Porky in Wackyland
Porky in Wackyland | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert Clampett |
Story by | Warren Foster |
Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
Starring | Mel Blanc Billy Bletcher Tedd Pierce Danny Webb[1] Bob Clampett[2] |
Edited by | Treg Brown |
Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
Animation by | Norman McCabe I. Ellis Vive Risto John Carey Robert Cannon[3] |
Layouts by | Bob Clampett |
Backgrounds by | Elmer Plummer |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7:23 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Porky in Wackyland is a 1938 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short film, directed by Bob Clampett.[4] The short was released on September 24, 1938, and stars Porky Pig venturing out to find the last do-do bird, which he finds in Wackyland, a land that makes no sense located in Darkest Africa.[5]
In 1994, Porky in Wackyland was voted No. 8 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.[6] In 2000, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, which selected the short for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Plot
A newspaper shows Porky Pig traveling to Africa to hunt for the last do-do bird. Upon landing his airplane in Darkest Africa, Porky sees a sign telling him that he is in Wackyland, where anything can happen. He tiptoes along the ground in his airplane and is greeted by a roaring beast, who suddenly becomes effeminate and dances away into the forest.
A musical interlude introduces several more bizarre creatures that inhabit Wackyland's impossible landscape. These include a
Some time later, the do-do encounters a creature selling newspapers announcing that Porky's hunt has been a success. Shocked by the news, the do-do drops its guard long enough for the creature (Porky in disguise) to grab it. Porky briefly celebrates catching the last do-do, but is bested again when the bird calls for its other do-do friends.
Voice cast
Information is taken from the website Likely Looney, Mostly Merrie[1]
- Mel Blanc as various characters, including Porky Pig and Dodo
- Billy Bletcher as the Roaring Goon
- Tedd Pierce as mysterious voice
- Danny Webb as the Prisoner
- Bob Clampett as vocal effects
Reception
Steve Schneider's 1998 That's All Folks! The Art of Warner Bros. Animation writes that with this short, "the lord of cartoon misrule, Clampett established conclusively that in animation, realism is irrelevant."[7]
In the 2001 Masters of Animation, John Grant writes that "this short, in its cumulative effect, is more wildly inventive than anything even [Tex] Avery had produced for Warners."[8]
Animation historian Steve Schneider writes, "No mere Looney Tune, Porky in Wackyland was Warner Bros. Emancipation Proclamation. Building on the creaky liberties inaugurated by director Tex Avery, here Bob Clampett scoffs and shreds the conventions — realism, literalism, infantilism, cutesiness, and worse — that, with the ascendancy of Disney, had come to caramelize cartooning. By reminding us of animations' horizons — namely, none at all — this anything-goes film illustrates Sigmund Freud's notion that humor arises from breaking taboos. And breaking taboos is something that animation, with its limitless freedom, is uniquely gifted to do."[2]
Follow-ups and derivative works
Much of the Wackyland sequence was adapted and reused by Clampett for inclusion in his 1943 short Tin Pan Alley Cats. A color remake of Porky in Wackyland was supervised by Friz Freleng in 1948. Re-titled as Dough for the Do-Do, the remake was released in 1949. The films were nearly identical, in many cases appearing to match frame-by-frame in certain details, albeit with Porky's appearance updated (by redoing most of the animation of the character), the voices having evolved (with less use of speeding-up) and the backgrounds being changed to a surreal, Daliesque landscape. Dough for the Do-Do was produced in Technicolor, but was originally released in Cinecolor due to a dispute with the Technicolor corporation. Later reissues were printed by Technicolor.
There were at least two Terrytoons plagiarizations of Porky in Wackyland in the 1940s or 1950s.[citation needed] Dingbat Land (1949)[9] starred Gandy Goose and Sourpuss. The role of the Do-Do was taken by a minor Terrytoons character, Dingbat.[10]
According to writer
See also
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929–1939)
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
- Looney Tunes Golden Collection Porky in Wackyland on Volume 2 (Disc 3) and Dough for the Do-Do on Volume 1 (Disc 2)
References
- ^ a b Hartley, Steven (23 November 2012). "Likely Looney, Mostly Merrie: 216. Porky in Wackyland (1938)". Likely Looney, Mostly Merrie. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.
- ^ "Porky in Wackyland Breakdown (#14)". Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ISBN 978-1878685490.
- ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.
- ISBN 978-0823030415. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ "Classic Cartoons". classiccartoons.blogspot.com.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2006-08-19.
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External links
- Porky in Wackyland at IMDb