094 Porky's Picnic

Title: Porky's Picnic
Studio: Warner Bros.
Date: 7/15/39
Credits:
Supervision
Robert Clampett
Animation
Robert Cannon - Vive Risto
Musical Direction
Carl W. Stalling
Series: Looney Tunes
Running time (of viewed version): 6:59

Synopsis: Porky asks Petunia to the go to the park, and some neighbor baby (or maybe it's her own hellish drop) horns in on it to give them trouble.




















Comments: Porky starts by looking into the camera to stutter at us. The local baby's name is Pinky; he has Sniffles's voice. He's a violent little sociopath, like so many cartoon foils. They're ultimately not funny in the long run when they are simply psychopaths without provocation; the ones that survived had to be provoked most of the time (Woody, I'm looking at you). Porky tells the story of the three bears; not sure if that makes this a three bears cartoon... Sign: "Looney Tunes - A Site For Sore eyes - At Community Hall". Did they have hammocks in parks for general use? A park with a zoo in it; is this Central Park, or was there that kind of setup in California somewhere? Going to the park was going through the wilds, not through a dense city like New York. Brownface gag. I like the title background, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to represent a specific deco object or not. This cartoon has too much bopping along. Clampett's cartoons in general have this bopping motion much of the time. It is usually inappropriate. I like the bit about the peroxide blonde. This cartoon is more about editing and violence than it is about funny drawings; being limited to three pigs for more than half the cartoon wasn't helpful in making interesting drawings. Unlike the Popeye title, this cartoon teaches you to always (or at least sometimes) sock a baby, as that's the only time the violence doesn't seem cruel and capricious.