Swooner Crooner is a 1944 Looney Tunes short directed by Frank Tashlin.
Plot[]
Porky Pig is the supervisor of the "Flockheed Eggcraft Factory", where dozens of hens lay eggs for the war effort (specifically, for World War II). The hens suddenly get distracted from their egg-laying when a handsome rooster named Frankie (who sings like Frank Sinatra) is heard singing outside. Frankie's renditions of "It Can't Be Wrong" by Dick Haymes and "As Time Goes By" cause all the hens to swoon.
Porky rushes to investigate. Soon, he's auditioning for a new crooner; those showing up are caricatures of Nelson Eddy ("Shortnin' Bread"), Al Jolson ("September in the Rain"), Jimmy Durante ("Lullaby of Broadway"), Cab Calloway ("Minnie the Moocher", "Blues in the Night"), and Bing Crosby ("When My Dream Boat Comes Home").[5]
Porky asks the Bing Crosby rooster, who introduced himself as "The Old Groaner", to be the crooner, provoking a competition with Frankie. Between the two of them, the overexcited hens' egg production is increased to a level beyond what Porky can handle, including a just-hatched hen chick laying an egg many times her own size.
Surveying literal hills and mountains of eggs all over his farm, Porky was impressed and asked the two roosters, "How did you ever m-m-make 'em lay all those eggs?" The roosters demonstrate their technique by crooning at Porky, who lays a mountain of eggs himself as a result.
Caricatures[]
Availability[]
Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Porky Pig Cartoon Festival Featuring "Nothing but the Tooth" (with Porky's drum ending audio)
Porky Pig
Cartoon Moviestars Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons
Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons (with Porky's drum ending audio)
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 1, Side 9, Hooray for Hollywood (with Porky's drum ending audio)
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 9, Hooray for Hollywood (with Porky's drum ending audio)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Two, (restored, however, the 1941-55 end cue is used instead of Porky's drum ending audio because the USA 1995 dubbed version is used as the source of the soundtrack, includes audio commentary from music historian Daniel Goldmark)
Blues in the Night (1995 Turner dubbed version)
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, Disc 2 (restored)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3, Disc 2 (restored)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3, Disc 2 (restored)
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- Versions of this cartoon shown on most American TV channels (particularly Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TNT, TBS, and some local syndicated affiliates) cut the part where the Al Jolson rooster auditions in blackface with "September in the Rain", going from the Nelson Eddy rooster tiring himself out while singing "Shortnin' Bread" to the Jimmy Durante rooster singing "Lullaby of Broadway".[6] MeTV initially ran the cartoon with the Al Jolson audition edited, but, as of 19 May 2022, the scene runs uncut.
Notes[]
- The cartoon was nominated for the 1945 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), which it lost to the Tom and Jerry cartoon "'Mouse Trouble".[7] This is also the only Porky Pig cartoon to be nominated for the Academy Award.
- On Porky's farm, "Flockheed Eggcraft Factory 100% War Work" (with eggs in a "V" shape, for victory), eggs fall out of the nests through bomb bay doors. This is a reference to Lockheed Aircraft Corp.’s Vega assembly plant, located in Burbank, CA. They produced fighter and bomber aircraft throughout World War II.
- This is the first Looney Tunes short to be re-released under the Blue Ribbon program and the only Looney Tunes short to be re-released under "IN TECHNICOLOR" before Warner Bros. changed to "Color By TECHNICOLOR".
- Part of the cartoon's basic premise was reused in the 2004 short "Cock-a-Doodle Duel" with Foghorn Leghorn. In it, Foghorn competes with a genetically engineered rooster to make hens lay eggs.
- Pre-1995 prints are known to keep the original ending music with Porky Pig's "T-t-t-t-that's all folks!" However, both the European and American Turner dubbed prints change the ending music audio to the 1941-55 MM rendition.[8][9] The DVD and Blu-ray releases use the USA 1995 dubbed version's soundtrack.[9]
- The Frank Sinatra rooster had a cameo in The Looney Tunes Show episode "The Foghorn Leghorn Story" as one of the roosters who auditioned for the part of Foghorn Leghorn.
- This cartoon was shown in theatres with The Adventures of Mark Twain during its original release.
- An original print exists at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and was screened at the Nitrate Picture Show on 3 May 2019.[10]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/catalogofc19723261213libr/page/74/mode/1up
- ↑ https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/File:Swooner_Crooner_Cast.jpg
- ↑ http://www.whataboutthad.com/wb-production-number/
- ↑ https://imgur.com/gallery/E43SR0l
- ↑ IMDb soundtrack listing
- ↑ http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-s.aspx
- ↑ https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1945
- ↑ https://vk.com/video163594528_164097806
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 https://archive.org/details/Toonheads_227_Crooner_Toons
- ↑ https://www.eastman.org/sites/default/files/2019%20NPS%20catalogue.pdf