The Village Smithy

The Village Smithy
Production company	Leon Schlesinger Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	December 5, 1936
Run time	7:40
Starring	Joe Dougherty Tedd Pierce
Narrated by	Earle Hodgins
Producer(s)	Leon Schlesinger
Music composed by	Carl W. Stalling
Animation	Cecil Surry Sid Sutherland
Director(s)	Fred Avery
Series navigation
← Previous	Next →
Title card
File:The Village Smithy title card.png

The Village Smithy is the eightieth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on December 5, 1936. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger and directed by Tex Avery.

A blacksmith orders his assistant Porky to give him a horseshoe, but his simple task is easier said than done.

Memorable quotes

Blacksmith: Listen, chief, take it easy! We got plenty of time. This cartoon ain't half over yet.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Narrator (voice only)	Earle Hodgins
Blacksmith	Tedd Pierce
Porky Pig	Joe Dougherty

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Blacksmith's shop
    • General store

Objects

• Anvil
• Rubber horseshoe
• Horseshoe

Production

Development

The short's plot is based on the 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Village Blacksmith". It also uses verses from that poem.

Music

The music was composed by Norman Spencer. It is the first Looney Tunes cartoon to use the "Porky Signature" theme, although it is a prototypical variation used exclusively for this short.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: December 5, 1936 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The MPAA certificate number is 2807.
• This short would feature one of the earliest uses of a gag where a character talks to the narrator, which later became a trademark for Tex Avery's cartoons.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • September 19, 2017: Warner Archive Collection releases Porky Pig 101 on DVD.