Porky's Hero Agency is a 1937 Looney Tunes short directed by Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones.
Plot
Porky is reading the story of the gorgon, a Greek myth about a woman who turned everyone she looked at into stone. His mother tells him it's time to go to bed. While he's asleep, he dreams of being a Greek hero known as Porkykarkus. In this version, the Gorgon runs a photo studio, and Porky is able to save by sneaking in and grabbing her life-restoring needle just before he wakes up.
Caricatures
- Bill Comstock - The Gorgon is a parody of his character Lizzie Tish on Al Pearce's radio show.
- Al Pearce's salesman character Elmer Blurt is a statue used as a doorstop
- The Three Stooges make a cameo. When turned to stone, they resemble the famous "three wise monkeys" sculpture.
- Dick Powell - as the Dick A. Powello statue
Availability
Porky Pig: Days of Swine and Roses (computer colorized)
Wince upon a Time: Foolhardy Fairy Tales and Looney Legends
Looney Tunes Special Bumper Collection Volume 9
Marked Woman
Porky Pig 101, Disc 2
Censorship
On Cartoon Network, the scene of the Gorgon's guard telling Porky that he's next to be turned to stone followed by Porky picturing himself as a piggy bank, is cut (barring its appearance in The Bob Clampett Show), most likely because the Gorgon's guard looks as if he's in blackface.[3]
Notes
- The name "Porkykarkus" is a clear parody of Parkyakarkus, a Greek stereotype who was the stage personna of comedian Harry Einstein.
- The Emperor Jones is a 1920 Eugene O'Neill play and its 1933 film adaptation.
- The Emperor's "fireside chat" is a nod to Franklin D. Roosevelt's weekly radio addresses.
- The "bring-em-back-alive" needle is a pun on hunter Frank Buck's best-selling novel Bring 'Em Back Alive.
- Bob Clampett and members of his animation unit (Chuck Jones, Lu Guarnier, Robert Cannon, John Carey and Ernest Gee), appear as statues placed together to form a human picket fence.
- Porky gives the broken Venus de Milo statue a set of Popeye arms. The first few bars of Popeye's theme song are heard on the soundtrack.
- Porky brings to life a Greek temple labeled "Shirley", a reference to child star Shirley Temple.
- Carl Stalling's name is spelled as Carl W. Stallings in the opening.
Gallery
References
External Links
- "Porky's Hero Agency" at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Classic, Rare and Censored Cartoons @ archive.org
- "Porky's Hero Agency" @ trilulilu.ro
