Release date: February 29th, 1936
Series: Looney Tunes
Director: Jack King
Starring: Tommy Bond (Beans), Joe Dougherty (Porky), Billy Bletcher (Soldiers, Enemy, General Hardtack)
Something you don’t see everyday—a cartoon released on February 29th. Jack King’s first official cartoon prominently featuring Porky (he made a very small cameo in Hollywood Capers). Jack King would only direct a handful of Porky cartoons, and they’re effectively disconcerting, strange, and downright off-putting. At the same time, they’re fascinating because of that. We don’t really get any of that offbeat mood here. Instead, Beans and Porky are soldiers in the midst of the Great War. They’re sent to rescue their hostage general, but the obviously unsafe environment makes that task quite a challenge.
If the title isn’t an obvious indication as to what the cartoon entails, the opening shot of bombs exploding amuck solidifies our understanding immediately. I already love the lighting of the explosions reflecting off the fence, very moody. While King isn’t as cinematographic as, say, Frank Tashlin, he certainly is more ambitious with his camera angles and staging than Friz Freleng or even Tex Avery. A closeup of a bomb exploding in the dirt transitions to a shot of silhouettes charging forward. Elsewhere, a dog blows his bugle, interrupted by a bomb. The bomb explodes and he now lies on the ground, injured, weakly blaring out “Taps”. Great, snappy timing.
Some more explosions and violence just for the hell of it. A cannon is extended, targeting a dog perched inside a chimney and shooting below. The perspective on the cannon is great, a lovely curved shot as a dog pops out and conks the other dog on the head with a mallet, who slumps over. Fatal cartoon violence!
Elsewhere, a horse is desperately attempting to weave in and out of a barrage of bullets. A particularly threatening bullet follows him closely, tearing his backpack and clothes to shreds and attempting to do the same ritual to his metal helmet. The bullet weasels its way under and propels the helmet upwards, shredding a hole right in the middle of it. Animation is quick, fast, and exhilarating. The hat snaps back down to its rightful owner with such force that the horse gets himself stuck inside the helmet, the helmet acting like body-fitting handcuffs.
Nevertheless, the horse manages to seek refuge in a crumbling building, shutting the door with his foot. No matter-the bullet shoots right through the door and explodes almost everything in sight. Lovely, rubbery, smooth animation as the bullet thins out and turns into a snake-like saw, tearing the helmet restraint off of the horse, who’s ducking. The bullet zips away, and buys the horse enough time to gallop over to a shelf full of bullets. Now, the horse drags over part of a broken piano (not unlike the Harman-Ising days), the mallets hitting the bullets and firing them off. Unfortunately for the horse, a spare bullet crashes right behind him and explodes. A Looney Tunes staple as we see the angel of the horse floating carelessly in heaven, strumming Yankee Doodle Dandy on a lyre. Death, always a good punchline!
Another collection of gags as the soldiers engage in the fight. A particularly dopey dog with a prominent overbite fires a pop gun, the cork flying back and smacking him right between the eyes. Meanwhile, a dog shooting a machine gun trembles from the impact as he slowly walks away. Back to the overbite dog, shooting again and this time pulling his helmet over his face for protection. Just as he believes he’s outsmarted himself, he pulls the helmet back up, just in time to be pinged once more (a gag parallel to Porky’s trouble with a rubber horseshoe in The Village Smithy).
The stuttering dog from Into Your Dance and Hollywood Capers pulls the pin out of a hand grenade and mistakenly tosses the pin instead. The impact of the explosion sends the dog flying into the air. Conveniently, a first aid truck happens to be trucking on by. The driver scoops up the dog in a net and dumps him carelessly into the back of the truck.
Porky’s turn for the spotlight. He whistles as a signal to his soldier buddies, and they all dive into the war zone. Smart of his buddies to jump back into the trench, leaving Porky alone to his oblivious self. He crawls forward on his hands and knees, visibly wary. A famous JackKing hat take as his helmet flies into the air in surprise at the sound of a distant explosion. He tugs at his collar, sweat beading his face. He tiptoes forward...
And immediately flies back into the trench, right inside of their base (a great transition between the scenes as his body hurtling forward wipes the screen). He attempts to dive under a bunk bed for shelter (occupied by Beans), but instead breaks the bed thanks to his weight.
Beans wakes up and scratches his head in befuddlement. He shrugs it off, jumping out of bed and dragging the cowardly porcine by the feet. Porky rises to his feet as Beanspats him on the shoulder reassuringly—“Take it easy, Porky ol’ boy! Take it easy!” Porky’s not one for the war life as he stutters “Phooey! I wish I’d-a stayed on the farm!” A fellow soldier, a snarky hippo, pops his head up from his bunk and chides “Is mama’s little man afraid?”
Just as Porky’s about to assert that no, mama’s little man is NOT afraid, the sound of a nearby explosion interrupts his confident façade. He cowers under a table while the surrounding soldiers mock him, all singing “You’re in the Army Now” (including vocals provided by a random duck). Porky shudders audibly at the thought. Beans orders Porky to snap out of it, and helps himself to spoonfuls of Beans, Porky cautiously peering out from beneath the table.
Elsewhere, a bird flies amongst the fire, inevitably getting shot and spiraling towards the ground, right into the trench. It drags itself inside, where Porky and Beans are having a hearty meal of baked beans. Exhausted, the bird collapses right in front of the duo. Beans notices a scroll lodged in the bird’s helmet and pulls it out. It reads: AM BEING HELD PRISONER BY ENEMY IN OLD FARMHOUSE. SEND HELP — GEN. HARDTACK”.
Right away, Beans drags Porky along as they race out of the trench. Beans wastes no time boarding a motorcycle, leaving Porky in the dust. Speedy, quick animation as Beans practically runs Porky over, tossing him into the sidecar. The speed is to be commended—it actually conveys a sense of urgency and exhilaration. It seems Tex’s knack for speed as demonstrated in Gold Diggers of ‘49 is finally rubbing off. Porky struggles to keep his hat from flying away in the wind.
An anthropomorphized bullet has its sights set on Beans and Porky. A lovely overhead shot as it watches them speed by, hurtling straight after. The sense of speed is heightened even more, a tame parallel to Tex’s speed in Gold Diggers. Lovely, dynamic shots as they fly past curves and weave through trees, even running right into a tree that separates the motorcycle and the sidecar.
Regardless, Beans and Porky reunite as they fly over the battlefield, their transportation falling beneath them. The bullet still whizzes after them, and the two dive into a hole for cover. The bullet explodes, yet Porky and Beans pop out unscathed like whack-a-moles in the distance. A lovely visual and great use of cartoon physics as the two physically lift up their hole and carry it a few feet, transplanting it back into the ground and ducking once more as another explosion endangers them.
Seemingly alone, bullet nowhere in sight, Beans and Porky dash to a crumbling building, both peering inside. General hardtack is being tortured by his captors, bound up by ropes. One of the captors lights a candle under his feet and gives him the hot foot, forcing him to talk. Beans comments “That’s General Hardtack!”, and with some quick thinking he ties a spool of barbed wire to a nearby rocket.
With the strike of a match, the rockets are ignited and propel straight inside. The rocket wraps up one of the enemies with barbed wire, and then the other. Beans and Porky save the day as they push both captors over, Beans cutting the rope off of the general, much to his gratitude.
Now free, all three of them rush outside and spot a parked plane. They board and prepare to fly home. Of course, no one is safe in war, not even the heroes of the cartoon. The plane is almost immediately shot to pieces, nosediving straight to the ground. Fade transition as our heroes are now all in a hospital bed, bandaged up tight. The general awards Beans a ribbon, who rips it in half and pins the other shred to Porky. Iris out as they all have a good laugh about it. Such is war!
Certainly one of King’s best entries by far. This is one of the rare cartoons I have actually seen before, but seldom remembered. While I’ve repeatedly mentioned how off-putting his Porky cartoons are (this is more of a Beans cartoon honestly), it is interesting to see how he characterizes Porky for the first time—as a bumbling coward. The energy was very high and upbeat in this one, and it actually conveyed a sense of urgency and exhilaration, which I welcome with open arms. The gags weren’t too side-splittingly funny, but they aren’t exactly dull either. The horse dying and going to heaven is always a plus. Beans and porky had a nice dynamic going, and this cartoon does have a lot of personality. The animation was stellar, very fluid, smooth, rubbery, malleable, and fun. While this isn’t the most fantastic cartoon out there, it’s certainly one of the better ones we’ve seen thus far, and potentially worth a watch just for the hell of it.
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