Porky's Movie Mystery

Porky's Movie Mystery (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Fun short from Warner has a mysterious creature known as The Phantom stalking various Hollywood studios. Actors are too scared to act, cameras are being destroyed and all productions have been shut down. It turns out that the Invisible Man is behind all the destruction so it's up to Mr. Moto (Porky Pig) to track him down. This is a pretty fun short from start to finish as we get a lot of winks to previous movies. It's obvious the film is spoofing James Whale's THE INVISIBLE MAN who, at this point, had only been in one movie but a sequel would follow a year after this cartoon. How ironic. The jokes are all pretty good with Porky getting a lot of laughs as Moto but obviously those sensitive to certain politically incorrect humor might not want to watch this. The stutter is still there of course and it makes for plenty of laughs. The scene with the Frankenstein monster being "bullied" into talking was quite funny but the final joke of the film pretty much falls flat.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Have a lot of respect for Bob Clampett and like Porky Pig very much (though he is not quite one of my favourite cartoon characters). 'Porky's Movie Mystery' is luckily a good representation of both Clampett, where his imaginative visuals and wild humour is evident on top of other things, and Porky, always endearing and this is one of his funniest lead character appearances.

'Porky's Movie Mystery' has a lot to like. The ending agreed does fall flat somewhat and there is some humour here that's not for the easily offended.

However, everything goes at a lively pace with momentum seldom lost. The comedy is very funny and witty, with clever and nostalgic winks and references to past films and the more mystery-oriented elements are suitably spooky.

Mel Blanc is outstanding as always. He always was the infinitely more preferable voice for Porky, Joe Dougherty never clicked with me, and he proves it here. Blanc shows an unequalled versatility and ability to bring an individual personality to every one of his multiple characters in a vast majority of his work, there is no wonder why he was in such high demand as a voice actor. Billy Bletcher is great too, hard not to recognise his voice, the distinctive one that it is.

Animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. Ever the master, Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

Overall, fun and spooky. 8/10 Bethany Cox