounds in the cartoon where there wouldn't be a lot of on-time animation on the screen as Avery was trying to make the narration seem serious so that the gag can be developed. It would later on differ the way the animators worked since they even ended up having to draw realistically to make the gag work. Avery didn't appear to be taking any risks with humour at all whatsoever. However he was mainly trying to aim for laughs which is what the audience would've got but that's what Avery really wanted. The fact that Egghead who became the recurring character is a very interesting sub-plot as well as they keep on coming in the picture a couple of times with warning before their own fate/situation which happened in many Warner Bros. cartoons.

192. Jungle Jitters (1938)

Warner cartoon no. 191.
Release date: February 19, 1938.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Natives / Guard / Priest) and Ted Pierce (Queen / Salesman).
Story: Geo Manuell.
Animation: Phil Monroe.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: A travelling salesman is taken hostage by an African village.

This is the 5th cartoon which fell into the 'Censored 11' endorsed by Ted Turner, and set up by United Artists also the 3rd in that list to be directed by Friz Freleng. One of the three Censored 11 cartoons where it fell into the public domain.

The cartoon begins as we already hear jungle music over the screen credits. We find that there are a bunch of African tribes sitting down in an African village where they are playing some tribal drum music; (one of them wears a top hat). There is a whole group of African tribes performing a type of tribal dance making these creepy tribal noises. I don't particularly like Stalling's jungle music too much as I find it rather dark. I find that the designs of the natives particularly are very simplistic moving, I mean it's just simple designs.

We then find that there is a black tribe who is standing on top of a drum making drum sounds by hitting his behind but then he bangs his behind to make a beat in which we see he wears underwear. The timing of that scene with the black dancer banging his boxers just doesn't feel very funny to me at all and it's just a meaninglessness gag, but it does remind me of that gag that was sort of used in Sweet Sioux where the indian tribe are dancing and there are rhythm beat gags (like the Indian woman banging her belly like a drum). More tribal dancing then continues as we also find another African native who has a HUGE nose ring attached to her nose that he uses it to jump and it moves sort of like a skip-rope; okay I guess it's funny but it is stereotyping on their nose rings or what they wear. More dancing then continues even with that drummer standing on top of it just banging his behind.

We then find more natives performing their tribal dance around a tent. As they continue to dance around the tent acting rather wildly. The dramatic jungle music then stops in which the tribes holding their spears then attach it to the roof. They start to hold onto their spear and they move around like a 'Merry-Go-Round' style and they even play The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down which would've been Stalling's favourite cue (probably at the time) as he used it as the 'Looney Tunes' theme.

There are then these Africans then starts to blow whistles to blow it in a Merry-Go-Round style, although I don't particularly understand too much on why smoke comes out of their mouths, unless that was just a part of the gag. The whole gag was reused from the cartoon 'Sweet Sioux' in which that is where a couple of the gags originate from. Even the gag where one of the black character is trying to grab the ring (which is pierced into another black character's nose) which is in fact another stereotypical joke that just seems wrong in today's standards. Although back then with the 'Merry-Go-Round' going on one of the people sitting down one one of the horses would have to grab a ring but I guess back in the day it would've been funny but it's not only not funny here; but since I've already seen that gag before - it's not funny to me the second time. The smoke sounds then starts to slow down slightly in which the tent that tribes are riding on then start to fall apart and that's the end of the sequence.

 After the sequence where we see the "Merry Go Round" then we move to a different location that is outside the village. We pan towards what we find is a African tribe sitting down by a persimmons tree. He then starts to pick up the apple in which he starts to eat the apple. He turns to the audience in which his lips and face start to get thinner and goes, 'Of for goodness sakes!' This is a parody of actor Stephen Fetchit; and I don't see his appeal to the Warner directors back then. He sure has been the key person for black stereotype back in the 1930s, which is a shame.

We then start to find another tribe (but inside the village) and he is tying his feet with toilet plungers onto it. At first you might be thinking okay, but what is going on? But as he walks on he starts to walk up a palm tree by using the toilet plunger to climb it up. He then starts to look over as he is a watchman of the village looking out for any preachers whilst sitting on top of the canopy, and I guess he is just sitting there being a watchman as there doesn't appear to be a gag there, and if so - it would just show him rotating quite a number of times but it's not even amusing or I suppose that it isn't intended to be.

 After a view from the canopy, it turns out that he is in fact watching the village in which; we then see in close up of the entrance to the village - a hand. This is no tribe member as it is a preacher. He starts to knock to the door in the rhythm of 'Shave and a Haircut'.

It turns out that the preacher is in fact a caricature of the character Elmer Blurt from The Al Pearce Show who was a pretty popular character in radio back in the 1930s. He speaks to the audience when he has no answer from the door, 'I guess nobody's too home. I hope, I hope, I hope'. The voice of Elmer Blurt here is caricatured as well as his catchphrase 'I hope, I hope, I hope'. I do not think that this is in fact Mel Blanc's voice as it doesn't sound like his dialect to me but correct me if I'm wrong. The guard who opens the door as he speaks continuously 'Hold up, hold up' - that's a Blanc voice. but the preacher holding the briefcase tries to get access through the door tries to go through the door but the door slams before he could make it inside. The preacher tries on several more doors that keep opening (with the guard shouting 'Hold up, hold up') but every time he tries to go through he ends up crashing to the door. Okay, I guess that it is worth a bit of humour and the fact that the preacher is based of a radio character but that's probably it for me. The preacher then starts to ring the doorbell as he is trying to enter the village, there is a boxing glove that pops out of the doorbell and socks him. Okay, since I think that the preacher is a dumb fool that is in fact a pretty funny combat to him. The preacher then presses the doorbell again where he hides himself from being punch but instead he gets socked in the stomach - like one of them situations that Goofy faces.

The preacher then starts to come up with another idea as he plans to knock through all of the doors to see what happens. He knocks in rhythm again to 'Shave and a Haircut'. All of the guards then open up the doors at the same time to see who is in there, but the preacher tries to enter as he tries entering the doors but he slams before even making it. Well, even if it's not racist or stereotypical - it's not what I find particularly amusing in my opinion. Some of these sequences are a little bit tiresome in the 1930s (in my opinion) where these characters think so hard but fail; it's what made Goofy popular, in my opinion.

He then hides back, but the guard then opens his door - the preacher then dashes into the scene and uses his foot to block from from closing the door, he then asks the guard; 'Good morning ma'am, sir. Is the lady of the house too home'. He then does that Elmer Burt chuckle which he was famous for in his radio shows (and also a popular reference in the cartoons too). He is in fact a travelling salesman as he explains to the tribe in what he is carrying in his suitcase as he describes it as 'useless utensils'.

As he explains in his suitcase about what he does as a salesman; the guards from the entrance of the village then look down at the salesmen while he talks about what he has over to try and show to the village. As the guards watch him, they think of him as food as they start to lick their lips as they plan on eating him.

They start to visualise on what he would look like as a food as we watch the preacher talking about some sales he has bought but they picture him as a chicken talking which means that he is in trouble. I wouldn't find that particularly too funny as it would be rather dark since he's going to be gobbled up by African tribes; I would find that scary. While he continues to talk (and the guards are not listening) they then drag him inside the village as they are planning on eating him, they also drag his hat inside as well - as I guess...in fact I may ask...why did they need the hat? Not as though they're going to eat it? In the next sequence after the fade-out; we find that the salesman is already tied up inside the boiling pot. While he is stuck in the boiling pot looking utterly confused and thoughtless (well, couldn't he at least try to escape?) there is a village black woman who is cooking the food and adding some extra bits to go with the food. As she is about to place some onions in, a sign then pops out reading 'Hold the onions' - and yes, I've seen that as early as maybe 'Pigs is Pigs' and it isn't particularly funny anymore. I don't know how much original gags I've seen so far in this cartoon; it's all reused but hey; I'm watching all the cartoons so I'm bound to know quite a lot more than a typical member of the audience who won't know.

In the meantime while the preacher is inside the boiling pot - trapped; a couple of the villagers then start to go through his suitcase taking out which he was trying to pitch sales to in the village. They take several things out that is in his suitcase but since it's so small and I start to question that HOW the hell did he get everything to fit in his suitcase like a hoover, as well as lampshades?

A villager then starts to walk around with the hoover but is unsure on how it would work. He then turns on the hoover but the hoover then starts to suck his whole hut made from straw. Okay, that was pretty amusing that I thought personally and yeah finally I see some originality. Another tribe then enters his own hut as he finds that he is carrying a box and also has lightbulbs. Not knowing how it would work he then begins to start placing the light bulb in his ear in which he then starts to sit down in this type of box (and somehow he can be able to get the power on). He places a lampshade over himself and then he reads his own magazine. He has formed himself a lamp. If I recall, I even remember THAT type of gag used three years back from Buddy in Africa. But I guess since it's such a rarely seen cartoon, but I still remember seeing that gag so I can't be amused, but hey - I'm a geek.

The preacher is inside the boiling pot where he realises that he is starting to boiling up and realising his fate. He starts to worry as he hears the sounds of the tribes banging on the table in rhythm wanting him as food. After the tribe start to bang on the table wanting to eat him - we then start to go off at ANOTHER location where I thought we were focusing on the salesman. He move to a hut where it is called 'The Palace'.

We pan inside the palace hut and we find that on the throne is the Queen (even the titles pop up on the screen to identify that to the audience). It turns out that she is also caricatured as another radio reference as Tizzie Lish (also from 'The Al Pearce Show') and there appears to be a lot of references from that radio show that is featured in this cartoon which makes this cartoon just appear unoriginal to me. She then greets to the audience, 'Hello folksies!' During the loud bangings the Queen is disturbed as he hears the sound of her tribes wanting food, she asks; 'What's going on there?' the guard who appears to reply back in another reference (a Chinese stereotype) that I'm not sure what it's from then replies that they're having a salesman for dinner; and yet this is another stereotype - the voice is not a black stereotype but a Chinese reference coming from it?? How bizarre can this cartoon go?

The Tizzie Lish Queen starts to go overwhelmed with joy as she hears the sound of the salesman being a man. She responds, 'A man?? Well bring him in!' She then starts to put on some perfume so that she can look good when he will be around. As she is spraying herself with perfume; she is humming to the tune 'Vieni, vieni'.

After getting herself ready for his arrival; the guards of her palace then bring the salesman into her palace and throw him towards her throne chair. Then love heart bubbles start to spring out of her as she is already in love. Okay, but I think that it is another character reference to her character where she acts like she's in love. She asks the audience's idea for him as she thinks, 'Kinda cute, dont'ya think? or dont'ya?' She then starts to ask the salesman about what he's doing in the village. He then starts to respond in her question in which he is about to show her what he has in the briefcase. 'My lady I have here a marvellous device that you can afford not to afford'. He then chuckles in the typical Elmer Blurt laugh. He then starts to bring out a toaster as he placed in some bread. Of course it may sound like a typical type of toaster where the toast pops out but it turns out that actually it can spread butter on it, too. I wouldn't consider that 'marvellous' - I've seen devices from a long time ago that I think would be more marvellous than that toaster.

He then comments on the toaster, 'It's just too marvellous' and then he chuckles. Hang on a minute when I'm actually watching this cartoon - notice that in fact the Queen here is in fact a reference to the character from 'The Al Pearce Show' in which she is a caricature of Tizzie Lish. The salesman here is also a reference to Elmer Blurt also from that show. So the main characters are basically character parodies from that show??? I don't know if I'm losing my mind or going crazy, but I think this cartoon has too many references there which I don't particularly like.

The Queen of course isn't listening to what the preacher is saying about his sales to try and convince her to purchase it. She is more interested in looking at him admiringly. She then pictures him by replacing himself as someone like Clark Gable (who appears but speaking in the salesman's voice) and we see Gable shown. Of course; Clark was famous being a womaniser at the time and also one of the most handsome actors of the 1930s and 1940s so that's why he would be pictured there. After we see Gable there, then we pop back to the salesman who still talks into the idea of the toaster to her.

The salesman then continues talking about the toaster talking of the cost of it and mentions that it is a rather cheap price. The Queen then starts to think of him again but instead as Robert Taylor in which he pops up. Taylor was also famous for his looks back then as well so he's referenced here.

As the preacher continues to blab about his sales and much (which is rather tedious) the native guards then starts to lick their lips as they find him rather tasty to eat. They then start to picture him as a chicken; and this is all going crazy. First the Queen shows her love for him, and now the guards are planning to eat him. What's gonna happen next? After his speak; the Queen just can't get enough of him in which she shouts; 'We'll get married right away' and this would also be trouble for the salesman but hey; better than being captured by African tribes. She starts to pull the curtains together in which she then starts to appear in her dressing dress. This cartoon so far is just madness, there really isn't a detailed and coherent synopsis for this - it just keeps on changing and too much is happening and I don't like that.

The Queen then starts to zip towards the salesman as she is holding his hand. A black priest then appears at the scene as he is about to wed them. She asks the Queen if she would choose him to be her husband, or not. She then comments, 'Oh this is so sudden' and this is another Tizzie Lish reference here - sigh -. The priest then asks if he chooses her to be his wife or not. Since he is stuck in a position, a guard jabs him at the back forcing him to as he responds in a Elmer Blurt voice, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, etc.' He finishes the ceremony as he pronounces them as man and wife and charges them admission; 'That'll be $2 please'.

The Queen then starts to pucker up her lips but the salesman refuses to do so. He makes a scared take (in which half of his clothes roll up) and he starts to run off. He then runs out of the scene and decides to hide inside the boiling pot. He responds to that scene, 'I hope they all get fed in digestion' in which he's hoping that they're not going to be hungry by eating him. He then starts to hide under the boiling pot holding his breath. Why that? He managed to have save the Queen, why not try and escape through the doors (since there doesn't appear to be any tribes about).

Overall comments: For one of my main opinions about this cartoon is that I have to say that (even though I didn't sound too steamed when reviewing) but I find that this cartoon is truly abysmal!! This is one of Freleng's worst cartoons that he's made in the era - EVER!! I'm not talking about it because of it being in the Censored 11; it has nothing to do with the stereotypes (there wasn't too much of it in this cartoon I thought) - it mostly is because the cartoon really has no controlled plot and it all just jumbles. The gags there are terribly pointless and mostly unoriginal as they are mostly recycled gags - but in a way - who's going to know? The cartoon has too much references on 'The Al Pearce Show' and even featuring the two main characters as parodies which I find makes the cartoon unoriginal by referencing it too much!! When I really think of it, much of the Censored 11 cartoons are really not worth the time; as there are really more funnier and watchable cartoons out there.

I find that this cartoon is so bad that I remember that even in the cartoon 'The Ducksters' which was made 12 years later they made a reference to that cartoon by calling it one of the 'obnoxious pictures'. I didn't find that the cartoon was particularly racist too much (except there's mostly black stereotype references at the beginning) the cartoon just sucked and flawed in so many ways. I really couldn't say much positive things about that cartoon as I didn't like the dated references (and it was featured too much). This cartoon just has some bad animation with a dumb story, and therefore - it deserves to be ignored. Well, since Freleng rarely would ever make a bad cartoon (well even in his early stuff they weren't good); all I can say is that we can't expect anything great from a director all the time but I wouldn't say it was just him - the story guys really didn't make the cartoon work at all. It feels like it was done lazily and effortlessly. Not even heated about watching this cartoon, it just is a bad cartoon - I feel as though I've explained enough and nobody could change my mind. My opinion and it follows.