Milk and Money

This is an early Tex Avery short that is not done quite in the style that would mark his later efforts. An early Porky Pig adventure, Avery more or less cut his teeth as a director helping to develop Porky, as well as playing a major role in the development of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Egghead/Elmer Fudd, before leaving Warner Brothers after a dispute with producer Leon Schlesinger and moving to MGM in 1942. Well worth looking for, it was originally in black ad white. Recommended.

This was really, really enjoyable, with tons of good stuff all wrapped up in eight minutes. You get over-the-top characters and story, good humor and great artwork. In other words: about everything you want in a cartoon.

The characters are "Porky Pig," Porky's father, Porky's horse "Dobbin," "Hank Horsefly" and "Mr. Viper" (the snake). The latter is there to claim the mortgage on the pigs' house and farm if the old man doesn't fork over the cash by a certain time. This was a familiar theme in movies and cartoons - and a sad fact of life - in the 1930s. Anyway, you know things will turn out all right for Porky and his dad. It's HOW this happens this is funny. The material is outrageous, with a lot of things happening and Hank Horsefly plays the key role.

This is done beautifully in black-and-white and restored nicely by the Warner Brothers folks who have presented us, so far, with five volumes of Golden Collection DVDs. I haven't seen the fourth volume but this Fifth volume features some of these older black-and-white cartoons and some of them are great.

When the story begins, Porky's dad is about to lose the farm to evil Mr. Viper--a Snidely Whiplash sort of villain. Porky wants to help and goes to the city to become a milk delivery man. But his boss warns..."If you break ONE bottle, you're fired!". Sounds like a reasonable guy, huh?! Not surprisingly, his horse gets away from him and, of course, bottles are broken. Is there any other way for Porky to make good?

For 1936, this is a very good Looney Tunes flick...and having Tex Avery directing it helped, as he tended to avoid singing and cutesy stuff...stuff most folks did not enjoy in other Looney Tunes shorts.

Milk and Money (1936)

*** (out of 4)

An evil banker tells Porky's father that they are going to lose the farm if it isn't paid for by the next day. Porky decides to get a job working as a milk man to gain some extra cash and soon another money making opportunity comes his way.

This here is another winning short for the Porky Pig series, which was really picking up steam at this point. Tex Avery directed this one and while I wouldn't call it a classic film there are still plenty of nice little gags here that make it worth watching. One such example is early on when Porky is plowing a field and a horsefly stings the horse and gets the job done a lot quicker. Another nice gag involves a horse race where a frantic pace in the animation really makes for an impressive scene. MILK AND MONEY is certainly a charming little gem that fans of the series will enjoy.

I notice that the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons often made a point of portraying what was going on in the world when they were made. One example is Tex Avery's "Milk and Money". Porky Pig and his father own a farm, but their snakelike banker threatens to take it away from them if they don't pay. Of course, Porky has a few tricks up his sleeve...even if they happen by accident.

I suspect that they didn't intend for this cartoon to be a "Grapes of Wrath"-style lesson about the Great Depression, but it does sort of come out like that, what with the sinister banker trying to take their farm, as happened to so many people during those miserable years.

Overall, a worthwhile cartoon.