Tashlin's masterpiece
'Wholly Smoke' is a first-rate Looney Toon from the Warner studio's peak period. 'Wholly Smoke' has a good story, is cleverly animated, delivers a socially constructive message without lecturing, and (oh, yeah) it's extremely funny. This cartoon stands as a tribute to the sadly underrated Frank Tashlin ... and should be required viewing for all those misguided people who think that Chuck Jones was the be-all and end-all of Warners animation.
In this cartoon, Porky is cast as a boy-pig rather than an adult. His mother sends him off to Sunday school with a nickel for the collection plate. On the way, Porky encounters a standard Warner Bros bully: a bowler-hatted Dead End Kid pig-boy. This kid is smoking a cigar, and there's some funny animation (with good music cues) as the cigar smoke takes various shapes. When the punk learns that Porky has a nickel, he bullies Porky into giving it up. Porky feels some peer pressure: to prove he can be tough too, Porky takes a drag on the cigar ... and collapses into a sickening jag in which he is confronted by a smoke-man named Nick O'Teen.
Now comes the brilliant setpiece of this cartoon. To the tune of 'Old Man Mose' (a standby of the Warners music department), Nick O'Teen drags Porky into a nightmare reverie of anti-smoking images. Cigars resembling the Three Stooges poke Porky in the eyes. A squadron of cigarettes start marching in Busby Berkeley manoeuvres, spelling out the words 'NO SMOKING'. There's an extremely well-animated montage sequence, as the nightmare picks up speed. Eventually Porky reclaims his nickel, besting the bully and getting to Sunday school, vowing never again to smoke.
'Wholly Smoke' (made during the Schlesinger unit's black-and-white period) is a visual delight, as well as funny. Even the opening credits are better-looking than usual. There is only one unpleasant (vaguely racist) gag, when Nick O'Teen's face becomes temporarily covered with soot, making him look like a blackface minstrel and prompting him to do an imitation of Cab Calloway. I heartily recommend 'Wholly Smoke' for kids and adults, and I rate it 10 out of 10. All fans of Warners animation should pay more attention to Frank Tashlin and Robert McKimson, and MUCH less attention to the monstrously overrated Schmuck Jones.
In this cartoon, Porky is cast as a boy-pig rather than an adult. His mother sends him off to Sunday school with a nickel for the collection plate. On the way, Porky encounters a standard Warner Bros bully: a bowler-hatted Dead End Kid pig-boy. This kid is smoking a cigar, and there's some funny animation (with good music cues) as the cigar smoke takes various shapes. When the punk learns that Porky has a nickel, he bullies Porky into giving it up. Porky feels some peer pressure: to prove he can be tough too, Porky takes a drag on the cigar ... and collapses into a sickening jag in which he is confronted by a smoke-man named Nick O'Teen.
Now comes the brilliant setpiece of this cartoon. To the tune of 'Old Man Mose' (a standby of the Warners music department), Nick O'Teen drags Porky into a nightmare reverie of anti-smoking images. Cigars resembling the Three Stooges poke Porky in the eyes. A squadron of cigarettes start marching in Busby Berkeley manoeuvres, spelling out the words 'NO SMOKING'. There's an extremely well-animated montage sequence, as the nightmare picks up speed. Eventually Porky reclaims his nickel, besting the bully and getting to Sunday school, vowing never again to smoke.
'Wholly Smoke' (made during the Schlesinger unit's black-and-white period) is a visual delight, as well as funny. Even the opening credits are better-looking than usual. There is only one unpleasant (vaguely racist) gag, when Nick O'Teen's face becomes temporarily covered with soot, making him look like a blackface minstrel and prompting him to do an imitation of Cab Calloway. I heartily recommend 'Wholly Smoke' for kids and adults, and I rate it 10 out of 10. All fans of Warners animation should pay more attention to Frank Tashlin and Robert McKimson, and MUCH less attention to the monstrously overrated Schmuck Jones.
- F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
- Aug 12, 2003