PORKY PIG: AN APPRECIATION

As a kid growing up (and as an adult as of this writing) I was a Warner Brothers Cartoon guy. No Disney for me--sappy, sanctimonious and way too square. Tom and Jerry just weren't funny. As for Hannah-Barbara, everything was C- material except the Flinstones, which I enjoyed but always considered B to B plus stuff at best. But virtually all of the Warner Brothers cartoons were, to my mind, A list stuff (except possibly Sylvester and Tweety which I always found a little tedious).

Picking a favorite WB Cartoon character is as pointless as picking a favorite Marx Brother since they all represent some different facet of human nature. Waggish though he is, Bugs' instinct for survival is a real and palpably felt concern--rabbits are, after all, harmless and vulnerable which is the reason Bugs's swagger and ability to foil everyone in every situation is so satisfying. As for Daffy Duck, he is as short-sighted, ego-driven, humorless (his 'daffiness' reads more as mental instability, a Tourettes-ishm, nervous kind explosivness ), touchy, self-important and ill-informed as our current President. Then there's Porky Pig, who I always felt a certain sympathy for. For while Porky is priggish and not above being a tad superior to his fellow anthropomorphic friends, he is also gentle and oddly vulnerable. His world view is innocent, unlike Bugs or Daffy's. He displays no violent or cruel tendencies and is unwilling to participate in activities that are illegal or immoral. When a hitchhiker--Daffy--tells him to drive faster, Porky's annoyed response is "I'm no speed demon."

As a child, I was happy that Porky got his own 'show' in the after school slot, an hour devoted solely to cartoons featuring him. The intro and outro credits--with songs by Barbara Cameron--are posted above. I hadn't seen these since age 12/13 but was not surprised, upon finding them on Youtube, to see that I remembered every lyric. Note that Bugs Bunny is conspicuously left out, which suggests either a contract dispute or perhaps a backstage dislike between the characters (a la William Frawley and Vivian Vance).

 Subscribe in a reader