Porky's Railroad
| Porky's Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Production company | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date | August 7, 1937 |
| Run time | 7:00 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Billy Bletcher |
| Producer(s) | Leon Schlesinger |
| Music composed by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation | Joe D'Igalo Robert Bentley |
| Director(s) | Frank Tashlin |
| Series navigation | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Title card | |
| File:.png | |
Porky's Railroad is the ninety-first Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on August 7, 1937. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger, and directed by Frank Tashlin.
Porky is under threat when his superintendent advises him that his old engine would be replaced by a streamline train.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Porky: So you w-won't talk, eh? I'll sh-show you, you f-f-four-legged p-piece of hamburger.
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
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Locations
Objects
Vehicles
Production
Development
Aftermath
A colorized version of this short was produced during the Warner Bros.-Seven Arts era in the late 1960s, in order to make it appealing to contemporary viewers. Like a majority of black-and-white WB cartoons produced between 1935 to 1943, it was sent to be done by Color Systems Inc., and was retraced from a 16mm film master by the Sunset Productions library. Due to a low budget and time constraints, every other frame was only redraw, leaving only half of the cartoon's frame rate.[1][2]
Another colorized version was made, which was outsourced to CST Entertainment, Inc. in the early 1990s. Computer software was used to color the print without losing quality of the original.[2]
Music
The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: August 7, 1937 in theatres
Behind the scenes
- The MPAA certificate number is 8513.
- This short is available in the public domain, due to Seven Arts Productions failing to renew the copyright in 1965.
- The 15th Century Limited is a 2-2-2 engine (two leading wheels, two driving wheels, and two trailing wheels), while the 30th Century Limited is a 4-4-2 engine (four leading wheels, four driving wheels, and two trailing wheels). The wheel alignment of the Silver Fish is completely vague, although it appears to be modeled after designs from 1930s streamliner engines; compared to the old-fashioned steam trains of the former two.
- Some of Porky's speech when he pulls on the bull's tail is garbled. When played backwards, his words are "Toots old Gal. Don't pop your b-b-b..."[3]
- When this short aired on Nickelodeon, a scene where the Silver Fish knocks by a woodpile with a caricatured Black man, was removed due to a racially offensive proverb. This cut was present in all versions, including the two colorized prints.[4]
- In the redrawn color version, another scene with the Silver Fish going through a tunnel and turning it inside out was removed.[4]
- Additionally, a fake iris-out fade was sometimes added so that the short would end with Porky's train going into the finishing line, deleting the scene in which he becomes the conduction of the Silver Fish.[4] It was likely done to reduce airtime.
Errors
Legacy
- The 30th Century Limited train appears again in Porky's Picnic.
Home availability
- In the United States:
- November 14, 2006: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 on DVD.
- September 19, 2017: Warner Archive Collection releases Porky Pig 101 on DVD.
References
- ↑ Justin. (October 25, 2019) "50 Years of Colorized Looney Tunes". The Delbert Cartoon Report. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Looney Tunes (1936-1943)". The Colorized Cartoon Database. Retrieved from original on September 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Porky's Railroad (1937) - Hidden Audio" by CCCartoons. YouTube
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "The CENSORED Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Guide: P" The Internet Animation Database. Archived from original on September 2, 2017.
