Shanghaied Shipmates

The early, morbidly obese Porky Pig had only existed for a little over a year (and Mel Blanc was not yet providing his voice) when he appeared in "Shanghaied Shipmates". The cartoon portrays a sadistic captain kidnapping Porky and several other sailors to use as his crew. The whole voyage is practically a torture chamber. Sure enough, they eventually rebel.

Knowing that this came out the year after "Mutiny on the Bounty" got released, I wonder whether or not the latter gave them the idea to make it. Since they were still getting started, we should understand not to expect any of the completely wacky stuff that became their cornerstone during the '40s and '50s.

Anyway, it's an OK cartoon. Warner Bros. returned to this topic with the Bugs Bunny-Yosemite Sam vehicle "Mutiny on the Bunny". Worth seeing, if only once. Available on YouTube.

Shanghaied Shipmates (1936)

*** (out of 4)

A dirty and mean Captain forces Porky Pig and several other men on board his ship where he works them too hard and at dinner time refuses to give them anything except bones. Soon Porky has had enough and stages a mutiny.

If you're a fan of the Porky Pig shorts then you'll certainly enjoy this one. While there aren't a great number of laughs there is some terrific animation as well as some great direction. What I enjoyed the most about this film is how it all just moves along at a nice pace and it has a great musical feel to it. The film packs a nice fight scene at the end and the music score is also very good and fits the material quite well.

The fact that Warner Brothers had released its big hit "Mutiny on the Bounty" the year before is pretty evident in this one. Not only is it about a mutinous crew of a ship but the captain is clearly modeled after Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton) from the film. In other words, it's a bit a cross-promotion here in "Shanghaied Shipmates".

The story begins with an empty ship and you realize it's probably because the captain is a bit of a psychopath. Soon he beats up a bunch of folks and voila, he has a crew and among them is Porky. Not surprisingly, the captain brutalizes them and the food is almost nonexistent. How long will they endure this?

Overall, this is just an okay cartoon...mostly because it is familiar stuff if you've seen the movie. Worth seeing, perhaps, but not one of the better Porky cartoons.

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.

'Shanghaied Shipmates' shows that, as to be expected, that Porky is a likable character and he is and also amusing, cute and interesting, though to me he works better in support against a stronger in personality character, where he plays it straight, than a lead. The captain has the stronger personality and he is appropriately menacing without it being too overt. The two work very well together with some great tense conflict, particularly at the end with an inspired fight scene.

As far as the story goes it is pretty slight and, although this is personal preference and something not everyone will share, Joe Dougherty's voice for Porky has never really done it for me. It's not just because Mel Blanc's more famous interpretation is more appealing to me and fits better but Dougherty doesn't sound anywhere near as natural or endearing, have always found that he overdid the stutter and that's true here too.

On the other hand, the animation is characteristically great, especially in the first half, crisp, detailed and fluid throughout.

The music is not Carl Stalling or Scott Bradley and does lack variety at times, but it is still lush and characterful and adds a good deal to the action if not quite enhancing it. Billy Bletcher, with one of the greatest and most distinctively booming villainous voices in "golden age" animation, is very good.

While not hilarious or of a large quantity, the gags are amusing and well timed. 'Shanghaied Shipmates' goes at a lively pace.

In short, pretty decent if not mind-blowing. 7/10 Bethany Cox