Music and more with claudecat17 (aka Chris Davlin)!

I haven’t yet done a cartoon here on the new blog, so now’s as good a time as any. I used to post a cartoon each Sunday way back when, and maybe we’ll do that here too. Too early to tell so far, what with the readership in the negative numbers. Is that possible? Seems like it…

Anyway, this is one of the best Daffy ‘toons ever, and there are a lot to choose from, mostly from the 40s, before the budget cutting started with the rise of TV. There was a sweet spot from the war years right up through the end of the decade, with the mid-late 40s especially rich with timeless classics too numerous to list.

I became a ‘toonhead when preparing for the birth of our daughter back in 2001-2. It seemed obvious to me that any child should have access to a complete collection of Warner Brothers theatrical cartoons, so that became my new obsession. It took a while but I got ’em all, and along the way began learning about the various directors and writers, etc. that made the best ones so fantastic. These cartoons were in constant rotation on TV when I was a tot, and were my introduction to comedy – timing, reaction takes, the whole deal..

Even now I can look at a few seconds of many ‘toons and tell you the guy most responsible for its greatness, in most cases its director, the guy calling the shots, though individual animators had their styles too which might shine through the director’s master plan. Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones were the directors I liked best, with the obscure Arthur Davis a close third.

This particular cartoon was directed by the very conservative, rather boring Robert McKimson, an excellent animator who’d just been promoted to directing. You can tell he hasn’t started imposing his ideas yet because the animators are having a blast here, pretty much the opposite of McKimson’s style as he grew into directing.

He did most of the Foghorn Leghorn ‘toons, which were pretty good, but also many of the most boring and cookie cutter Tweety and Sylvesters, nobody’s favorite characters. Friz Freleng was equally responsible for that pairing, which must have been popular with someone – they made a shitload of those! The later ones especially are pretty much unwatchable…

But this one’s great in every way, for reasons I go into ad nauseam in the piece, which begins now… Not editing this at all, so ignore what doesn’t make sense. There was an audience!

You guessed it! It’s another Daffy ‘toon today, because I get to choose. I must be running out of ’em, right? Don’t be so sure… There are simply too many great Daffy cartoons for me to even think about saying I’m getting close to that point. And once again it’ll be “one of my favorites”.

That’s more true than usual this time, as I can vividly recall laughing my little kid ass off watching this one on good ol’ black and white TV at maybe age 6 or so. Daffy’s just such a wise-ass here, though sympathetic due to Porky being no fun at all, pretty much a jerk throughout. That spilled water gag, with Porky wondering if he’d wet the bed, seemed downright shocking at that age. Can they really do that on TV?!?

Many of you may remember this one. Every hotel in town is full due to the D.O.P.E. convention, but fortune shines on Porky at the last minute and he’s able to get a room. The catch? He’s gotta share it with Daffy, “a nice, l-l-l-levelheaded fella…” that just happens to carry a signed photo of himself to display proudly in his place of lodging. Mayhem naturally ensues.

And boy does it ensue quickly. Right away we have one of the more inane gags ever concocted for use by foul or swine. “Hymie”! Just six feet of invisible kangaroo is all, and a life of the party kinda marsupial, a maker of the rounds with the ever-sociable and manically energetic Daffster. Note that Hymie has a pouch. A minor gender faux pas in an otherwise ultra-realistic cartoon… That’s sarcasm, son. Pay attention boy!

Things never slow down from here in this fast-paced sequence of room-bound square pig versus roundly ridiculous duck gags. Daffy’s stupendously silly here, a veritable typhoon of inanity against whom Porky stands no chance (or does he?).

As for Porky, he really is unusually wet-raggish here. His sole moment of likability for me comes when he utters “You web-footed, n-n-no good, two-timing, d-d-double-crossing, d-d-double-dealing, unsanitary old snake in the grass!”, to which Daffy replies “Unsanitary?!?” before being unceremoniously dropped out the 30th floor window.

Vengeance seemingly belongs to Daffy, as he quickly reappears unharmed (of course) and proceeds to slyly return the favor. I love the bizarre twist ending, with Porky happily waving from the train, still in his night clothes. Even Daffy has to admit that  “Hey, that’s silly! … I should have bought him some magazines to read on the trip!” before hoo-hoo-ing zestfully about the room.

This one’s just plain brilliant is what it is, in my estimation at least. It rarely makes cartoon geek lists of best evers, but it should. Maybe that’s because it’s Robert McKimson directing, but as I’ve mentioned here before it took him a while to tame the animators to his milquetoast liking, something he freely admits. Here we see good ol’ Clampett-style Daffy, with smear technique and rubberiness galore, spittle flying, and crazed energy to burn.

The real star behind the scenes though is writer Warren Foster. He’s the one that came up with not only the premise but the gags, and they’re unusually great this time. You also have a fair amount of pop culture references (Hymie/Harvey, the Cu-camonga bit as often used on the Jack Benny radio program, etc.), but they work whether you get ’em or not.

So please enjoy this one, OK? Just beware of milk or juice or bacon shards being expelled from orifices unknown. I speak from experience here…

There you have it! It’s Friday, so if you’re at work just say fuck it and watch the cartoon. If questioned, you just tell them that these cartoons are among the best art of the 20th century. Threaten to fight them if they disagree. Right is on your side! You’ll be deep into a marathon of guilt free ‘toon abuse in no time.

Thanks for reading, possibly commenting, maybe even subscribing, which I only learned was a thing yesterday. Be the first! No prizes, just the pure joy that awaits you each day here. This is all totally free y’know… I do it purely out of love! I think I actually mean that! Holy crap!!!