tavm Review of Porky in Wackyland

Porky in Wackyland (1938)

While Porky in Wackyland was the original, I sort of like Dough for the Do-Do better

[9/10 · 29 March 2008]

Having now watched Porky in Wackyland on YouTube months after seeing it's almost shot-for-shot identical remake, Dough for the Do-Do, on the first Looney Tunes Collection DVD, I have to admit: I sort of liked the remake better. There are two main reasons for this: the later color version had the "rubber band" sequence that was the most hilarious part of that version and it ended with Porky taking "the last of the Do-Dos" with him with the hundreds of other similar creatures saying "Yep, he got the last of the Do-Dos" and dancing their crazy dance after Porky left. Here, Porky just stays put as he gets astonished seeing all the other birds surround him suddenly as they say their line and that "band" (with Mel Blanc's unique "instrumentation") is nowhere to be found here. That said, Bob Clampett deserves all the credit for doing such a surreal cartoon not long after becoming a "supervisor" (director) for Leon Schlesinger. I'm guessing even Tex Avery hadn't yet reached such heights during this time for the same producer. And there were some gags that were deleted from the remake that added some enjoyment here like the prisoner saying, "Let me out!" constantly while just holding some bars in open space then getting beat up by a guard! There's another gag in the beginning of a fearsome creature about to scare Porky who just says "Boo" real quiet when he confronts the pig. With all that being said, if you haven't seen Dough for the Do-Do, I definitely recommend Porky in Wackyland.