Porky's Duck Hunt creates a new star in Daffy Duck
Bob Clampett makes his directorial debut in Porky's Badtime Story
The fairy tale parody Little Red Walking Hood included a surprise "hero", Elmer Fudd
"The Merry-go-round Broke Down" (Looney Tunes theme)
Original Looney Tunes theme score
1937 would be a breakthrough year for Warner Bros. animation as the studio found its identity through its shorts, new significant characters like Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd first appearing, and Mel Blanc becoming the main voice actor of the studio's output.
History[]
- Starting with "Rover's Rival", the Looney Tunes shorts start using "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" as their theme music.
- The original Porky closing would also be introduced in "Rover's Rival", before being redesigned in 1939.
- The Merrie Melodies start to break away from the obligation of every short having at least one full chorus song. 1937 saw the release of the very first three Merrie Melodies without song breaks: "Pigs Is Pigs", "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" (one of the Censored Eleven shorts), and "The Lyin' Mouse".
- The "Porky Signature" theme was abandoned after "Porky's Garden".
- The "Porky Signature" theme is used on the closing for only four cartoons, similar to how the Merrie Melodies started using an instrumental version of "Merrily We Roll Along" on the closing titles starting with "Plenty of Money and You".
- "Picador Porky", the first cartoon to feature a character voiced by Mel Blanc, is released.
- Joe Dougherty is replaced by Mel Blanc as Porky's voice actor starting with "Porky's Duck Hunt", due to Dougherty's actual stutter being a deterrent in recording lines for Porky.
- Gabby Goat debuts in "Porky and Gabby", originally released this year.
- All cartoons produced by Ub Iwerks were made this year.
- Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones leave Tex Avery's unit and work for Iwerks as co-directors at his studio.[1][2]
- The first color cartoon by Frank Tashlin, "Speaking of the Weather", is released.
- Daffy Duck debuts in "Porky's Duck Hunt", originally released this year.
- The cartoons "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" and "Clean Pastures", which were released right after each other, are notable as the third and fourth entries (and second and third Technicolor entries) in the Censored Eleven.
- The first appearance of Egghead, "Egghead Rides Again", is released this year.
- The Color Rings change from blue from 1936-37 to yellow rings at an unknown point, the earliest known example being "Little Red Walking Hood".
- Elmer Fudd debuts in "Little Red Walking Hood", notably with a completely different design and voice than his more iconic modern iteration.
- Bob Clampett directs his first Looney Tunes cartoon, "Porky's Badtime Story."[3] Clampett's unit is, for tax reasons, owned by producer Leon Schlesinger's brother-in-law Ray Katz.
- Friz Freleng leaves the studio to work for MGM as a director of The Captain and the Kids film series.[4]
- Cal Howard and Cal Dalton inherit Friz's unit after his departure.[5]
Theatrical Shorts[]
"He Was Her Man" (Freleng/January 2) - "Porky the Wrestler" (Avery/January 9)
- "Pigs Is Pigs" (Freleng/January 30)
- "Porky's Road Race" (Tashlin/February 6)[6]
- "Picador Porky" (Avery/February 27)
- "I Only Have Eyes for You" (Avery/March 6) [6]
- "The Fella with the Fiddle" (Freleng/March 27)
- "Porky's Romance" (Tashlin/April 3)
- "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter" (Freleng/April 10)
- "Porky's Duck Hunt" (Avery/April 17)
- "Ain't We Got Fun" (Avery/May 1)
- "Porky and Gabby" (Iwerks/May 15)
- "Clean Pastures" (Freleng/May 22)
- "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" (Avery/June 5)
- "Porky's Building" (Tashlin/June 19)
- "Streamlined Greta Green" (Freleng/June 19)
- "Sweet Sioux" (Freleng/June 26)
- "Porky's Super Service" (Iwerks/July 3)
- "Egghead Rides Again" (Avery/July 17)
- "Porky's Badtime Story" (Iwerks, Clampett/July 24)
- "Plenty of Money and You" (Freleng/July 31)
- "Porky's Railroad" (Tashlin/August 7)
- "A Sunbonnet Blue" (Avery/August 21)
- "Get Rich Quick Porky" (Clampett/August 28)
- "Speaking of the Weather" (Tashlin/September 4)
- "Porky's Garden" (Avery/September 11)
- "Dog Daze" (Freleng/September 18)
- "I Wanna Be a Sailor" (Avery/September 25)
- "Rover's Rival" (Clampett/October 9)
- "The Lyin' Mouse" (Freleng/October 16)
- "The Case of the Stuttering Pig" (Tashlin/October 30)
- "Little Red Walking Hood" (Avery/November 6)
- "Porky's Double Trouble" (Tashlin/November 13)
- "Porky's Hero Agency" (Clampett/December 4)
- "The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos" (Tashlin/December 4)
- "September in the Rain" (Freleng/December 18)
Character Debuts[]
- February 27 - Drunken Bull in "Picador Porky"
- April 3 - Petunia Pig in "Porky's Romance"
- April 17 - Daffy Duck in "Porky's Duck Hunt"
- May 15 - Gabby Goat in "Porky and Gabby"
- July 17 - Egghead in "Egghead Rides Again"
- November 6 - Elmer Fudd in "Little Red Walking Hood"
People[]
Births[]
- January 6 - Jaime Diaz
- February 15 - Ron Dias
Deaths[]
- July 20 - Elmer Wait
References[]
- ↑ Barrier, Michael (2003). Hollywood Cartoons American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford University Press, page 341. ISBN 978-0-19-516729-0.
- ↑ http://likelylooneymostlymerrie.blogspot.com/2012/05/163-porky-and-gabby-1937.html
- ↑ http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Funnyworld/Clampett/interview_bob_clampett.htm
- ↑ Barrier, Michael (2003). Hollywood Cartoons American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford University Press, page 288. ISBN 978-0-19-516729-0.
- ↑ Sigall, Martha (2005). Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation. University Press of Mississippi, page 66-67. ISBN 9781578067497.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Company, page 53-54. ISBN 978-0805008944.
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