Little Orphan Airedale

Wise-guy canine Charlie Dog tells fellow hound Rags McMutt the story of how he kept trying to get Porky Pig to adopt him. Obviously, the cartoon's main premise rests on Charlie's wacky tricks, but I notice something else. After everything, Rags has doubts about life outside the pound from which he earlier escaped. Maybe "Little Orphan Airedale" is reminding us that the real insanity isn't necessarily inside the asylum (or equivalent thereof). The feature films "The King of Hearts", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "House of Fools" also looked at this point.

Maybe I'm the only person who sees that. Taking the cartoon at face value, it's a pretty fun romp, as were all Looney Tunes cartoons from back then. It'll certainly please you.

Rags McDuff breaks out of the dog pound. Hunted down like, well, like a dog, he takes refuge in a car. Inside the car he bumps into another dog who tells him the importance of getting a master to keep him out of the pound. He tells the story of how he managed to land his owner - Porky Pig.

Thanks mainly to the smart mouthed dog in the lead role, this cartoon manages to be funny without ever really being hilarious. The plot has a prologue and an epilogue to it involving the dog pound, but the focus is on the main dog telling the story of how he kept pestering Porky until he supposedly took him in as his dog. Porky keeps throwing him out and the dog has to keep trying all sorts of stuff to get back in. It never had me rolling in the aisles but it was pretty pacy and plenty to amuse and tickle.

Porky is OK but has little impact in the comedy stakes - all that rests on the shoulders of the main dog. He carries it fairly well as he emotionally swings all over the place and plays all the cards that he can in an effort to adopt Porky as his master. He isn't a perfect character but he does pretty well.

Overall, this is not a hilarious cartoon but it is pretty funny. The dog pound stuff seems like a waste of time at the start - but the story telling set up does allow for a good punch line, even if it could have used the opening few moments a little bit better. Amusing and worth watching.

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.

Chuck Jones deserved, and still does deserve, his status as one of animation's most legendary, greatest and most important directors/animators. He may have lacked the outrageousness and wild wackiness of Bob Clampett and Tex Avery, but the visual imagination, wit and what he did with some of the best-known and most iconic characters ever were just as special. He has definitely done far superior cartoons than 'Little Orphan Airedale', but it is an enjoyable cartoon and indicative enough of why Jones was revered as much as he was and still is.

Porky is always watchable and is an immensely likeable "playing it straight" character. He is somewhat bland here though in 'Little Orphan Airedale' and his material is not exactly funny or memorable.

The pace does lack zip and energy at the start and 'Little Orphan Airedale' doesn't properly start engaging until the conflict starts.

However, as pretty much always for Jones, 'Little Orphan Airedale' is beautifully animated. It's fluid in movement, crisp in shading, vibrant and atmospheric in colour and very meticulous in detail. Jones does direct very solidly.

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. The use of pre-existing music is inspired.

While not always hilarious, the gags are wittily paced and very amusing and the dialogue similarly entertains hugely. Charlie Dog is the funnier and more interesting character than Porky and feels more of a lead, his antics deliciously wacky in pure Jones style. Rags is similarly likeable. Mel Blanc's voice work is typically bravura and immensely versatile.

Overall, good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Fun Porky Pig short from Chuck Jones that's basically a reworking of Bob Clampett's Porky's Pooch short from 1941. The story's about a dog named Rags escaping from the pound and meeting up with another dog, who brags to Rags about how he met his master (Porky). We flashback to the dog's meeting with Porky and in the end there's a cute twist. Love the animation. Everything is well drawn and the colors are lovely. Great voice work from Mel Blanc, as usual. Carl Stalling's music is quite nice. A fun cartoon even if it's not going to be on anybody's "best of" lists for Porky or Jones. It's a pleasant way to pass a few minutes. If you're an animation buff watch it after the Clampett original and compare.