Porky's Hero Agency (1937)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Robert Clampett

Writers:

Release Date:

4 December 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Short | Comedy

Plot:

Porky is reading the myth of the Greek gorgon, who turned everyone she looked at into stone. Mother...

Plot Keywords:

Gorgon | Dream | Punctuation In Title | Three Wise Monkeys Spoof | Cartoon

Cast

Mel Blanc

...

Porky Pig (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the Emperor's fireside chat, the fireplace has no fire. In the next shot there is a fire, but only as a still image. For the rest of the scene the fire is fully animated.

Movie Connections:

References Popeye the Sailor (1933)

Soundtrack:

The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down

Dreaming of Wackyland

Bob Clampett, director of this cartoon, was one of the great cartoon directors that made Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies so great. His greatest strength was his ability to take images and ideas and stretch them endlessly and his great masterpiece, PORKY IN WACKYLAND is the great exemplar of that.

But here, in this short where Porky dreams of being an ancient Greek hero who fights the gorgon, we see that same sensibility. This is a riotous cartoon, full of puns both verbal and visual, and wild images. This would be, I feel, a great cartoon, except for one small flaw: it is all couched as a dream. But even with that, it is still excellent and a rarely seen cartoon. If you have a chance, don't miss it.