Porky's Double Trouble (1937) User Reviews

Strange Cartoon - Almost All Drama

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 13 January 2007]

I'm no connoisseur of cartoons meaning I haven't seen thousands of them, but this was a big surprise to me because this was not really funny nor does appear to be made to be funny. It's more like a seven-minute crime story that is animated.

Public Enemy Number One escapes from jail, sees that Porky Pig, a dorky bank teller, looks just like him so he kidnaps him. The scheme is to pretend to be Porky so he can go to bank and then rob it. The ensuing gun-play is astounding.

Although not humorous, this was fascinating. The black-and-white artwork is tremendous and the story very interesting. Even the ending is very strange for a cartoon.

Females prefer the roughest pigs . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 25 March 2015]

. . . even if they're transvestites at heart, PORKY'S DOUBLE TROUBLE instructs us. It turns out that Public Enemy #1 is an identical twin to the stuttering Worst National Bank teller, Porky Pig. After this "Killer" kidnaps Porky and loots the bank, the police rely on Porky's Peckish secretary, Petunia, to differentiate between Porky and Killer. Since she's already been man-handled by Killer-posing-as-Porky (in the full view of the bank's customers), it's not hard for Petunia to make this distinction. (As pigs have five o'clock shadows--who knew?--it is sort of strange that no one notices the difference between the freshly-shaved Porky and the stubby Killer.) However, instead of asking her gainfully employed boss if he's been injured during his grueling ordeal as a crime victim, Petunia walks Killer into police custody arm-in-arm, promising to save herself for him during his next stretch in the clink. Porky may be a ham, but Petunia is lower than Spam.

Warner Bros. animation meets the gangster world

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 2 September 2007]

With the rise of gangster movies in the '30s, it was inevitable that cartoons would spoof them. While the most famous examples involved Bugs Bunny making mincemeat of the most witless ruffians, there was also this somewhat perplexing story of Porky Pig having a run-in with porcine hoodlum Public Enemy #1.

In the cartoon, Public Enemy #1 (that sounds more like a rap star) escapes from jail and discovers that Porky Pig - employed by the Worst National Bank - resembles him exactly. So, while I could predict most of the sorts of things that were going to happen, then ending was a real surprise! I noticed that they backed off on humor for this cartoon and made it slightly more serious. Maybe since it was kind of a place-holder between the really great ones (1937 also saw the release of Daffy Duck's debut "Porky's Duck Hunt"), they decided not to spend excess energy on it. But no matter, I thought that it was worth seeing. Petunia Pig may not have starred in very many cartoons, but her few appearances were some neat ones. Of course, my favorite gangster-themed cartoons from Warner Bros. featured Bugs Bunny messing with the thugs.

"Now I look like the squirt!"

[slymusic · 27 May 2009]

Directed by Frank Tashlin, "Porky's Double Trouble" is a pretty good Warner Bros. cartoon starring Porky Pig, Petunia, and Porky's alter ego "Killer", who escapes from prison and substitutes for the friendly, bashful Porky at his bank teller job.

My two favorite moments from this cartoon: Killer emerges from his Mae West disguise and gives his gang a good SOCK, warning them to quit fooling around with dames. And watch Porky's facial expressions as he suspiciously observes a dog making a deposit and then realizes he's been duped!

"Porky's Double Trouble" features some great voice acting from Mel Blanc, who supplies the voices of Porky and his dastardly double. Catch this cartoon on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5 Disc 4.

Certainly different

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 10 September 2015]

"Double Trouble" is a black-and-white cartoon from almost 80 years ago. Frank Tashlin directed this one just like many other cartoons. The writer George Manuell is not too well-known, but he had 10 prolific years as well, sadly completely disappeared afterward. "Sadly" because this one here is actually an interesting movies. Not a lot of jokes in this one, but some drama elements, crime elements and even some film noir. Porky sure is an unlucky fella. Not only was he going to lose his popularity to Bugs and Daffy soon, but here he also has a lookalike and that one is a truly evil criminal. Well.. as evil as it gets for a cartoon. And then poor Porky even loses the girl. This one is mostly worth a watch for how different it is compared to other cartoons from around that era, so I was a bit generous with the voting, not really because of the story. All in all, a solid watch. Recommended.

Animated crime drama with Porky Pig

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 1 January 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

'Porky's Double Trouble' is a very different cartoon for Frank Tashlin, Porky Pig and Looney Tunes in general. Due to it being more dramatic and film-noir-like than the usual norm and focusing far less on the comedy, this is definitely more serious than funny. People may not like this change of pace, but while it is hard not to miss the humour 'Porky's Double Trouble' handles this change of pace really well and it's pretty fascinating.

Didn't think that Petunia was anywhere near as interesting as Porky and the villain or the dynamic between those two characters and the ending is a bit strange.

However, the voice acting is solid with Mel Blanc showing as ever why he was the infinitely more preferable voice for Porky and his multifaceted talents as a voice actor. Sara Berner also fares well.

Animation is excellent and has that crime drama atmosphere. It's fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail.

Carl Stalling's music score as always is outstanding. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

The cartoon's more dramatic tone is executed in a way that's taut, suspenseful and full of tension and energy. Porky as ever is endearing and the villain injects a lot of menace.

Overall, very good indeed even though a change of pace. 8/10 Bethany Cox