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I Haven't Got a Hat is a 1935 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.

Plot[]

Miss Cud the school teacher hosts a talent show with her pupils:

  • Beans the Cat, a mischievous kitten
  • Porky Pig, a stuttering piglet
  • Oliver Owl, a very snobby and wise owl
  • Ham and Ex, two twin dog brothers who engage in gossip

First, Porky Pig recites Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride", but with his excessive stutter causing him to recite his part with incredible strain and sweat. Though he mixes it up at first, Porky points to offstage students to provide sound effects for his next recital, "The Charge of the Light Brigade", using the underside of a turtle's shell for a drum and falling light bulbs for gunfire. As Porky is in the middle of the poem, the children whistle and cat-call which makes several stray dogs burst into the schoolhouse and chase poor Porky out.

Next, Little Kitty attempts to recite "Mary Had a Little Lamb". She is so nervous that she forgets a couple of lines, even confusing snow for corn flakes, and then proceeds with the rhyme but gradually speeds up her voice to a high pitch. Throughout her performance, she is fidgeting and crossing her legs in a way to suggest she urgently needs the toilet. She reaches the end of the rhyme as she makes a hasty exit to the school outhouse.

Ham and Ex sing "I Haven't Got a Hat". During this performance, Oliver Owl haughtily refuses to share a bag of candy with Beans. After Ham and Ex's performance, Oliver goes up for his piano recital. Beans, still angry about Oliver's snobbery, decides it is time for payback and sneaks a stray cat and dog into the piano. Their commotion creates a virtuoso performance of Franz von Suppé's Poet and Peasant overture to riotous applause. When the animals jump out of the piano, with the cat chasing the dog rather than vice versa, the audience believes that Oliver's playing was all a ruse and boos his performance. Oliver, humbled and vengeful, covers Beans in green ink from his pen, causing Beans to fall off his ladder and launch a pail of red paint onto Oliver. Caught in the same predicament, they make amends and shake hands.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

  • This short marks the debut appearances of Little Kitty, Beans, Ham and Ex, Oliver Owl, and most famously Porky Pig.
    • Struggling against other animation studios, Warner Bros. were desperate to find a character as successful as major studios' mascots, such as Disney's Mickey Mouse, Fleischer Studios' Betty Boop, and Felix the Cat, thus Friz designed several potential characters.
  • The short was inspired by the Hal Roach Our Gang live-action shorts.[3]
  • Porky was named after two childhood friends of Friz Freleng nicknamed Porky and Piggy.
  • Many of the characters in this short were given their own shorts, to see if they were good recurring characters. WB particularly focused on Beans, to no avail, as Porky's stuttering successfully stole the show. Due to Porky's popularity, several of the other Warner Bros. cartoon directors, such as, Frank Tashlin, Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, preferred to focus on him; he became the first major star of the Warner Bros. cartoon studio.
  • Beans and Oliver do not speak in this cartoon.
  • This is the 100th Warner Bros. cartoon short to be released.
  • The song "I Haven't Got a Hat" was written by Buddy Bernier and Bob Emmerich.
  • The end scene where both Beans and Oliver Owl get splattered in green ink and red paint respectively emphasizes the fact that this was a two-strip Technicolor cartoon, with only red and green hues. At the time, the three-strip process with blue hues added was exclusive to Disney for use in cartoons. This contract ran out in the fall of 1935, and WB released their first three-strip Technicolor cartoon, "Flowers for Madame", in November of that year, even though the curtain titles were retained.
  • Vitaphone release number: 6681

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Catalog of Copyright Entries
  2. (3 October 2022) Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 (in en). BearManor Media, page 37. 
  3. Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co, page 43. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6. 
Porky Pig Cartoons
1935 I Haven't Got a HatGold Diggers of '49
1936 Plane DippyAlpine AnticsThe Phantom ShipBoom BoomThe Blow OutWestward WhoaFish TalesShanghaied ShipmatesPorky's PetPorky the Rain-MakerPorky's Poultry PlantPorky's Moving DayMilk and MoneyLittle Beau PorkyThe Village SmithyPorky in the North WoodsBoulevardier from the Bronx
1937 Porky the WrestlerPorky's Road RacePicador PorkyPorky's RomancePorky's Duck HuntPorky and GabbyPorky's BuildingPorky's Super ServicePorky's Badtime StoryPorky's RailroadGet Rich Quick PorkyPorky's GardenRover's RivalThe Case of the Stuttering PigPorky's Double TroublePorky's Hero Agency
1938 Porky's PoppaPorky at the CrocaderoWhat Price PorkyPorky's Phoney ExpressPorky's Five & TenPorky's Hare HuntInjun TroublePorky the FiremanPorky's PartyPorky's Spring PlantingPorky & DaffyWholly SmokePorky in WackylandPorky's Naughty NephewPorky in EgyptThe Daffy DocPorky the Gob
1939 The Lone Stranger and PorkyIt's an Ill WindPorky's Tire TroublePorky's Movie MysteryChicken JittersPorky and TeabiscuitKristopher Kolumbus Jr.Polar PalsScalp TroubleOld GloryPorky's PicnicWise QuacksPorky's HotelJeepers CreepersNaughty NeighborsPied Piper PorkyPorky the Giant KillerThe Film Fan
1940 Porky's Last StandAfrica SqueaksAli-Baba BoundPilgrim PorkySlap Happy PappyPorky's Poor FishYou Ought to Be in PicturesThe Chewin' BruinPorky's Baseball BroadcastPatient PorkyCalling Dr. PorkyPrehistoric PorkyThe Sour PussPorky's Hired HandThe Timid Toreador
1941 Porky's Snooze ReelPorky's Bear FactsPorky's PreviewPorky's AntA Coy DecoyPorky's Prize PonyMeet John DoughboyWe, the Animals - Squeak!The Henpecked DuckNotes to YouRobinson Crusoe Jr.Porky's Midnight MatineePorky's Pooch
1942 Porky's Pastry PiratesWho's Who in the ZooPorky's CafeAny Bonds Today?My Favorite Duck
1943 Confusions of a Nutzy SpyYankee Doodle DaffyPorky Pig's FeatA Corny Concerto
1944 Tom Turk and DaffyTick Tock TuckeredSwooner CroonerDuck Soup to NutsSlightly DaffyBrother Brat
1945 Trap Happy PorkyWagon Heels
1946 Baby BottleneckDaffy DoodlesKitty KorneredThe Great Piggy Bank RobberyMouse Menace
1947 One Meat BrawlLittle Orphan Airedale
1948 Daffy Duck Slept HereNothing but the ToothThe Pest That Came to DinnerRiff Raffy DaffyScaredy Cat
1949 Awful OrphanPorky ChopsPaying the PiperDaffy Duck HuntCurtain RazorOften an OrphanDough for the Do-DoBye, Bye Bluebeard
1950 Boobs in the WoodsThe Scarlet PumpernickelAn Egg ScrambleGolden YeggsThe DuckstersDog Collared
1951 The Wearing of the GrinDrip-Along DaffyThe Prize Pest
1952 Thumb FunCracked QuackFool Coverage
1953 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
1954 Claws for AlarmMy Little Duckaroo
1955 Jumpin' JupiterDime to Retire
1956 Rocket SquadDeduce, You Say
1957 Boston Quackie
1958 Robin Hood Daffy
1959 China Jones
1961 Daffy's Inn Trouble
1965 Corn on the Cop
1966 Mucho Locos
1980 Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
1996 Superior Duck
2004 My Generation G...G... Gap


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