Jack King's last effort for Schlesinger's studio is in a style and combination of genres that would not be used again. It is a good mixture of comedy and thrills as Porky and his monkey assistant try to move the furniture before the house falls into the sea. There are some interesting point-of-view shots, some real efforts at scariness as Porky almost falls into the sea, but the jokes are a touch too standard in their execution to make this better than good; it would take the absurdist tastes of Tex Avery and Bob Clampett to give Termite Terrace its own true voice.
Nor would the cartoons ever be seriously scary ever again. Scary cartoons would survive, most notably at Columbia, where efforts such as THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL would be deservedly Oscar-nominated and annual Hallowe'en movies with a real edge would survive well into the 1940s. But at Scheslinger's studio, it would be about jokes from here on in.
Nor would the cartoons ever be seriously scary ever again. Scary cartoons would survive, most notably at Columbia, where efforts such as THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL would be deservedly Oscar-nominated and annual Hallowe'en movies with a real edge would survive well into the 1940s. But at Scheslinger's studio, it would be about jokes from here on in.