User reviews

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.

A relatively early cartoon from Friz Freleng featuring Porky Pig, 'Porky's Pastry Pirates' is a decent, above average effort from him. But it is not one of his best in a period where he was not yet in his prime (the 50s which saw a number of classics and a stronger and more refined directing style) and not quite yet hit his stride.

He still directs very capably though, if not exactly refined or distinctive yet. Porky is likeable and amusing enough, if bland and underused compared to his opponents, here the bee is the most interesting and funniest character.

The story is basic and could have done with more energy.

On the other hand, Mel Blanc and Kent Rogers's voice acting is impeccable, with Rogers having the meatiest material.

Animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. There are a fair share of amusing and well times parts, though nothing quite hilarious. Enough of the energy is lively, just wish this was maintained all the way through. The bakery setting is made the most of.

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

Overall, decent but both Porky and Freleng have done much better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This was one of the many old animated shorts from the '30s and '40s that I often used to watch on video at a very young age. Some of these were Looney Tunes shorts, including this one. Basically, I was entertained by all of the cartoons in those video collections at the time, but now, after watching a lot of them again, I can say that I'm still amused by some of them, and others not so much. "Porky's Pastry Pirates" is one of the latter.

A fly stands outside a bakery owned by Porky Pig. This fly is hungry, and looks in through the window at all the delicious food that Porky has made. A bee comes along and asks the fly why he doesn't just go in and eat if he's hungry. The reason why the fly won't do so is because he knows that if he tries to, Porky will chase him with his flyswatter. So, the bee decides that he will enter the bakery and demonstrate to the fly how to get food in there without Porky getting him with his flyswatter, while the fly watches from outside. Will the bee succeed? A better question is, will the fly succeed after the bee?!

The main problem with this cartoon is that it's simply not very funny. The last time I watched it, there was no part where I didn't keep a straight face. It doesn't have anything to make up for the lack of laughs, either. "Porky's Pastry Pirates" seems to be pretty rare now, and if you don't have it, you might have to search a bit to find it. Would the search be worth it? Well, maybe if you're a die-hard Porky Pig fan, or a die-hard fan of these old cartoons in general. For most others, however, it's probably not worth it.