Originally released in 2012, Looney Tunes Super Stars – Porky & Friends: Hilarious Ham presents 18 Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies cartoons taken from a 25-year period, predominantly during second half of what’s considered the Golden Age of American Animation. Porky stars in twelve of the shorts while his “friends,” including lesser-known characters, make up the remainder of the animated antics.
Buy Looney Tunes Super Stars – Porky & Friends: Hilarious Ham DVD“Tom Turk and Daffy” (dir. Chuck Jones, 1944) is is basically a Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon. Pilgrim Porky is out hunting for turkey. Daffy Duck works to protect his fellow fowl until he hears turkey dinner will contain yams, but then the tables turn and it looks like duck might be on the menu.
“Wagon Heels” (dir. Robert Clampett, 1945) is a color remake of his black-and-white short “Injun Trouble” (1938). Porky is a scout for a wagon train heading to California. The great concern is Injun Joe, a huge hulking figure of a man.But what really causes problems is Slappy Moe, a weird blue-skinned hillbilly, who reappears throughout, telling them he knows something he won’t tell…until he does.
Porky has to deal with a smaller character in “Mouse Menace” (dir. Arthur Davis, 1946). He uses various cats for help, including one who looks like George Raft, and ultimately a robot. Porky is assisted by Barnyard Dawg as they hunt Grover Groundhog in “One Meat Brawl” (dir. Robert McKimson, 1947), a cartoon that could have starred Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny and changed very little.
Porky runs a talent agency in Curtain Razor (dir. I. Freleng, 1949) and sees a number of acts, including stand-ins for Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Al Jolson. There a couple gags that would be repeated by Daffy in his “Show Biz Bugs” (1957), such as a dangerous act that can only be performed once
Porky has more house troubles in “The Pest That Came to Dinner” (Davis, 1948). Pierre the termite has quite the appetite but I.M.A. Sureshot from Sureshot Exterminating Co. is more con man than exterminator. Also by Davis, Porky is a cop who encounters “Riff Raffy Daffy” (1948), first running him out of the park on a cold winter night and then chasing him through a department store.
A quartet of McKimson cartoons mostly involve Porky and Daffy one-upping each other. Daffy harasses Porky in “Boobs in the Woods” (1950) but great to see Porky triumph in the end. Rather than fly south, Daffy has some “Thumb Fun” (1952) by hitching a ride from Miami-bound Porky, causing him nothing but trouble. In “Fool Coverage” (1952), insurance-salesman Daffy works to sell Porky a million-dollar insurance policy by suffering various injuries around the house, including experiencing a few explosions.
McKimson has Porky solo in “Dog Collared” (1950). He learns it’s Be Kind to Animals week, and one dog he pets won’t leave him alone. Porky can’t stand him and does his best to escape until he learns there’s a reward for the dog. Being so rude and greedy doesn’t feel like Porky’s personality.
The final Porky Pig cartoon in the set is “Corn on the Cop” (dir. Irv Spector, 1965). Not only is it the lone theatrical cartoon storyboard artist Spector directed, but it has other Golden Age distinctions. It’s the final theatrical pairing of Daffy and Porky, the final official appearance of Porky, and the final appearance of Granny (voiced by Joan Gerber instead of June Foray). On Halloween night, a robber dressed like Granny (although no one seems to notice the mask) is on the loose. Policemen Daffy and Porky work the case, mistaking Granny for the culprit while she mistakes them for trick-or-treaters,
McKimson directed three of the “Friends” cartoons. In “Corn Plastered” (1951), a farmer deals with a troublesome crow in a cartoon that could have been Daffy thieving from farmer Porky. During “Gone Batty” (1954), the Greenville Goons play the Sweetwater Shnooks in the championship baseball game. Going into the 9th , the Goons are up 167-0. With the Shnooks players all knocked out of the game, they enlist their mascot, Bobo the Elephant, as there’s no rules against it. The cartoon features recycled gags from Freleng’s “Baseball Bugs” (1946).
Elmer Fudd (Hal Smith, replacing the late Arthur Q. Bryan‘s) can never catch a break and in “Dog Gone People” (1960), he has to sit his boss’s dog in order to move up at work. The problem is the dog thinks he’s a person, so there’s some role reversal he eats at dining table and sleeps in Elmer’s bed. Gets amusing when the dog gets drunk on mouth wash and goes driving. Elmer goes to war in “Ant Pasted” (Freleng, 1953) after the insects respond to his throwing firecrackers at them while he celebrates the Fourth of July.
The last two cartoons were initially planned as one by McKimson before they were divided. The title characters in “Bunny and Claude (We Rob Carrot Patches)” (1968) are based on the famed criminal couple Bonnie and Clyde. The outlaw rabbits who steal carrots are chased by a dumb sheriff. The cartoon ends mid-chase with a fade out. The story continues in “The Great Carrot-Train Robbery” (1969), the last Looney Tunes cartoon featuring the legendary Mel Blanc in the Golden Age.
Hilarious Ham delivers over two hours of laughs in these 18 cartoons. It’s a wonderful collection and the single DVD is a good option for those who don’t want to invest in the larger, more expensive sets. The picture looks good, presenting strong colors and film grain, and is relatively clean. The mono audio is satisfactory.
