Search - Porky Pig: Porky's Cafe [Slim Case] on DVD

God bless these cheap cartoon DVDs!

J. Alexander | Around town | 08/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Do you know what's so wonderful about these 99 cent DVDs? They just slap any old cartoon on there without caring a bit. They often put on cartoons that aren't available anywhere else. Both ALL THIS AND RABBIT STEW and JUNGLE JITTERS have been released on cheap videos. Both of those cartoons are banned from TV for being racially insensitive.
The cartoons on THIS collection include:

PORKY'S CAFE
Directed by Chuck Jones/ Warner Bros.
In this early Jones effort (1942), Porky Pig and Conrad Cat have trouble serving a somewhat bossy customer.

PORKY'S PRIZE PONY
Directed by Chuck Jones/ Warner Bros.
This is one of the slower WB cartoons. Still, it's very well-done.

ALI BABA BOUND
Directed by Bob Clampett/ Warner Bros.
This is a wacky Clampett classic, which includes gas-driven camels, a nutball with a bomb tyed over the top of his head and Porky treating us to the song, "She's the girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish".

CONFUSIONS OF A NUTZY SPY
Directed by Norm McCabe/ Warner Bros.
This is one of the best Norm McCabe cartoons. Which basically features a Nazi (or 'Nutzy') spy trying to throw a bomb, but Porky's dog continually bringing it back to the spy.

JOE GLOW, THE FIREFLY
Directed by Chuck Jones/ Warner Bros.
While the Disney inspiration is very obvious in this cartoon, this is a true masterpiece, about a firefly that has many problems walking all over the face of a human.

NOTES TO YOU
Directed by Friz Freleng/ Warner Bros.
This 1941 classic features Porky Pig, who has trouble falling asleep when an annoying cat outside sings various tunes on the fence. This was remade by Freleng in the late 1940s and he improved it quite a bit, replacing Porky Pig with Elmer Fudd and the annoying cat with Sylvester.

GAY GAUCHO
Directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising/ Van Beuren
This is an interesting twist in this collection. The only non-Warners cartoon in here is directed by Harman and Ising, the two who directed the very earliest WB cartoons. They left WB in 1933 (say, that rhymes) and stayed breifly at Van Beuren, before they moved to MGM. This classic features Brownie Bear, the already established Van Beuren character who Harman and Ising recreated in this cartoon to look a bit more like their character Bosko, (more on him in a second). This is an upbeat western cartoon that sort of resembles the first Merrie Melodies cartoon LADY, PLAY YOUR MANDOLIN.

THE BOOZE HANGS HIGH
Directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising/ Warner Bros.
One of the earliest Looney Tunes cartoons (the fourth, but who's counting?) This cartoon has the character Bosko, the first Looney Tunes star. The Bosko cartoons very much resemble the Disney cartoons of that time, but they are good enough to rival even the Disney's. This one has Bosko and a couple of drunk pigs singing, that's basically all there is to it.

If there is a single cartoon on here that you haven't seen, I suggest you buy it. The cartoons are great, and so is the price."

The Early Days of Porky Pig, and More

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 05/29/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Porky Pig episodes in this DVD are all from the early '40s, and from the Schlesinger Studios, with original music by Carl Stallings. Porky Pig made his first appearance in 1935, and used the voice of Joe Dougherty from 1935-1937, and the amazing Mel Blanc from 1937-1989. Some of these episodes show their age, but are still interesting for the animation aficionado. Though a few are known to have been colorized, all except for "Pigs in Polka" are shown in b&w. I find cartoons of early vintage fascinating as cultural markers. In many ways they show where we were at that time as a society very clearly, and make for interesting comparisons with contemporary life.
Total running time is 64 minutes.

1: "Porky's Caf?," 1942. Directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Rudy Levine.
Porky serves up the meals with a Rube Goldberg type machine to help him, while chef Conrad the Cat is preoccupied making pancakes.
2: "Porky's Prize Pony," 1941. Directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Ken Travis.
The pony (an early incarnation of Conrad the Cat) drinks some liniment that is 125% alcohol, which makes his performance at the racetrack a little erratic.
3: "Ali-Baba Bound," 1940. Directed by Robert Clampet, animated by Vive Risto.
Full of hilarious visuals, like Porky going to the U-Drive Rent-a-Camel, and many jokes like the old Los Angeles Brown Derby restaurant as the "Brown Turban," this has Ali-Baba and his Dirty Sleeves chasing Porky with all kinds of devilish schemes....and very up-to-date, there is even a suicide squad bomber, with a bomb strapped to his head.

4: "Confusions of a Nutsy Spy," 1943. Directed by Norman McCabe, animated by Izzy Ellis.
This is rather sepia colored, and features Bloodhound Eggbert helping Porky track down a spy who is a master of disguises.
5: "Pigs in Polka," 1943. Directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng.
This one is in Technicolor, and is adorable, and a telling of the wolf and the three pigs story. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject. The characters are all choreographed to Brahms' "Hungarian Dances."
6: "Joe Glow the Firefly," 1941. Directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Phil Monroe.
Life as viewed from a bug's perspective, where everything is massive by comparison to his size. Music is derived from Felix Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream."

7: "Notes to You," 1941. Directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng, animated by Manuel Perez.
Porky is driven nuts by a singing cat, who keeps him awake with a vast repertoire including "Figaro," "When Irish Eyes are Smiling," "Umbrella Man," and "Jeepers Creepers." The final ghost chorus of the cat's 9 lives sings a marvelous rendition of the Sextet from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor."
8: "Gay Gaucho," 1933. Directed by Rollin Hamilton & Tom McKimson, animated by Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising for the Van Beuren Studios.
Cubby Bear (who was later re-named Brownie Bear), is marvelous as he does a turn at being Valentino, singing and dancing, Latin style. Songs include "Quiereme Mucho." Cubby and the huge Pedro vie for the affections of Se?orita.
9: "The Booze Hangs High," 1930. Produced and directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising for Vitaphone Pictures, animated by Isadore "Friz" Freleng and Paul Smith, with music by Frank Marsales, using an adaptation of songs from the musical film "The Song of the Flame."
Presented with sepia tones, this one is very primitively drawn, but cute. The pigs find a bottle of booze in their trough, which results in a lot of dancing. Not politically correct in this day and age, but alcohol was often used as a comedic device in the early days of animation.
"

Ok the stars are from my son

Laurie Lewis | 08/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was at Wal-Mart and these Cartoon Craze DVDs were $1 so I decided to buy them for my son thinking he might like them. I bought this one and the Bugs Bunny dvd. Many of the shorts are ones I had never seen and are way older than what I have seen in the past and I found myself not really able to get into them. However, my son who is 2 years old really loves them! And he laughs hysterically at some parts. I know, there are probably better things for him to watch since these have some racial and sexual undertones in a few of the episodes. But he loves Bu-Bu Bunning (that's what he calls all Looney Tunes and any old cartoon he happens upon.
Don't be duped, though, these were $1. You might still be able to find them at Wal-Mart."