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The Timid Toreador is a 1940 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert Clampett and Norman McCabe.
Plot
In a Mexican town, there are happy townspeople all around. Inside the bar, there are three Mexican singers. An old lady is washing some underwear at a nearby fountain. She beats it up, but the underwear beats her back and dives into the water.
Then along comes Porky with a box of hot tamales (which we would see later, prove to be very hot). He's making his rounds and took a brief break. While taking a break, a chicken who was pecking nearby, eyes the box of tamales, opens it up and partakes in one. The chicken swallows it up whole. Unfortunately, the tamale is so hot, that it turns her into a roast chicken. Naturally, Porky is not pleased with what happened, takes back the box, continues on his way.
Later, a bull fight is starting. A spectator is angry over a sombrero of an upfront spectator abstracting his view. So he takes a pin, pokes the sombrero, and it deflates, allowing the angry spectator to enjoy the bull fight. It begins with the introduction of a matador named Ponchi Pancho, and a bull named Slapsie Maxie Rosenbull. When the bell sounds, the matador flaps his cape and Slapsie charges into the matador. At first, he admires Ponchi's cape, but then he takes it from him. Ponchi screams and runs away with Slapsie giving chase. As the bull fight announcer announces whats going on, Ponchi makes it to a bullseye fence and Slapsie hits it. He hits it so hard, that a spectator in the ring laughs and laughs and laughs. Naturally, Slapsie is not happy with the spectator sense of humor, so he chalks up his horn and charges into him. The spectator had since become a centaur.
Later, Porky accidentally arrives in the ring. Slapsie is still chasing Ponchi, but somehow stops chasing him and guns for Porky instead. Porky at first the mad bull is his next customer, but has quickly got the message and runs to a nearby sword. But the sword droops and Porky runs for his life. They chase around the ring. Porky reaches the middle and when he sees the bull, Porky digs into the ground, out of harm's way. Porky emerges out of the hole and tries to escape, but Slapsie blocks his exit. Slapsie is about to do Porky harm, when he sniffs the tamales. So he takes the box away from Porky, admires them, and eats nearly the whole box. But the tamales are so hot that Slapsie holds his mouth, coughs and runs like heck. He charges himself out of ring, possibly never to be seen again. Meanwhile, Porky is worshiped for defeating the bull. The spectators lavish Porky with hats, and when a small derby lands on his head, he imitates Oliver Hardy.
Availability
- LaserDisc - Longitude and Looneytude: Globetrotting Looney Tunes Favorites
- DVD - Porky Pig 101, Disc 5
Notes
- This was the first cartoon to be directed by Norman McCabe, although it was also directed by Bob Clampett as well.
- This was the one of the only two cartoons that were directed by both Bob Clampett and Norman McCabe, the other one being "Porky's Snooze Reel" a year after.
- Since Bob Clampett was briefly sick, leaving two Porky Pig cartoons ("The Timid Toreador" and "Porky's Snooze Reel") unfinished, Leon Schlesinger told Norman McCabe to complete the directorial duties—hence the co-director credit under their main titles.
- This is the second cartoon in which Porky bullfights, the first being "Picador Porky".
- The shot of the crowd throwing their sombreros in the air is recycled from "Little Pancho Vanilla". In addition, Porky's Oliver Hardy impression is recycled from footage of an unrelated character in "The CooCoo Nut Grove".
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