Porky's Party

Bob Clampett's 'Porky's Party' is a classic piece of inspired lunacy which was one of the director's earliest cartoons. Based on the innocent premise of Porky Pig having a party for his birthday, 'Porky's Party' goes off the rails the moment the guests arrive. As was often the case in these early cartoons, Porky is given star billing but does very little compared to the bonkers antics of a drunken dog, a goofy goose and a gluttonous penguin. Essentially plot less, 'Porky's Party' relies on great set pieces and the wild energy that is so unmistakably Clampett. There's a really strange and inspired bit in which the penguin tries to rid himself of a top hat that keeps popping up inside his body! The whole thing culminates in a wild chase and a hilarious climax in which Clampett stuffs tons of gags into literally a couple of seconds. An unforgettable cartoon that helped push forward the increasingly loony agenda of the Warner studio, 'Porky's Party' is one of the greatest of the early Porky Pig shorts and a personal favourite of my own which deserves a wider audience.

Wow, what an unusual birthday present. While Porky is set to blow out the candles on his birthday cake, singing "Happy Birthday to me," he hears a knock on the door. It's a delivery man with a package, and a note which reads, "I'm sending you a genuine Oriental Silk Worm as a present. Lovingly yours, Uncle Pinkus Pig. P.S. When you want him to do his stuff, just say 'sew.'"

Porky tries saying that to the devilish-looking worm and the little thing instants sews a sock. The scene changes though Porky has to get ready for his supper guests. For some reason, he splashes hair tonic on himself. The dog tries it, slurps up the excess and then finds he loves the 99-percent alcohol liquid. In seconds, the dog is hammered. There are no segways in this cartoon, just one totally different scene after another, apparently. Porky mentions the word "so" a few times and the silkworm goes crazy knitting things everywhere. He gets in the birthday cake and a guest is suddenly finding clothing in the cake.

That premise sounded like this might be a fun cartoon, but it turned out to be very silly and geared more for little kids in the audience. The humor wasn't much more than third-grade mentality. Most of it involves the dog, "Black Fury," who re-enters the picture.

Recommended for little kids, but not adults.

It is Porky Pig's birthday. He gets a package from his Uncle Pincus Pig. It is an Oriental Silk Worm and it would start as soon as you say, "Sew". Porky's dog Black Fury gets into his alcoholic Hair Grower tonic. His friend Penguin arrives and is mostly interested in eating. His other friend Goosey arrives with an immediate insult.

Porky Pig has bad friends. That's my main takeaway. I don't actually know either of these characters. It would be so much better to build up girlfriend Petunia Pig by giving her an appearance. I also don't know Black Fury. He looks a bit like Pluto with thicker ears.

If you've seen Porky Pig's cartoons during the first few years after he debuted, you may have noticed that they mostly cast him in various roles and situations: bullfighter, pilgrim, blacksmith. As far as I can tell, his only three cartoons during this era that had truly lasting significance were 1935's "I Haven't Got a Hat" (his debut), 1937's "Porky's Duck Hunt" (Daffy Duck's debut) and 1938's "Porky in Wackyland" (the ultimate exercise in zany surrealism). "Porky's Party" was one of the shorts where the Termite Terrace crowd came up with a routine situation and milked it, with rather childish results.

There certainly are some funny scenes. I couldn't have predicted the stuff with the hat in the guy's body. But seriously, the whole thing looks better on the storyboard (the DVD includes the original designs as an special feature). If they'd continued casting Porky in these kinds of roles, that would have quickly been all for him, folks. Fortunately, when we entered WWII, his really clever roles took off. During and immediately after the war, there were "My Favorite Duck", "Porky Pig's Feat", "Brother Brat", "Baby Bottleneck", "Kitty Kornered" and "Little Orphan Airedale". In the post-war years, he often was the foil to Daffy Duck's craziness.

I do like Porky Pig. There are other Looney Tunes characters that are stronger leads than him(ie. Bugs, Daffy) but Porky is still a likable and quite endearing character all the same. Porky's Party is one of the best of his early cartoons, not only is it hilarious but it allows Porky to be part of the action rather than just be a bystander who appears every now and then. The dog and the penguin are great supporting characters, both of them have some really great gags, the dog with the alcohol/hare tonic and the razor and the penguin with the wild but very funny gag of the top hat propping up inside him and when he disguises himself as a hat-stand. The last minute or so is wild chaos and in that unmistakable Bob Clampett style, which I loved. There is even a bird/ostrich character who turns up briefly, but with a visual gag involving a sign that still makes its mark. The animation is crisp and colourful, and the music is full of that vibrant energy you'd expect from Looney Tunes. Mel Blanc's voice work is spot-on as well. It is true that there is not much of a plot but the humour, animation and interplay between the characters makes that not matter at all. 10/10 Bethany Cox