162. Porky and Gabby (1937)

Release date: May 15th, 1937

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Ub Iwerks

Starring: Mel Blanc (Porky, Gabby, Truck Driver)

A new name in the director’s guild for the first time in 9 months! Feels longer, doesn’t it? Ub Iwerks, as in Flip the Frog creator and co-creator of Mickey Mouse Iwerks, landed a very short term gig at Warner Bros. His WB gig was essentially a freelance gig as he floated around studios. He got some work to do, and Leon Schlesinger was able to meet his cartoon quota. He only directed 2 cartoons until one day he just up and left, leaving his unit to bob Clampett. 

After Jack King left the studio in 1936, Iwerks came. Bob Clampett, who had been promised a position by Schlesinger for quite some time, wasn’t too happy that this new guy was stepping in and taking a directorial position after HE had been promised a position for quite some time, so Schlesinger appointed him to help Iwerks out and to get that Looney feel in the cartoons. 

Clampett took Chuck Jones, Bobe Cannon, and manager Ray Katz with him. Thus, when Iwerks left, Clampett inherited the unit. Essentially, he, Chuck, and Bobe acted like co-directors on the Iwerks films, refining them to give the films a more WB feel. Clampett’s first official directorial entry, Porky’s Badtime Story, was started by Iwerks before he left the studio. This newly formed unit became known as the Ray Katz unit, separate from the Leon Schlesinger unit.

Preliminary lobby card.

With a new director comes a new “star” (or not): Gabby Goat. Gabby was Warner Bros.' response to Donald Duck. A temperamental, brash, angry sidekick to balance out the good-natured, happy go lucky, though slightly bland Porky, whose personality was still up in the air. Bob Clampett credits Cal Howard for the creation of Gabby, who would actually voice him in Gabby’s final appearance, Get Rich Quick Porky. 

Gabby himself only starred in three cartoons, never making it out of 1937. However, storyboards for Clampett’s Porky’s Party (1938) DO show Gabby (and Petunia) starring alongside Porky in the short. Gabby really interests me as a character. He was so rude that his brash personality was considerably toned down by his last entry. He paved the way for Daffy as a sidekick—in fact, Clampett would remake Porky‘s Badtime Story in 1944 with Tick Tock Tuckered, Daffy usurping Gabby’s role in the cartoon. While Gabby (and Iwerks)’s stint was short, he was actually revived in the second season of Wabbit/New Looney Tunes in 2018, voiced by Bob Bergen! 

The synopsis speaks for itself: Porky and Gabby are headed for a peaceful camping trip, but a variety of mishaps threaten any ounce of their enjoyment.

Iris in with Porky and Gabby (literally) trucking their way through the rolling country side, their car brimming with camping essentials and more. A jolly motif of “Gee, but You’re Swell” scores quite a majority of the cartoon, and the opening scene is no exception. Gabby doesn’t seem to share the same appreciation Porky  does for the outdoors, haughtily slumped over in his seat as Porky asks “Sure a swell day to go camping, isn’t it, Gabby?” 

Before Gabby can respond, their jalopy hits a rock, which catapults all of their camping supplies up into the air. Thankfully–because why else?–the supplies piles back up neatly in the trunk, recovering from the bump. That is, except for one. A frying pan smacks Gabby right on the head and gives him a shiner, much to Porky’s amusement. Gabby, full of malice, growls “YEAH!” in Porky’s face.

Just then, the two get stuck behind a moving van. We hear excessive honking as their jalopy zigzags back and forth, attempting to squeeze past, but the van is too big for the small country road they’re on. Gabby is the perpetrator behind the horn, doing a Fleischer-esque shiver take in anger as he honks on the horn and hurls insults. “Hey you! Get that big crate off the road! Move over, we ain’t got all day! What’s the matter with you, you deaf!? You can hear that, can’t ya!?” 

While Gabby engages in his hotheaded rant, Porky, behind the wheel, is able to pull up next to the van, where Gabby now yells at the bewildered truck driver in person. “Get over, ya big sheep!” As Gabby threatens to “bounce one up [his] chin”, the truck driver pulls on a lever, attached to a hand shaped paddle. The paddle smacks Gabby right in the face, causing him to spin around and dangle helplessly from the outstretched paddle as Porky drives on ahead, clueless. Reused from Porky’s Romance and from the radio show Community Sing, the truck driver tells Gabby not to get excited. Gabby retaliates in a flurry of sped up anger: “EXCITED?? WHO’S EXCITED!? I’M NOT EXCITED!!!” 

Conveniently, the paddle dumps gabby right in a mud puddle, sparking another angry outburst, now spewing insults and mud alike. Porky, still driving on his merry way, overhears Gabby’s rampage and screeches to a halt, now driving in reverse. The animation in this scene and the next one is nice and rubbery, very elastic and stretchy. Ub’s cartoons are hardly the most entertaining, but I do love how rubbery and tactile his animation is. Unfortunately, Porky too is smacked by the passing paddle on the moving van. He’s then tossed out of the driver’s seat and splayed onto the hood of the car.

While Gabby continues his muddy ranting and raving, the car conveniently runs right over Gabby, halting just above him. Porky looks around, befuddled, stuttering “Hey, Gabby! Where are you?” Mel’s deliveries as Gabby are more than amusing as Gabby growls back “Where am I! Where am I? Now ain’t that a smart question! I’m under the car, you big fathead!” 

Porky, unscathed by the remarks, climbs back into the driver’s seat and tells Gabby he’ll pull up. He does so, running over Gabby’s head in the process. More scathing remarks from Gabby, with some particularly fluid and lovely animation as he jumps up and down in the mud puddle.

Transition to the two back in their car, inching their way up a very steep incline. There’s some lovely synchronization between the animation and music as the car trucks its way up, the water in the engine spurting with each push up, all in time with the music. This collaboration is furthered as the score slows down, now as fatigued as the car trying to truck its way up. Very clever indeed. Just as they finally reach the top, the engine dies.

Porky suggests pushing, much to Gabby’s chagrin, making his distaste known by slamming the door as he begrudgingly exits the car. More rubbery animation as Porky pulls at the bumper from the front, Gabby pushing from the back, griping about how he wishes he’d stay home. “I don’t like camping, anyway!” 

Porky manages to pull the bumper off the car entirely, just in time for Gabby to get a running head start and ram into the back of the car, causing the car to topple over Porky and barrel down the hill.

Quite an interesting switch in angles as the duo run down the hill to catch the car, the decline turning into an incline once more, with the car slowing considerably and beginning its journey up the hill. Now, Porky and Gabby run AWAY from the car, not towards it, as the car slides back down the hill, seeing as it can’t accelerate or decelerate on its own. Predictable, yet fun to watch as Porky and Gabby engage in a game of cat and mouse with the car, the car ultimately barreling into them, sending the two twirling up into the air and landing neatly back in their respective seats. Cartoon physics to the rescue! 

A bit confusing as the car suddenly gains life again, trucking uphill, exhaust coming out of the pipe, but so be it. Porky and Gabby FINALLY reach their destination, the score now a rendition of “Speaking of the Weather”. But, as we all know, this is only half the battle. Porky triumphantly declares “Well, here we are! I’ll put up the tent. You unload the car.” Judging by the way Porky moves and how Gabby squints at him in contempt afterwards, I’d wage this as Bob Clampett’s animation. 

Gabby retorts “Yeah, I get all the hard work!” He struggles to untie the endless luggage piled up on the car. Instead, he pulls the weight of the entire car on top of him, luggage spilling out on the ground as the car does a few barrel rolls, landing neatly right side up. Gabby pokes his head out of the luggage pile, giving the audience an angry trademark Gabby Wink/Grimace. 

Elsewhere, while Porky’s setting up the tent, a pesky bee comes to assess the situation. Some more interesting rubbery animation combined with a shiver take as Porky angrily attempts to swat the bee away, getting stung in the ass in the process. The tent collapses, pinning Porky and the bee together under the same tarp. The animation is just lovely to watch as the bee swoops around in circles, the tarp leaving a trail behind. Very rubbery and malleable.

Gabby begrudgingly prepares the furniture when he hears Porky. “Gabby! Gabby! Get a sly fwatter–a-a–a fly swatter!” Gabby mutters to himself, scouting out a fly swatter, when he hits gold. A shovel. Three times as big and three times as effective! Gabby’s gleeful, slightly twisted grin as he charges towards the tent wielding the shovel is priceless. He’s a little too eager to bash some sense into that bee. 

Porky’s still being stung to pieces when Gabby arrives. This is probably one of the funniest moments in an Iwerks cartoon at WB, the timing is just too good: Gabby hesitates, watching Porky writhe around in agony under the tarp, before bashing Porky’s head in. Porky (rightfully) cries “OW!” and we hear silence. No movement. Even better is when Gabby carefully picks up the tarp and looks inside, making sure his pal is still breathing. Instead, the pesky bee flies out from the tarp and stings Gabby right on the nose.

More wonderfully fluid animation and speed lines as Gabby now chases the bee with the shovel, cursing all along the way. Ub’s Flip the Frog cartoons didn’t shy away from cursing (lots of “damn!”s), so I wonder if he ever thought about giving Gabby a proper sailor mouth. Seems likely. The bee lands on the exhaust pipe of their car, and when Gabby hits the pipe with his trusty shovel, the force is enough to knock out the engine of the car, popping out of the grill.

More Bob Clampett animation as porky recovers, struggling to tie the tent’s rope to a stake in the ground. Now, Porky asks for a piece of rope, much to Gabby’s chagrin. “Rope… rope… I ain’t got any rope! Guy’s always wantin’ something. Why don’t he get his own rope? Ah, here’s a piece!” Sure enough, a spare piece of rope slithers out from the pile of junk by the car. Treg Brown’s use of a donkey braying as Gabby pulls on the rope is a great touch. 

Unfortunately, we see that the rope is attached to the outboard motor. Gabby gives a hearty tug, and the rope is freed from the motor, which activates it. The motor flies into the air, threatening to guillotine anyone who comes in contact with the blades. Gabby is knocked into a hole the motor dug into the ground, peering out of it for safety (in a very similar manner to Porky poking his head out of a hole in Porky’s Last Stand and later The Timid Toreador--both Clampett entries.). Speaking of Porky, he dives into his tent for safety as the motor cuts the tarp away into pieces. 

The animation in this sequence is lovely, accented by “Black Coffee”. Gabby resorts to shooting at the motor with a rifle. Cartoon physics–the knockback from the rifle sends Gabby flying, landing on a car horn, which catapults him forward. He shoots, he bounces, he shoots, he bounces, and so forth. One excessive shot sends him flying onto a spare mattress, the spring catapulting him into the air. 

Gabby shoots himself down, but it’s no use. The spring gets caught on a tree branch. The motor threatens to graze Gabby as he yells at Porky for help (”I’m caught on a limb!”). Rather, the motor runs into him, sending Gabby twirling around the branch and hurtling towards the ground, the spring coming loose. It’s difficult to put into words, but it’s a lovely scene with some lovely animation. 

Porky, who has now miraculously found some rope, fashions a lasso and corrals the motor. “I got it! I got it!” but, as always, there’s a catch. A loop ties around Porky’s legs, the motor dragging Porky along in the wild goose chase. Gabby scales up between two, lanky trees for safety, the motor cutting the bottoms off and making makeshift stilts. More beautiful animation as Gabby struggles to stay put. Eventually, the rope attached to the motor ties the two trees together, the rope loosening from Porky’s legs and sending both him and Gabby toppling to the ground. 

Befuddled, both investigate the eerie silence–no motor in sight. That is until the familiar sound of whirring grows louder from off screen. In a panic, the two bump into each other as they scramble to escape, both flopping to the ground just in time for the motor to rocket over their heads. 

All hopes of a camping trip are out the window as the two scramble into their car. The engine, which had been catapulted out the front, is now pulled inside as the two speed away, hoping to outrun the deathtrap. I LOVE the detail of Porky paddling at the air as they drive away, as if his meager attempts to paddle would speed the car up even more from the motor that flies threateningly close behind them. 

Meanwhile, they encounter an old friend: the moving van that Gabby had harassed from before. Once more does Gabby berate the innocent driver (”HEY! MOVE OUTTA THE WAY, WE’RE COMIN’ THROUGH!”) as we get an interesting angle of the motor heading straight towards the audience. 

Porky and Gabby duck, ready to meet their demise when the motor crashes into their car, pushing the car forcefully into the moving van. A cloud of smoke as the crash ensues. The truck driver has a tire dangling from his next, much to Gabby’s delight. Gabby bursts into a fit of hysterical, bleating laughter, nudging a dazed Porky so he can get a good look. The van driver pulls on his trusty lever, and the hand shaped paddle from before gives Gabby a well deserved smack. Iris out as both the van driver and even Porky beam at Gabby’s humiliation.

What an interesting cartoon, to say the least! There’s a lot of layers to it, while simultaneously, there aren’t at all. To put it bluntly, at surface level, this isn’t a very good cartoon. A few plotholes (like Porky randomly finding a rope after he needed one, the car miraculously working again after it had died, etc–but these are mainly cases of cartoon logic, don’t take these too seriously. These are observations rather than critiques), and the plot itself is very bare-bones. This is more so a series of mishaps rather than a cartoon with a concrete storyline.

Yet, with that said, I still enjoy it. The animation is the best part of the cartoon. I’m a very detail oriented person, and not a big picture person, which serves me well and detrimentally at the same time. So, I absolutely love how fluid, bouncy, and fun the animation is in this cartoon. That’s certainly an incentive to watch it. Carl Stalling’s music score, as always, compliments the cartoon quite nicely. 

Furthermore, this cartoon has some historical significance to it. Not very much, but it’s there: it’s Gabby’s first cartoon. That serves as another incentive to watch–Gabby isn’t too exciting of a character, but he’s so fascinating to me that I can’t help but like him. He’s like a hidden secret. Porky’s first sidekick, unless you count Beans, but Porky was more so Beans’ sidekick rather than Beans being Porky’s sidekick. Gabby’s pretty obscure, but someone from The Simpsons was a big enough classic cartoon fan to know who he was–they make a reference to him as “disgruntled goat”. This could be a coincidence, sure, but I’m definitely thinking this is a reference, especially considering another episode referenced Friz Freleng’s Pigs is Pigs from earlier in 1937. 

In all, this isn’t a great cartoon, and you probably COULD go without watching it and be fine, but I say watch it. There’s some wonderful animation and it has some interesting history, such as Ub Iwerks’ first cartoon at WB and Gabby’s first cartoon. Check it out for yourself and see what you think! 

Link!