I took an extended break once again, in the middle of watching this series of shorts, which comprise of the remaining chunk of 1937. Because, let me tell you...this one was a bit of a spirit breaker. After going through and withstanding several extremely lackluster characters (Buddy, Beans, and to a lesser extent, Bosko) I was really hoping that the introduction of Porky would change things...and well...how about you just read my thoughts?
I will make sure to mark titles that I found of particular interest for Better or for Worse (and a third Pink color that denotes shorts that I liked a lot, that have a particular quality that makes them worth while.) Merry Melody shorts (which are shorts that don't feature a recurring character) will be denoted by an "MM" after the title. I opted not to denote the year for these shorts, because all of them were released in 1937.
Disclaimer: I own none of the videos or images in any of these blogs, are they are mainly being used for review purposes.
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154. Porky's Road Race
This one starts with a disclaimer about none of the characters being real people and...it’s another one of those “celebrity” shorts where a bunch of 1930’s celebrities have wild antics. I recognized *most* of them, but some of them just didn’t stand the test of time. It turns into Wacky Races eventually, and it’s pretty fun, if significantly dated. (6/10)
155. Picador Porky
I laughed at the first joke and then didn’t laugh again. Porky and his friends enter a bull fighting contest, and Porky cheats to win. His friends screw it up by getting drunk. It wasn’t anything special.(4/10)
156. I Only Have Ice For You (MM)
A weird little short about a turkey (I think) who delivers ice. It’s pretty bland, and just kind of odd. I don’t see this one as being anything worth remembering. (4.5/10)
157. The Fella With The Fiddle (MM)
A grandpa mouse tells his kids about a greedy mouse who gets his just desserts. There’s a lame plot twist you can see from a mile away, so it makes for a boring and predictable short. (5/10)
158. Porky's Romance
Porky falls for Petunia Pig (a character that still exists, but rarely) and after his marriage proposal is rejected he decides to kill himself. It’s a kind of dark short that is trying to force a new character, yet again. Yawn! (5.5/10)
159. She Was an Acrobat's Daughter (MM)
A nice little short that’s more of a series of gags about people at a movie theater. A few chuckle worthy moments, I liked it, but it was definitely lacking in a few places. (6/10)
160. Porky's Duck Hunt
Woo-Hoo! The first appearance of Daffy Duck! And...it’s just sort of okay. Far and away the best part of the short was Daffy (or this weird prototype Daffy, but you can tell who it will become) but the rest of the short isn’t particularly interesting. Recommended for historical sake, I guess. (7/10)
Daffy won't appear again until 1938...Boo!
161. Ain't We Got Fun (MM)
What starts out as a pretty mediocre “cat chases mouse” cartoon, picks up in the second half quite a bit. Slow start, but it picked up and had a neat little story that resonated a bit. (6/10)
162. Porky and Gabby
While the short itself isn’t anything special, the animation far exceeds anything that came before it (at least in the non-Merry Melodies shorts) and the characters are much more fluid moving. Porky and his friend Gabby the goat go camping. Not much else to say. (6/10)
163. Clean Pastures (MM)
Oh, fuck this shit. Seriously. Out of “censored 11” shorts I’ve watched that were banned due to racial insensitivity, this one is far and away the worst (I’m not even half way through them...) the plot doesn’t make much sense when you think about it for two seconds: Something about heaven trying to convert sinners in Harlem using Jazz? Idk. It’s stupid. Even worse is that every single joke is at the expense of the African American community. Either these characters, are dumb, lazy, greedy, or just have huge lips for no reason. Ugh. I got a headache watching this. This is the worst short I watched thus far. Oh, and the fuck is up with the title? “Clean Pastures”? There wasn’t a fucking pasture in whole goddamned short. Just another shitty stereotype. (0.5/10)
164. Uncle Tom’s Bungalow (MM)
If you couldn’t tell from the title this is another one of the “censored 11” shorts. It’s definitely not as bad as “Clean Pastures” but it’s definitely a pretty shitty cartoon. Now, I have never read Uncle Tom’ Cabin, but I can guarantee this short is nowhere near a representation of the book. I thought it was pretty bad. And outside of a “The Fuck?” moment, which I will share below, the short is unremarkable. (4/10)
You know the phrase "White as a Sheet"?
When you get scared?
Well, these two characters get frightened in the short,
and well...
Hehe. I'll admit it got a slight (SLIGHT) chuckle.
165. Porky’s Building
Porky and some other bigger pig race to get a building contract...by both of them building the building. BUILDING! It was fun to watch, but nothing too too special. (6/10)
166. Streamlined Gretta Green (MM)
A cute short, but an odd one. It’s about a little car that wants to be a taxi (which is confusing until a human finally shows up halfway through.) The little car is kind of a bad role model for kids as he almost get hit by a train twice. This also put me to sleep, but I don’t blame the short itself...maybe I was just tired. Good animation though! (7/10)
167. Sweet Sioux (MM)
Not gonna lie. I was quite worried when I realized this was about native Americans. Thankfully, it wasn’t that bad. Nothing too offensive except maybe one odd caricature. If the subject material was antiquated by today’s standards, I might have recommended it, but it’s too close to the middle of the road for that. (5/10)
168. Porky's Super Service
Porky has a car service center. Then a baby torments him as he tries to fix a car. Really, it’s pretty basic. I can’t say much, because I don’t have much to say. Some of these just feel like an obligation to watch at this point. (5/10)
169. Egghead Rides Again (MM)
A super early version of the character (who despite the title, is in his first appearance) that would eventually turn into Elmer Fudd, named “Egghead” heads out West to become a cowboy. It’s not that great, and it’s pretty predictable. Not bad, just not great. (6.5/10)
See the resemblence? No? I don't blame ya.
170. Porky’s Badtime Story
Porky and Gabby are late for work and have to make sure they aren’t late again, or they’re fired! (Gasp!) I liked the creative title, and there was a subtle detail with the alarm clock where every successive shot it was in, it showed a few minutes later, overall I liked it. (7/10)
171. Plenty of Money and You (MM)
Did I miss something? I have no idea what the title is referring to. It’s about a Hen that gives birth to an Ostrich (no explanation is ever given) and it’s just bizarre. The bad kind of Bizarre. I really didn’t enjoy this, the design of the Ostrich was kind of cool, but everything else was just too weird. (6.5/10)
172. Porky’s Railroad
Porky is a railroad engineer, and yeah, they kinda found a formula that “works” but, they stopped innovating the content of these shorts once they did. There’s nothing that special about this short. I wish these would get more creative. It’s not bad but, it’s the same short as “Porky’s Building” with some minor changes. (5.5/10)
173. A Sunbonnet Blue (MM)
It’s about mice in a hat shop. Surprisingly? It manages to be pretty bad. I found it annoying, and they made the pace way too quick. Repetitive music, and annoying songs and animation. The worst in awhile. (3/10)
174. Get Rich Quick Porky
Porky buys into a scam where someone planted fake oil in a plot of land to get money. Turns out there’s real oil! The short wasn’t great, but it was better than some of the more repetitive ones from this time. (4.5/10)
Time keeps on slippin'...
(Hey, that could be construed as a Looney Tunes Joke!)
175. Speaking of the Weather (MM)
Whew, I took another extended break from watching these shorts, but now I’m back at it! This one was...okay. It was another one of those really dated shorts where it’s filled with celebrity caricatures just doing...whatever. This one had them on covers of magazines (which may or may not have existed...) and it probably would have been better if I knew who anyone was supposed to be. Animation was good, but that might just be because I haven’t watched any others in awhile to compare. (6/10)
176. Porky’s Garden
Ugh. This was boring. Porky wants to win $1. So he plants a garden, but his neighbor wants to sabotage him with Chickens. It’s difficult to watch these when it’s clear the people writing them had no clever ideas of jokes. It’s just slapstick, and nothing special beyond that. (4/10)
177. Dog Daze (MM)
I love dogs. I did not love this cartoon. It had no story, it was just dogs at a talent show. Doing...human things. At one point some fleas get loose and then well, it amounts to less than you’d hope. I was thinking, “Oh, sh**s about to go dooooown!” But, alas...it remained boring. (3/10)
178. I Wanna Be a Sailor (MM)
Phew! I was worried I wouldn’t see any good ones for awhile! I probably had more “laugh out loud” moments in this short than I’ve in any other thus far (that I can think of!) A little parrot wants to be a sailor, which isn’t necessarily a funny premise (none of the sailor stuff is really funny) but, there’s some cute random gags that deserve a laugh. (7.5/10)
179. Rover’s Rival
The Looney Tune’s Theme (Merry Go Round Broke Down) starts playing at the beginning of shorts starting here. This short was kind of sad, and a little darker than most shorts thus far. A little S.O.B. dog torments an older dog named Rover and Porky. It’s a little too mean spirited at points and not really funny. Looney Tunes shorts will eventually wind up resembling this short, but this seemed like a failed attempt at that sort of humor. (7/10)
180. The Lyin’ Mouse (MM)
Just a retelling of that Aesop story about the Lion that spared the mouse’s life and how the mouse eventually repaid him. It was pretty mediocre (I love that word) and wasn’t really anything special. Just a run of the Mill cartoon. (5.5/10)
181. The Case of the Stuttering Pig
WOW. Not necessarily funny, but this short definitely had a very “cinematic” feel to it. It had good use of shadows, and had an interesting story. I figured based off the title, it would at least be interesting an I was right! Just a little mystery for Porky to solve. Vibes of Snow White, which was released the same year, no doubt influenced this. (8/10)
182. Little Red Walking Hood (MM)
Interesting, I liked it. It was exactly what you’d think, but it was done pretty well and “modernized”. The only weird thing is that Egghead (the prototype Elmer Fudd) keeps showing up for no apparent reason until the end where he knocks the Wolf out. Okay? It was more weird and bizarre than funny. Still kind of interesting. (7.5/10)
Also featuring: "Proto-Granny" who would, I guess
eventually go on to become "Granny" AKA, that old
lady who owns Tweety and Sylvester.
No joke, there's an article on "The Looney Tunes Wiki"
about this lady. Just to show there are people crazier than
me out there.
183. Porky’s Double Trouble
A lookalike frames Porky for robbery. It’s really nothing special, but I guess it was entertaining. I have nothing bad to say about it. Nothing particularly good either. Very middle of the road. Maybe a little above that. (5.5/10)
184. The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (MM)
Another overly dated 1930’s celebrity caricature brigade, only this time...they’re all birds! What. How crazy. Definitely laughing my head off at the lack of jokes, and over abundance of celebrities I couldn’t even begin to recognize (this one had less than usual...) Minus points for not having a Clark Gable bird...he’s an absolute staple of these cartoons, how could you leave him out?! (4/10)
185. Porky’s Hero Agency
Porky (who is now a little child that actually resembles the design most know him as) dreams of being a Greek hero (I believe it’s Hermès) to fight a Gorgon (the species that Medusa is) it was entertaining, but not particularly funny. I suppose it was interesting enough for me to do a little research into what was happening. Also, a few strange references...Popeye (owned by a different company), The Three Stooges and...well, a Nazi salute (Ugh). I guess the references were less dated than the previous cartoon, so props? (4/10)
186. September in The Rain (MM)
Boo! What a terrible cartoon. A stupid over-used premise (objects in a store come to life, this time it’s logos on boxes...which has been done before.) No jokes. Cringy racist caricatures. No thanks. At the very least, it’s very short. It ended really abruptly. Surprisingly, I looked into it, and I watched the full version...the short censored version is only 3 minutes long! Wow. Last cartoon of ‘37! (2/10)
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One can probably surmise that my lack of blue and pink in the color denotations, that I did not care for a majority of these shorts. Most of them while good, seem to edge in a direction where the creators of these shorts still haven't gotten the hang of what actually makes some of these cartoons "good," "bad," or "racist monstrosities."
I used the phrase "spirit breaker" earlier in the opening of this blog, and I'll elaborate: It just seems so frustrating that even after almost 200 shorts, they fail to get a grasp on not repeating the same boring schtick over and over again. I'm tired of dated celebrity caricatures, and objects in stores coming to life, and "a day in the life of some character with little personality" I want something a little more fresh, with a little more humor!
But, I digress. I know that Looney Tunes aren't the pinnacle of humor. I don't think even during the future Golden Era of Bugs Bunny and all the rest of the characters, I will laugh hardily at every joke. But, I at some point expect to see a little more effort than this.
Finally, I'll end by saying that I am not by any means a hater on "formulaic" story telling (i.e. where every story follows the same plot) but, it's more an issue with the formulas they've established in these cartoons so far being boring and not-entertaining. "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Well, these cartoons are broke, and they need fixing. I know the fixing is coming...but, when????
That's about all I can say right now...
- Alavem (All of Them)
