Porky and Gabby

Iwerks directed this during his brief stay at Termite Terrace, between the collapse of his own studio and his return to Disney. Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett animated, and it's an interesting piece because it shows the hand of all three animators: Iwerks' strong but predictable story line, Clampett's outrageous gags -- as when an outboard motor goes berserk -- and Jones' strong sense of humor in character -- Gabby Goat, voiced by Cal Howard, is a loud grouch.

Some of the gags are old and annoying -- spark plugs in the stalling car show anthropomorphic features, but with this movie, we can see the Warner Brothers style emerging. There are a few cartoons that stand at the border of styles and remain masterpieces, works like Tashlin's THE FOX AND THE GRAPES and Avery's SCREWY SQUIRREL.... this is another. See it.

If you watch a bunch of the old Looney Tunes cartoons from the 1930s, you might notice that the studio seemed to have a hard time creating lasting characters at that time. Again and again, they created characters...only to have them come and go. One of the few few that lasted, though he was not nearly as popular from the 1940s-50s, is Porky Pig. Here in "Porky and Gabby" they tried giving Porky a partner in the form of a very annoying goat. In fact, after three films they abandoned Gabby, as he just wasn't so much funny as annoying and angry.

In this short, Porky and Gabby are taking a trip out in the country. Gabby is just too angry to find it relaxing and naturally their day out turns out to be a big mistake.

You know that when the best thing about this story is watching the moving van guy slap Gabby, it's a weak story. Despite this, the black & white animation is beautiful...as by 1937 Looney Tunes had really established themselves technically. Worth seeing but the story, like the character Gabby, is a bit weak.

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.

'Porky and Gabby' generally is one of the best early Porky cartoons, a strong example agreed of the studio's style starting to emerge rather than still finding its style. Porky is a likeable lead and an amusing one, and he has a strong character to work with in Gabby. Chuck Jones' humorous and witty visual characterisation and the gags (most of which come off very well indeed in a cartoon full of them, with the occasional one lacking in freshness) help quite a lot.

As does Mel Blanc's voice acting. He always was the infinitely more preferable voice for Porky, Joe Dougherty never clicked with me, and he proves it in 'Porky and Gabby'. Blanc shows an unequalled versatility and ability to bring an individual personality to every one of his multiple characters in a vast majority of his work, there is no wonder why he was in such high demand as a voice actor.

The animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement. crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. The story may be predictable, but it's beautifully paced with never a dull moment and strongly structured.

Carl Stalling's music is typically outstanding. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

In summary, great and one of the best early Porky cartoons. 9/10 Bethany Cox