Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an anthropomorphic pig and a character in the Looney Tunes animated franchise. He is well known for his stuttering speech impediment and ending many cartoons wit the phrase, "That's all, folks!" He was the first cartoon character created by Warner Bros. to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts featuring the character. Even after he was supplanted by later characters, Porky continued to be popular with audiences, and more importantly, the Warners directors, who recast him in numerous everyman and sidekick roles. His voice was originated by Joe Dougherty, but is better remembered by his successor, Mel Blanc.
During the golden age of American animation, he appeared in a total of 153 animated short films, making him the second-most frequent character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts, behind Bugs Bunny's 167 shorts and ahead of Daffy Duck's 130 shorts.
Porky's protégé in Tiny Toon Adventures is Hamton J. Pig.
Character description
Porky is usually characterized as a happy-go-lucky individual. He is generally kind, cheerful, and exibits some innocent, child-like qualities to himself. He is also a shy person compared to others, but nonetheless remains mild-mannered. Despite his everyman position, Porky's behavior wildly varies by his appearances, ranging from being a simple-minded foil to a neurotic, sometimes ocassionally violent person; although, both extremes seem to only exist depending on how sympathetic he can get.
He is often seen as a straight man for some of the other characters, who tend to have a much brasher personality compared to him. In particular, he is often paired with Daffy Duck, who had a zany demeanour during the late 1930s and 1940s, and served as his foil during that period. When Daffy adopted an egotistical personality in the 1950s (under the direction of Chuck Jones), Porky served as his more competent sidekick.
Porky's most distinctive trait is his stutter, for which he sometimes compromises by substituting certain words; for instance, "What's going on?" might be "What's guh-guh-guh-guh— ... what's happening?" In other examples, he would also replace a much simpler word with one that is more complicated than what is meant to be said.
Appearances
TV series
Movies
- Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies
- The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
- The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
- Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales
- Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island
- Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
- Space Jam
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action
- Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
- Space Jam: A New Legacy
- The Day the Earth Blew Up (announced)
Shorts
Comics
Video games
- Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday
- Looney Tunes
- Looney Tunes Collector
- Looney Tunes Racing
- Looney Tunes Space Race
- Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem
Theme parks
Biography
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Original Cartoons
The Early Years
In his debut appearance, I Haven't Got a Hat, he attended as a young student and recited the poems Paul Revere's Ride and The Charge of the Light Brigade in class (albeit strained by his excessive stutter). He was the fellow classmate of a short-lived star, Beans the cat, along with several other who appeared like Little Kitty, the twin puppies Ham and Ex, and Oliver Owl.
The Daffy Days
Playing Sidekick
We're All a Little Looney
Come On and Slam! And Welcome to the Jam!
Duck Dodgers of the 24th and One Half Century
Porky Gets Modern
Going Down the Rabbit Hole
Porky Gets Retro
It's Hard Hat Time
Porky Sells Out
Development
Porky Pig was created by Friz Freleng for the Merrie Melodies short, I Haven't Got a Hat, after studio head Leon Schlesinger assigned him and Jack King to do a cartoon version of Hal Roach's Our Gang films, and the two created an ensemble consisting Beans, Porky, Oliver Owl, Ham and Ex, and Little Kitty.[1] The cast was meant to be a replacement to Warner's previous cartoon lead Buddy, who originally replaced Bosko after the departure of Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, but was less popular.[1] Freleng named the pig after two of his childhood friends, brothers "Porky" and "Piggy".[1]
Joe Dougherty was hired by Freleng to voice Porky in order to move away from the falsetto-type voice that was commonly used in cartoons at the time, in addition to Dougherty being an actual stutterer.[1] As told in an interview by Joe Adamson, Freleng claimed to have originated the pig's stutter, stating, "I used the stuttering because I thought it would give him (Porky Pig) something different, some character."[2] However, Dougherty was let go by Warner Bros. in 1937 for his uncontrollable stutter, after voicing the character for two years, and additional lines were done by Count Catelli in response.[3] Freleng stated that, "When he delivered his lines, he used up excessive amounts of soundtrack film since he couldn't control his stammerings. It just became too expensive to keep him so we finally let him go."[4] Mel Blanc took his place in Porky's Duck Hunt, after winning an audition to voice the character. Blanc continued to make use of Porky's stutter, but greatly reduced it for comedic effect.[2]
Gallery
- Main article: Porky Pig/Gallery
Toys and merchandise
Behind the scenes
- Since his debut, Porky is the oldest continuing Looney Tunes character.
In popular culture
WARNING: The following section contains content that may be seen as mature or offensive to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. |
- Porky (voiced by Mel Blanc) made a special appearance in a 1939 blooper reel by Warner Bros., Breakdowns of 1939, where he is seen trying his best not to swear after smacking his thumb with a hammer. In several of his "takes," Porky attempts to cry out "Son of a bi-bi-bi..." before quietly simmering his phrase down, and "Oh, son of a bi-bi-, son of a bi-bi-, son of a bi-bi-bi-... gun!" In the last "take," Porky turns to the camera and says "Ha-ha-ha! You thought I was gonna say 's-s-son of a bitch,' didn't ya?!"[5]
- In the 1972 film What's Up, Doc?, during the final scene where Harold and Judy kiss each other at an airplane, a closing sequence of Porky saying "That's all, folks!" plays after Bugs and Elmer's musical number in the similarly-titled What's Up Doc?
- In "Time," an episode of the British sitcom The Young Ones, Rick wants Neil to lick tea he knocked out off the floor and onto the ground, although Neil objects because it has sugar. Getting angrier, Rick further demands that he cleans it up by licking it and calls him a pig and then Porky, which Neil finds offensive because pigs are smart like dolphins, so sarcastically, Rick wants to know what scientific contributions they have made, did Porky the Pig create the internal combustion engine?
- In The Simpsons episode "Bart the Murderer," Fat Tony bets against a racehorse called "That's All Folks," the catchphrase commonly associated with Porky.
- In the Seinfeld episode "The Bris," Kramer says, "That's all folks," after accusing a doctor of having a pig man.
- In the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire, Daniel, a voice actor who had issues with his Tweety-like character smoking, quit and told his boss to "piss off" while mimicking Porky's stutter.
- In "Episode Three" (series 7) of the BBC Radio 4 sketch program Dead Ringers, BBC News reports on the Cartoon Animal Bill of Rights affecting Shaggy Rogers from Scooby-Doo and Officer Dibble from Top Cat, with reporter Michael Burke signing off with a "That's all, folks!" in the voice of Porky.
- In the Family Guy episode "Turban Cowboy," Peter and Muhammad tune in to watch the end of Muslim Looney Tunes, where a Muslim Porky appears and says that as a pig, he is very dirty and should not be touched by humans.
- In the Batwoman episode "Fair Skin, Blue Eyes," young Ryan visits Galaxy Comics, with Looney Tunes comics in a stand at the front, which includes Looney Tunes #239 with Porky on the cover.
- In the Velma episode "Private Velmjamin," Fred wants to return a nativity miniature model with the Looney Tunes to Father O'Rourke, after Fred briefly became Catholic. Elmer is baby Jesus, Sylvester is Joseph, Granny is Mary, and Daffy, Porky, and Bugs are the three wise men.
Full House
- "Middle Age Crazy," "Fogged In," "Working Mothers, "Pal Joey," "El Problema Grande de D.J.," "Blast from the Past," "Nerd for a Day," "Joey & Stacy and... Oh, Yeah, Jesse," "Those Better Not Be the Days," "The I.Q. Man," "Terror in Tanner Town," and "Happy New Year:" A 1986 Looney Tunes poster was added to Joey's bedroom in the second season onwards, featuring Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Sylvester, Road Runner, and Tweety.
- "Star Search:" Joey makes Michelle laugh, which resolves his feelings of not reaching his 10 year goal by promising her he will continue his comedy, by paraphrasing Porky's catchphrase, in character, "That ain't all folks!"
Robot Chicken
- Main article: Robot Chicken
- "8 Carrot:" Porky is the DJ at Bugs and Elmer's Rap Battle.
- "Immortal:" In "Porky's," the titular strip club is mistaken for a place that Porky owns. Bugs and Daffy walk into it, before leaving and reentering.
- "Snarfer Image:" At the end of "Wooper", Porky Pig does his famous "That's all Folks!" before being shot in the head, presumably by Elmer.
Notes
- ↑ In The Case of the Stuttering Pig.
- ↑ Widower to an unnamed woman in Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas.
- ↑ In Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Beck, Jerry. Audio commentary for I Haven't Got a Hat on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 DVD set (2005); also citing Freleng's autobiography.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516729-0. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ↑ Korkis Jim ([[May 31], 2019). "Who Was Count Cutelli?". Cartoon Research. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1991). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (1991 edition), page 114. Facts on File, Inc., New York NY. ISBN 0-8160-2252-6.
- ↑ Breakdowns of 1939 (Warner Bros., 1939). Internet Archive.
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