Plane Dippy

Plane Dippy (1936)

*** (out of 4)

Porky Pig finally manages to make his way through the tests and gets enrolled in the Army. His first mission is being a test pilot for a robot plane that can be operated by controls.

PLANE DIPPY certainly isn't an animated masterpiece but if you're a fan of the early Porky Pig shorts then you should enjoy it. This here was the first time that Porky got him name on the title card so it's obvious that crowds were loving the little guy. This here is a pretty good short as there are some funny moments and plenty of nice action. Most of the action takes place during the final minutes as Porky finds himself inside the plane and it's out of control. One of the highlights is a scene where the plane chases a cloud. The animation was extremely good and there's no question that Porky was coming into his own.

Is there any better Porky Pig moment than when the poor stuttering recruit assumes command of the new voice remote controlled robot fighter plane?

Amidst chaos and destruction he valiantly attempts to land the renegade plane through verbal commands.

This is when cartoons were funny very funny.

Why must I include ten lines?

Just watch it and judge for yourself.

I have run out of things to say.

Thankfully , this is the tenth line.

This early Tex Avery cartoon -- starring Porky the Pig in his most globular phase -- starts out with as good a series of perfectly-paced sight gags as Avery ever did, with Porky enlisting in and going through basic training in the Air Corps. However, the second half, in which he winds up in a robot plane controlled from the ground by a bunch of kids, becomes much more erratic, as the basic gag goes on too long. Also, and this may not be a problem for you, you hear Rochelle Hudson doing her little-girl voice, which makes me grind my teeth. Nor does Bernard Brown's score, a constant repetition of an upbeat version of "I'd Love to Take Orders from You" help ease the monotony.

But the opening makes this a fine cartoon. Give it a look and see if you agree.

An early Porky short, and for years the oldest produced shown in one of the post-theatrical release television packages, this has Porky the faithful military hero, going to an inventor, who's a chimpanzee who tries out Porky on the plane that the inventor has been tinkering on, only to leave the plane with Porky and in the control of the innocent little children, Little Kitty (by the way, voiced by Bereneice Hansell(her real spelling-11/15/17),NOT Rochelle Hudson) and her "human" doggy friend,(an example of the era's "Dorgan's Syndrome" - Merci Beaucops, F.Gwynplaine MacIntyre and his "Jungle Jitters" (1938) review) based on the earlier Oliver Owl character, and HIS "REAL" (go figure :)) dog (the first two being had debuted with Porky in 1935's "I Haven't Got a Hat"). (The inventor's placed his command mike on the window stand.) what happens is the plane, reacting to the children's orders to the one kid's dog, scoops up Porky. Anything else will be top secret like the plane was.

I'm glad that Billy Bletcher WAS identified as the Sarge (My copy of historian Graham Webb's 2000 book on these old shorts actually DOES give unnamed voices, but HE only mentions Ms.Hansen, a major mystery, who was NOT Dorothy Varden who was a similar performer) and Joe Dougherty, then the voice of Porky Pig, but I doubt that, that simian inventor (yeah, "Grease Monkey", I get it, folks!) is Bletcher.. Very Unique voice.."Here.. TRY it!" This was the first "Starring" role for Porky Pig, even though he'd done cartoons before as mentioned above and even had in the Beans the Cat entry "Golddiggers of '49", then just recently out, also a PROMINENT role.

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.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best cartoons ever made from anybody. 'Plane Dippy' is a good cartoon, but not one of the best from either Avery or Porky Pig, both of them capable of very good to masterpiece. Then again, even when Avery was not at his best he was far better than most at their worst. The problem isn't that there is too much of a sense that he hadn't found his style, actually the first half is classic Avery.

'Plane Dippy' is instead fairly uneven. It is agreed that the first half is absolutely brilliant, being imaginatively drawn, immaculately timed and very funny. The momentum however for me did dip in the latter parts of 'Plane Dippy' where the timing was a mix of rushed and momentum-less and the material is generally not as inspired.

While most of the voice acting is fine, Billy Bletcher especially, count me in as somebody who has found that Joe Dougherty's Porky voice has never done it for me. It's not just because Mel Blanc's more famous interpretation is more appealing to me 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.

As far as the gags go, the standouts are the hay and the straw hats gag and the scene with the cloud. It can 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. Just personal preference.

In short, good if uneven cartoon. 7/10 Bethany Cox