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Although Porky Pig appeared in almost 200 shorts and films, "Swooner Crooner" marks the only occasion where the pig got nominated for an Academy Award...and it lost.

Porky is operating a weird egg production factory filled with hens. However, when a crooner chicken (meant to be a parody of Frank Sinatra) shows up and sings, the hens stop working and jeopardize the farm. Considering it's during WWII and Porky is helping feed America and the troops, it's imperative that he gets the hens back to work instead of swooning as Frankie sings. So, Porky advertises to get is own crooner--and tries out some who are meant to parody Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante and Cab Calloway. While the impersonations are clever, they aren't all that funny nor would many viewers recognize the singers. I do because I am an old movie freak! As for the ending, however, it's VERY funny as well as incredibly creepy! Of all the Oscar nominated animated shorts, this is probably the weakest that year. Worth seeing but I can understand why this one didn't win.

In the only Porky Pig cartoon to receive an Oscar nomination, filmdom's most famous swine owns a farm and has the hens lay eggs all day - to the tune of (what else?) Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" - but the hens get distracted by a crooning rooster. But when Porky hires another rooster to woo the hens back, the whole ordeal really turns into a battle of wits.

An obvious aspect of "Swooner Crooner" is that it's truly a product of WWII, what with the clear allusion to Rosie the Riveter. But of course, they parody singers like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Yeah, those guys may have been really popular in those days, but I just bet that most people in my generation believe that BC and FS deserved to get mocked as brutally as possible.

OK, so I don't know whether or not I can speak for every member of my generation. But I can say that this is a really funny cartoon. It got included in Leonard Maltin's "Bugs and Daffy: Wartime Cartoons".

Porky Pig has a highly efficient egg production farm. The hens are placed on a production line. They are all distracted by Frank Sinatra Rooster. Soon, none of the hens are at the factory to lay eggs. Porky starts auditioning other crooners to lure the hens back.

This is a fine Porky Pig cartoon. It got an Oscar nomination. It may not be as good for the modern audience. We are not all that familiar with the old crooners' singing even if we know their names. I can imagine the old audiences recognizing each rooster's representation and having fun with it. That's not happening for the present day.

This cartoon, nominated for Oscar, was Porky's only shot at the gold. It's a marvelous cartoon and parodies Sinatra and Crosby, among others. Watch particularly the audition, when Porky is trying out singers to get his hens laying eggs again. The guys at Termite Terrace loved parodies, not only actors, but singers as well. The auditionees are all parodies. It's a scream and great fun figuring out who's who. Reportedly, Bing Crosby hated it when he was parodied in cartoons. How Frank Sinatra felt about it, I have no idea. Recommended.

I have loved Looney Tunes cartoons for as long as I can remember, and I could watch them all day if I wanted to. Swooner Crooner is just wonderful, and one of Porky's best for me. Porky is great value here, he can be bland when he is partnered with stronger characters but he is always endearing regardless. The animation is beautiful to watch, very crisp and vibrant in colour, while the music has so much character and nostalgic value. The songs are a treasure trove of old favourites, and are just a joy to the ear. Maybe the story is not the strongest one in the world, though it is an original one, but that doesn't matter in the slightest to me as there is never a dull moment and the whole of Swooner Crooner is relentlessly entertaining. The dialogue has freshness and wit, the gags are clever and imaginatively timed- the auditions especially are an absolute riot- and the caricatures of Frank Sinatra(the best one for me), Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Durante, Nelson Eddy and Al Jolson are really fun to spot. Mel Blanc's vocal characterisations never disappoint, always a large part of why Looney Tunes cartoons work so well as a majority whole, and Swooner Crooner is no exception. All in all, wonderful and recommended with no hesitation. 10/10 Bethany Cox