Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney
Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character
created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the
animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little
pig. Even after he was supplanted by later characters, Porky continued to be
popular with moviegoers and, more importantly, the Warners directors, who
recast him in numerous everyman and sidekick roles.
He is known for his signature line at the end of each short, "Th-th-th-that's
all folks!" The slogan had also been used by both Bosko and Buddy and even
Beans at the end of every Looney Tunes cartoon. In contrast, the Merrie
Melodies series used the slogan: So Long, Folks! until the late 1930s when
it was replaced with the same one used on the Looney Tunes series.. He is the
oldest continuing Looney Tunes character.
Porky's most distinctive trait is a severe stutter, for which he sometimes
compensates by replacing his words; for example, "What's going on?" might become
"What's guh-guh-guh-guh—...what's happening?" In the ending of many Looney
Tunes cartoons, Porky Pig bursts through a bass drum head, and his farewell line
"That's all folks!" becomes "Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-... That's all, folks."
Porky Pig would appear in 153 cartoons in the Golden Age of American animation.
Early films The character was introduced in the
short I Haven't Got a Hat, directed by Friz Freleng. Studio head Leon
Schlesinger suggested that Freleng do a cartoon version of the popular Our Gang
films. Porky only has a minor role in the film, but the fat little stuttering
pig quickly became popular. Porky's name came from two brothers who were
childhood classmates of Freleng's, nicknamed "Porky" and "Piggy".
Since Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising had left the studio in 1933, taking the
studio's star character Bosko with them, Looney Tunes had been kept afloat by
cartoons featuring the bland Buddy. Porky's introduction ushered Buddy out
the door and pointed to things to come. Tex Avery was hired to the studio in
1935, and his film Gold Diggers of '49 reused much of the cast from I Haven't
Got a Hat, albeit in wildly different roles. Porky transitioned from a shy
little boy to an immensely fat adult. Though he was still in a supporting
role, Porky got most of the laughs. The directors realized they had a star on
their hands. Porky shared his stutter with the voice
actor who originally played him, Joe Dougherty, who actually did have a
stuttering problem. Because Dougherty could not control his stutter, however,
production costs became too high as his recording sessions took hours. The
versatile Mel Blanc replaced Dougherty in 1937. Blanc continued the stutter;
however, it was harnessed for a more precise comedic effect. This is parodied
in A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court, where Bugs Bunny struggles to
pronounce the word "porcupine", which Porky pronounces with no trouble.
Porky's Duck Hunt was released in 1937, and Blanc officially became the
permanent voice of Porky until his death in 1989. In later interviews, Blanc
often said that he intended Porky's stutter to be suggestive of the grunting
of actual pigs. Porky is currently voiced by Bob Bergen.
Clampett's Porky Porky starred in dozens of films in the
late 1930s. The directors still did not have a grasp on the character, however;
his appearance, age, and personality all varied from picture to picture. Several
such cartoons show Porky as a child with parents: father Phineas and an unnamed
mom. Bob Clampett finally pinned Porky down, making him a permanent young
adult: cuter, slimmer, smarter, and eventually less of a stutterer. Also,
some cartoons show Porky as an antagonist. Eventually, he settled into
a kind persona. Clampett's Porky was an innocent traveler, taking in the wonders
of the world—and in Clampett's universe, the world is a very weird place indeed.
This principle is perhaps best demonstrated in Porky in Wackyland, a
film that sends Porky on a quest to find the last of the surreal Dodos, Yoyo
Dodo. This cartoon was selected for preservation by the National Film
Registry in 2000. In his commentary as part of the 1970s
documentary film, Bugs Bunny: Superstar, Clampett discussed the fact that his
early version of Tweety Bird had to be redesigned after his first picture
because the producers thought he "looked naked". Meanwhile, as Clampett noted,
nothing was ever made of the fact that "all those years, Porky never wore any
pants!" However, Porky was seen with pants in Porky's Badtime Story its color
remake, Tick Tock Tuckered and Brother Brat.
Porky as a sidekick Porky's post at the pinnacle of the
Warners' pantheon was short-lived however. In 1937, Avery pitted Porky
against a plucky black duck who soon was christened Daffy and who became the
studio's biggest star. In fact, Friz Freleng satirized this phenomenon when
he directed You Ought To Be in Pictures. The film features Daffy convincing Porky
to quit his job at Warner Bros. to find better-paying work elsewhere. In turn,
Porky convinces studio head Leon Schlesinger to release him from his
contract. After a highly unsuccessful foray into the real world, Porky returns
happily to the studio that created him. To this day, Porky remains as a loyal
sidekick while Daffy refuses to be a second banana to Bugs.
Porky always remained a sentimental favorite of the Warner directors. His
mild-mannered nature and shy demeanor made him the perfect straight man for
zanier characters such as Daffy. He still starred in a few solo cartoons as
well, such as Frank Tashlin's Swooner Crooner.
Other cartoons dumbed Porky down and cast him as a duck hunter after Daffy,
largely paralleling the Elmer Fudd/Bugs Bunny pairings. Chuck Jones perfected
the Porky-as-straightman scenarios, pairing the pig with Daffy Duck in a
series of film parodies such as Drip-Along Daffy, Duck Dodgers in the
24½th Century, Deduce, You Say!, and Robin Hood Daffy. Jones also paired
Porky with Sylvester in a series of cartoons in the late 1940s and early
1950s, in which Porky plays the curmudgeonly owner of the cat and
remains clueless that Sylvester is constantly saving him from homicidal
mice, space aliens, and other threats. Later years
Porky was used in regular rotation in television syndication beginning in the
1960s, as was the rest of the Looney Tunes co-stars. A Saturday morning
cartoon, The Porky Pig Show, ran from 1964 to 1967. In 1971, he starred in
another show, Porky Pig and Friends. Both of these programs were collections
of old theatrical shorts. Porky also appeared in all the classic film-feature
compilations in the 1970s and 1980s. Another such collection was the 1986
film, Porky Pig in Hollywood, which ran in art and college theaters. In the
1990s animated series Tiny Toon Adventures, Porky appears as the mentor
of Hamton J. Pig. Porky also made cameos on Animaniacs and Histeria.
Porky has a cameo at the end of the 1988 Disney/Amblin film Who Framed Roger
Rabbit, where, paired with Disney's Tinkerbell, has the duty of closing the
movie with his famous line "Th-Th-Th- That's All Folks!". It was the final
time Porky Pig was voiced by Mel Blanc. Porky is the star of the Super NES video
game Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday. He also made appearances in the games,
Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Looney Tunes: Marvin Strikes Back!, Looney
Tunes: Space Race, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and The Bugs Bunny Birthday
Blowout. Porky appears in the movie Space Jam and
collaborates with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Sylvester in
challenging the Nerdlucks to a basketball game. He tries to get Michael
Jordan's autograph when the basketball star is first recruited to join the team
and later plays for the Toon Squad in the game itself, scoring one basket.
Porky tries to end the movie with his famous line but is prevented through the
combined efforts of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the Nerdlucks.
In the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Porky makes a cameo appearance
alongside Speedy Gonzales, where they both lament their politically incorrect
status. At the end of the movie, Porky tries to say his classic line, but
stutters so much, the lights are turned off around him as the studio closes for
the night; so an irritated Porky simply says, "Go home, folks."
Porky appears as a toddler version of himself in Baby Looney Tunes, albeit
only in the show's musical numbers. Petunia functioned as the show's more
major pig character. Porky appears as the "Eager Young Space
Cadet" in the animated television series Duck Dodgers.
Porky has a descendent in Loonatics Unleashed named Pinkster Pig. Pinkster
had been an old friend of Danger Duck, but became a villain when he was adopted
by Stoney and Bugsy. Porky also appears in most episodes of
Cartoon Network's animated series The Looney Tunes Show, voiced here by Bob
Bergen. He is still friends with Daffy Duck and often sucked into Daffy's
schemes. He is also Bugs' nervous, fall-guy buddy, similar to their
relationship in classic comic books. It is also revealed in the show that in his
high school years he was a jock who bullied Daffy.
Porky appears in the DTV movie Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run.
"Blooper" A very short black-and-white cartoon was
made in 1938 as part of a Warner Bros. blooper reel. It was shown on the Warner
Bros. 50th Anniversary TV show. Porky is shown doing some carpentry work,
pounding nails, when he smacks his thumb with the hammer. Grimacing in pain, he
cries, "Oh, son of a bi-bi-, son of a bi-bi-, son of a bi-bi-bi-... gun!" He
then turns to the camera and says "Ha-ha-ha! You thought I was gonna say
's-s-son of a bitch', didn't ya?!" This short, so-called "blooper" can also
be found on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 of 2006, under the
title Porky Pig Breakdowns of 1939, and on an Each Dawn I Die DVD box set, also
released in 2006. Though the "blooper" was made a year before Gone with the
Wind famously used the word "damn", due to the Motion Picture Production Code
the "blooper" wasn't shown publicly until the aforementioned special, which
by that point FCC regulations softened enough for the word "bitch" to be used
on TV. Reception
Porky was ranked number 47 on TV Guide's list of top 50 cartoon characters. He
was shown on one of that issue's two covers in a crossover scene with Duck
Dodgers and The Powerpuff Girls. = Notable cartoons=
See also Porky Pig filmography I Haven't Got A Hat
Plane Dippy Porky's Duck Hunt
Porky in Wackyland Swooner Crooner
Kitty Kornered The Wearing of the Grin
Corn on the Cop See also
The Golden Age of American animation Piggy
References = Bibliography=
External links