The Daffy Doc (Crude Reproduction, Imperfect Frame/Signs of the Times)

 

Director(s): Bob Clampett (credited as “Robert Clampett”)

Summary: After causing chaos during an operation at the Stitch in Time Hospital (where their motto is, “As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Rip”), Daffy Duck decides he needs to prove himself a competent doctor…by knocking out, abducting, and performing unnecessary surgery on an unsuspecting Porky Pig.

Fun Facts:

- Going by the logline, this is one of Bob Clampett’s most twisted cartoons so far, but even he (and his colleague/frienemy Chuck Jones) thought the two inflation (nothing to do with skyrocketing prices and everything to do with an innocent animation gag becoming a sick fetish thanks to freaks and weirdos online airing out their dirty laundry…which they probably sniffed and shuddered orgasmically before they did it) scenes involving Porky and Daffy crashing into an iron lung was tasteless and shameful. Why? Because this was made when there was a polio epidemic and the vaccine wouldn’t be considered safe, potent, and for public use until 1955 (seventeen years after the cartoon was released in theaters) after being developed in 1952 (so…14 years later) by Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh. It’d be like doing jokes about face masks, medical staff/facility shortages, and hospital respirators for COVID…or any AIDS/HIV joke involving gay men, heroin addicts, blood donors, or blood-donating gay male heroin addicts (which would have been a smash in the 1980s, but unbelievably offensive today).

- The lip sync for Daffy in this short is pretty much nonexistent (there are only two scenes where his mouth moves in sync with his lines), but I think that adds to the wacky and surreal humor.

- Daffy’s hopping walk as he’s following Porky is a reference to Dopey’s hopping walk during the “Heigh Ho” sequence on 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves from Disney. Don’t believe me:

Clampett vs. Disney -- Round One:

I guess Bob Clampett really did admire Walt Disney’s work, but also loved referencing/spoofing it, such as Mr. Meek blushing after Daffy kisses him (cf. Bashful doing the same when Snow White kisses him) on “The Wise Quacking Duck” (in fairness, that was probably a common trope back then, but the realization that the two scenes may be related due to Clampett’s love of spoofing Disney popped in my head when I wrote that and it’s easy to draw that conclusion, especially since I made a video comparison of it):

Other examples of Clampett spoofing/referencing Disney include: the scene of the flying elephant holding up a sign that reads, “I Am Not Dumbo” on “The Bashful Buzzard,” the fact that Clampett did an African-American jazz spoof of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves called “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarves” (originally titled, “So White…” but was changed due to audiences potentially mistaking it for Disney’s first animated feature film and possible legal repercussions from Walt himself), and “A Corny Concerto” basically being Fantasia if Termite Terrace did it. There are more examples; those are just off the top of my head.

- You can tell that Clampett was focusing more on Daffy than Porky in this one. In fact, a lot of the shorts made after “Porky in Wackyland” seem to have Porky in a limited role, despite him being the star. In this one (which can, at least, be forgiven because the title is called “The Daffy Doc”), Porky doesn’t appear until the four minute and 50 second mark…in a cartoon that’s six minutes and 59 seconds long (when shown uncut. The redrawn edited version has Porky’s appearance clock in at four minutes and 47 seconds in a cartoon that lasts six minutes and 34 seconds).

-”Patient Porky” is considered a remake of this, so I will be covering that the same way I covered “Milk and Money” vs. “Porky’s Prize Pony,” because both of them have been edited for African-American stereotypes, though “The Daffy Doc”’s version is more subtle.

The Channel(s): Nickelodeon, unnamed syndication (for those channels besides Nickelodeon that aired the redrawn-colorized version), and MeTV.

Part(s) Edited: Okay, time to break this down again. There aren’t that many scenes that were cut (at least, upon first glance), but Nickelodeon aired two colorized versions of the same short. No points on which version is the more severely cut:

- Nickelodeon initially aired the infamous redrawn-colorized version from somewhere in the 1960s, which shortened the part where Daffy holds up signs telling people to be quiet to remove the “Hush Yo’ Mouf” sign (which one blog identified as African-American vernacular English [AAVE], which, in my day, was called “ebonics” and does refer to Daffy reading it off as, “regrettable,” though it sounded more like Daffy said, “Shut yo’ mouth,” not “Hush yo’ mouf.” Still, I get where this person is coming from, but ten bucks says that this is yet another white person flagellating themselves over sins of the past. I have seen worse African-American stereotypes on better animated shorts) and the sign with Hebrew writing (in one of the rare times Nickelodeon edited something for having outdated Jewish stereotypes. The only other time was the scene in “Bosko’s Picture Show” where Hitler chases after Jimmy Durante with an axe because, in his twisted, genocidal mind, “long nose” equals “being Jewish”) which translates to Bill Holman’s “Silence is Foo!” from the Smokey Stover comic strip when shaken (for the curious monolingual with dreams of being a ployglot, “Zol zein shah!” actually does mean “Shut up” or “Be quiet!”, but not in Hebrew. It’s Yiddish, which is medieval German mixed with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic and other Romance languages. It does use the Hebrew alphabet, but mostly, I’ve seen Yiddish words and phrases spelled out in English).

This is the only censorship-based edit made in the redrawn-colorized version, because the next two cuts are simply because of shoddy workmanship:

- The next cut in the redrawn version comes when, after Daffy takes Porky’s temperature with a lollipop, Daffy decides to call in a consultation by hitting himself with a mallet, summoning two ghostly versions of himself (done with double-exposure effects) who discuss with the corporeal Daffy what to do about Porky and his “condition.” That scene was cut because it was too difficult to replicate in redrawn-colorized version. The redrawn version keeps Daffy hitting himself with a mallet, then cuts to him with a saw, trying to operate on Porky. The edit makes it look like Daffy anesthetized himself before operating on Porky (like on that scene from The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” from season ten where Dr. Nick injects himself with a sedative before giving Homer his hair transplant…or the season six Simpsons episode where Dr. Nick accidentally anesthetized himself before removing Bart’s appendix), which…actually does fit in with how much of a danger Daffy is when he lives up to his name and has a job in the hospital that involves medically treating patients, up to and including performing surgery. Wow. One of the few times an edit improves a scene instead of dumbing it down or making it worse. The only bad part is the continuity error of how Daffy got the saw, though that can be written off as, “He got it off-screen” or “Sometimes, it’s best if a director doesn’t show you everything that happened.”

- The final cut comes during the infamous ending of Daffy chasing Porky with a saw and the two of them crashing into the iron lung, being spat out by the machine, and going through a comic body inflation cycle before the cartoon irises out. All that was cut on the redrawn-colorized version because (say it with me now): “It was too difficult to replicate.”

Fortunately, Nickelodeon aired a computer-colorized version in the 1990s where the only edit done was the “Hush Yo’ Mouf!”/Hebrew writing translating to “Silence is Foo!” scene to remove “Hush Yo’ Mouf!”

Decades later, when MeTV aired it the same way Cartoon Network aired some of its shorts: first uncut, then edited, then back to uncut again (surprisingly, “The Daffy Doc” was not on that list of Warner Bros cartoons that went through that ordeal. It should have been, but I guess Cartoon Network didn’t know that “Hush Yo’ Mouf!” can be construed as a stereotypical way African-Americans say, “Hush your mouth!” [sarcastically]: And they’re usually so good with identifying objectionable content in otherwise family-friendly viewing…). Initially, “The Daffy Doc” was shown uncut on MeTV until January 2023, when an episode of their classic cartoon installment show, Toon in With Me, cut Daffy holding up both the “Hush Yo’ Mouf!” sign and Hebrew sign that translates to “Silence is Foo” when shaken. Two years later (2025), the scene was reinstated.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit(s): The only thing that grinds my gears about the “Hush Yo’ Mouf!”/“Silence is Foo” part is how the MeTV version killed the joke. I wish they would have done it like Nickelodeon and just cut the first sign, or, better yet, just cut it so that way it goes from “Shhh!” to “Silence is Foo!” The rest of the edits don’t grind my gears as much because I know redrawn-colorized versions ruin great cartoons, especially those that are considered the best at being wacky and packed with wild takes.

Video Comparison: 

Availability Uncut: This one has a good run on physical home media.

- In 1985, it was released on the VHS and Beta versions of the “Warner Bros Cartoons Golden Jubilee 24 Karat” collection (on the video/Beta tape called “Daffy Duck: The Nuttiness Continues…” Of those videos, I had the Foghorn Leghorn one, the Sylvester and Tweety one, the Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner one, the Bugs Bunny one, the Speedy Gonzales one, the one showcasing the best cartoons directed by Chuck Jones, the one showcasing the best cartoons directed by Friz Freleng, and the one showcasing the best voice acting done by Mel Blanc. The Daffy one, the Porky one, and the Elmer Fudd one I never had. The Pepe Le Pew one is a gray area, because, while I never got the actual tape, I did ask someone to record some select cartoons off it in a tape trade back when I had a VCR and the “Pepe Le Pew: Zee Best of Zee Best” DVD wasn’t made yet).

- Eleven years later (1996), “The Daffy Doc” was released on a UK VHS called “Daffy Duck” as part of their “Looney Tunes Collection.”

- Ten years after the UK release (2006), it appeared as a special feature on the DVD version of The Marx Brothers film, Room Service (which featured a pre-I Love Lucy Lucille Ball. In fact, Lucille Ball did a lot of movie comedies before becoming more well-known as a TV star).

- A year after that (2007), “The Daffy Doc” was picked for the fifth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set (on disc three, which celebrates Bob Clampett’s best works. This version also has audio commentary by Mark Kausler, who does point out that, later in their respective lives, Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones didn’t like the iron lung gags because they felt it was insensitive to polio sufferers).

- Four years after that (2011), it was on disc one of The Essential Daffy Duck DVD set.

- Six years after that (2017), “The Daffy Doc” was released as part of the Porky Pig 101 DVD set (since it’s technically a Daffy/Porky cartoon).

- Finally, eight years after that (2025), “The Daffy Doc” appeared as a special feature on the Blu-ray release of the movie, The Citadel, starring Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell.

Is/Was It on Streaming or Digital Download: Yes. It was one of many Warner Bros shorts that used to be on HBO Max (then Max) between 2020 and 2025, and is now on Tubi as of 2025.

‘Til next time, Stay Looney, and Be Merrie.

 

I’d like to thank NotebookLM for helping me research and outline this and other Warner Bros shorts. It started off as just needed background material on the Porky/Sylvester horror vacation trilogy shorts, but I did find some interesting stuff on this short. Maybe I’ll do a regular, “analyzing Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies” shorts blog later, because you can learn a lot on how Daffy’s wacky persona in this short is different than it is on “The Wise Quacking Duck.”

The Night Watchman (Beaten to the Punch)

 

Director(s): Chuck Jones (credited as “Charles Jones”)

Summary: In this, Chuck Jones’ directorial debut, Tommy Cat, the son of a sick night watchman, is tasked to keep guard of the kitchen, and finds himself bullied by gangster mice. While there are gags involving mice eating the food and a musical number that doesn’t advance the plot (but does show that the mice are in control as Tommy tries to fight back), the short does have a story and character arc: Tommy, who has never had a position of authority before because of his timid demeanor, has to learn to stand up for himself so he can get the mice out of the kitchen and make his father proud.

Fun Facts:

- The obvious one: this is Chuck Jones’ first cartoon as director after years of animating for Bob Clampett, thanks to Frank Tashlin temporarily leaving Termite Terrace. This was also the start of his foray into being Disney-esque, which artistically, isn’t too bad, but since Leon Schlesinger Studios (a.k.a Termite Terrace, a.k.a Warner Bros. Animation) prided itself more on being brash and wacky (which Tex Avery and Bob Clampett did before they both left for greener pastures) to compete with Disney being beautifully animated and lacking in the jokes and gags department (though Snow White and the Seven Dwarves had its moments of being like a less harsh, but still slapstick-packed animated version of The Three Stooges, particularly in the sequence where The Seven Dwarves think their house is haunted and most scenes with Dopey. Walt even offered five dollars [that’s $112.78 in 2025 money] for the best visual and verbal gags that ended up in the movie. Not a bad price for coming up with funny stuff), most critics, fans, and even Chuck Jones himself don't/didn't think highly of his pre-1948 oeuvre (outside of "The Dover Boys," of course).

- The voice actress for Tommy Cat (Margaret Hill-Talbot, who, I’m not making this up, also went by the name “Peggy Hill” and, hopefully, was nothing like this one) would later be the voice actress for Sniffles the mouse (the Chuck Jones series of cartoons that symbolizes Jones’ early days trying to copy Disney, which has come under fire for being slow-paced and devoid of comedy [though I’d say that the comedy is lighter and not as cynical as his later works. It’s safe for kids and those who don’t like dark humor or thinks there’s too much of it in the world]).

- The short is also one of a handful of Warner Bros. cartoons that depicts the cat as the hero and the rats as the villains. It might not seem like much now, but try to look at it through the eyes of someone from 1938 who is used to seeing Warner Bros and some Disney cartoons where the cat is the enemy and the mice are the heroes (MGM wouldn’t come out with Tom and Jerry until 1940, with “Puss Gets the Boot,” so that’s why it’s not included).

-Right off the bat, you can see Chuck Jones was experimenting with visual effects and trying to take animation to new and exciting directions. “The Night Watchman” made extensive use of double exposure, as seen with the illumination of Tommy Cat’s flashlight, the singing rat trio against a spotlight, and the ghosting effects shown when all the rats glare at Tommy Cat who tells them to be quiet and when Tommy Cat’s guardian angel urges him to stand up for himself and fight back against the gangster mice. Despite Jones’s distinct vision, some sequences animated by certain artists still carried hallmarks of other Warner Bros. units, such as A.C. Gamer’s rats being drawn simply, resembling rodents from the Freleng unit, or the rats having exaggerated drawings that, ironically, would be at home on a Bob Clampett short.

Okay, enough animation history, let’s get to what we all came here to see: hardcore editing!

The Channel(s): The WB

Part(s) Edited: After Tommy Cat’s guardian angel urges him to fight back against being bullied, some scenes of Tommy Cat punching the gangster mice while “Yankee Doodle” plays are edited. The old Censored Cartoons Page and the Looney Tunes Fandom Wiki don’t go into specifics into what punches were cut, so I just went by what I think a censorship editor for a free-to-air TV channel would do.

What Wasn’t Cut But Should Have Been: The mice bullying Tommy Cat, obviously. I don’t think it’s fair if the bad guys can get away with treating the hero (or heroine [the second “e” is the difference between a female hero and a dangerous needle drug. Please remember that during your English grammar classes]) like crap, but the hero can’t fight fire with fire. Maybe the end where the main mouse villain gets pants’d, since that counts as sexual harassment/humiliation, but if “The Night Watchman” was edited around the time The WB was a TV channel (the 1990s), then that can easily be brushed off as comedic karma.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit(s): I…mentioned why I didn’t like the cut above: why do the villains get to be shown bullying the innocent, but the innocent can’t be shown fighting back with similar dirty tactics? Just once I’d like to see that if it doesn’t already exist.

Video Comparison (still using CapCut, which has an amazing free version that I want to use for my censorship blog videos...at least until it tells me I can’t use it anymore without buying it. So far, it hasn’t done that, but I have Davinci Resolve on standby in case it does. Filmora 15 is out, and I am seriously considering buying it so I can continue with my A.I. Snow White 1937 spoof [and definitely improve on the clips I have uploaded as of this writing], but that won’t come until either some time this month or in December, just in time for Christmas):

Availability Uncut: This one has a respectable presence on physical home media. First, it was on laser disc as part of The Golden Age of Looney Tunes VHS and laser disc collection (on laser disc, the short can be seen on the first volume, side 5). Then, it made its DVD debut as a bonus feature for the 2006 release of the film A Slight Case of Murder, starring Edward G. Robinson (see?), Jane Bryan, and Allen Jenkins, but the version shown was the 1995 Turner print that most likely had the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodie reissue title cards (it’s uncut, I assure you, but most people are anal when it comes to classic Warner Bros shorts having their original beginning and ending titles restored).

Speaking of which, the version of this short that has its original beginning and ending titles restored is available on the fourth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection (disc four, featuring obscure cat characters that aren’t Sylvester, Sylvester, Jr., or Claude) and all of its repackaged versions, such as Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection (a smaller collection of Looney Tunes shorts that is more suited for those who don’t like or don’t want their children to see the more racially offensive and sexually-charged content. I only got the first volume of the Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection because that’s all I could afford before I got the actual Golden Collection. Pretty sure I sold the Spotlight Collection for food money in college), the international version called Looney Tunes All Stars (volume 5), and the Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection (volumes four and five repack).

Is/Was It on Streaming or Digital Download: It did a nickel (five years) on HBO Max (and Max before it reverted to its original name). It’s now on Tubi as the 700-800 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts available for free streaming as of this writing.

There’s no “‘Til next time…” because I included it in the video comparison above, but I will conclude with Sarthurva U.’s line from the “Claws for Alarm” podcast:

Stay Looney, and Be Merrie.

Porky/Sylvester Horror Vacation Trilogy -- Episode Two -- Yes, Andrea, There Is A Sanity Claws

The Censorship Report for “The Night Watchman” will not be seen today, because he got scared off by the murderous mice that came from the following horrifying segment…

Sarthurva U and Andrea Hicks are back, and continuing their look at the Porky/Sylvester horror vacation trilogy. This is the second one, “Claws for Alarm.” This one is considered the scariest, most artistic one in the lot, thanks to Maurice Noble’s artwork and eerie color palette, the tighter pacing, how it leans more into horror than comedy, the mice being more of a threat (and not vanquished at all), and the subtle inklings that this was going to be a 3D cartoon in the same vein as “Lumber Jack-Rabbit.”

Like “Scaredy Cat,” this one also had edits to it, but “Claws for Alarm” had more of them, and Cartoon Network actually left this uncut in the twilight years of the channel airing classic Warner Bros shorts. I’ll let Sarthurva and Andrea explain. The blog will be back to its regularly-scheduled format next time.

Porky in Wackyland and Dough for the Do-Do (A Do-Do-Double Feature)

Director(s): Bob Clampett (for “Porky in Wackyland”); Friz Freleng (uncredited for “Dough for the Do-Do”)

Summary: Both shorts center on Porky traveling to Darkest Africa (where the African country of Niger [that one “g” is very important! It doesn’t need to be doubled. And it’s pronounced “Nye-jer”] would realistically be on the map) to capture the last dodo in existence [Dodo birds actually lived on the island of Mauritius, which is near Madagascar [yes, it’s not just a 2000s kids’ animated movie] for a four sextillion (which is 21 zeroes on the short scale system, as used in the United States, Canada, and most other English-speaking countries, barring Great Britain. The long scale, used in Great Britain, France, and Germany, has 36 zeroes in their sextillion) dollar reward. And if you think I’m going to run this through the inflation calculator to see how much purchasing power that is in 2025, you’re “Cuckoo! Cuckoo!”

Fun Facts: “Porky in Wackyland” is quite famous -- nay, it’s one of the most iconic Warner Bros. cartoons ever made. Besides having a color sequel in “Dough for the Do-Do” and the Do-Do (named Yoyo Dodo retroactively) having a son named Gogo Dodo on the 1990s version of Tiny Toon Adventures (the one where the voice actors are Charlie Adler [later replaced by John Kassir], Tress MacNeille, Don Messick, Joe Alaskey, Kath Soucie, Cree Summer [credited as “Cree Summer Francks”], Gail Matthius, Frank Welker, Danny Cooksey, Jeff Bergman, Gregg Berg, Maurice LaMarche, and occasionally, Noel Blanc), “Porky in Wackyland” is:

One of four cartoons put in the National Film Registry and considered “culturally relevant” by the Library of Congress in the United States

The only National Film Registry entry not directed by Chuck Jones

The only National Film Registry entry that’s a Looney Tune (the rest are Merrie Melodies)

On the final installment of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (speaking of this cartoon and Nickelodeon, expect a lot of online comments on how this cartoon “predicted” CatDog just because it had one fleeting scene of a creature that’s half-cat, half-dog) that aired on September 11^th…of 1999 (ha! Gotcha!)

In at #8 on The 50 Greatest Cartoons list (so it made the Top Ten, but not the Top Five).

Much like “Have You Got Any Castles,” also the closest a Censored Eleven cartoon has come to airing on American TV, as some of the scenes would be recycled for “Tin Pan Alley Cats.”

The Channel(s): Sunset Productions/Guild Films and Nickelodeon (for “Porky in Wackyland”); ABC (for “Dough for the Do-Do”)

Part(s) Edited:

Uncut Scenes	Was Edited on the Sunset Production/Guild Films print for U.S. Syndication	Was Edited on Nickelodeon	Was Edited on ABC
Porky seeing a black, wide-mouth duck saying “Mammy” as he passes by him	No	Yes (“Porky in Wackyland” only)	Yes (“Dough for the Do-Do” only)
Three-headed freak going Three Stooges on itself (read: slaps itself, pokes its eyes, tweaks its nose)	No	No	Yes (“Dough for the Do-Do” only)
Do-Do pops into frame on the WB shield and slingshots Porky into the ground	Yes (“Porky in Wackyland” only)	No	Yes (“Dough for the Do-Do” only)

As you can see from the chart, the remake “Dough for the Do-Do” is more edited than “Porky in Wackyland,” though that’s because ABC was stricter against showing violent and racially insensitive content. The third cut on ABC (the WB shield one), however, was done, not just because of slapstick violence (the slingshot), but because of copyright/studio rivalry reasons. You see, back before Disney made ABC its bitch, ABC was the bitch to a theater chain that was part of Paramount Studios (the same Paramount that’s now associated with Nickelodeon) and Warner Bros was one of Paramount’s rivals,so showing a symbol from a rival company was (most likely) against the rules (at least from the legal department, not Standards and Practices [the network censors]). “Porky in Wackyland”’s reason for cutting the Warner Bros. shield part when syndicated by Sunset Productions/Guild Films was because Warner Bros back in the 1950s initially didn’t want to be associated with television, because television was considered the imminent death of the movies (it still is, but now you have the Internet, streaming, people giving up on TV and media in general for many reasons, from boredom to hating how politicized, sleazy, mindless, and/or overly inoffensive and politically correct it’s become [yeah, I don’t get it, but that’s Internet commentary for ya]; and, if you can believe it, books [yes, people still read, even if some have learning difficulties]).

What Wasn’t Cut But Should Have Been: I…don’t think there’s anything…at least for “Porky in Wackyland.” ABC’s version of “Dough for the Do-Do” could have cut Porky getting a brick dropped on its head (like how “Homeless Hare” cut Bugs dropping a brick on Hoicules the construction worker’s head). They already cut the Al Jolson duck,  the three-headed freak abusing itself (in a non-sexual way; I know “abusing oneself” is a euphemism for masturbation in some circles), and the WB shield/slingshot part. Why not cut a fourth scene and go for the record?

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit(s): Nothing, though it did use to confuse me as to why the WB shield part would be cut from the Sunset Productions/Guild Films version. The same scene in “Dough for the Do-Do” at least had a good reason that I discovered right off the bat (copyright reasons/the network it played on wasn’t associated with Warner Brothers, so they couldn’t legally show it).

Video Comparison (still using Wondershare Filmora free version. I would use Da Vinci Resolve, but that eats up a lot of gigabytes on my computer [No video should be 4.18 gigs if it’s only three minutes, as seen with my severely-edited “Jungle Jitters” video]. Will definitely buy the version that doesn’t export watermarked videos before 2025 is over, as this is the time of year I make a lot of money at my job because of the increase in hours and paid holiday time):

“Porky in Wackyland” edits:

 

“Dough for the Do-Do” edits:

(forgive some of the errors in the video; I was behind schedule due to work and software issues)

Availability Uncut: Since “Porky in Wackyland” (and, to a lesser extent, “Dough for the Do-Do”) is considered one of the iconic Warner Bros. shorts, both have been released on home media.

“Porky in Wackyland” releases:

Ham on Wry: The Porky Pig Laser Collection (LaserDisc, 1993)

Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, volume 7: Welcome to Wackyland (VHS, 2000)

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume 2, disc three (DVD, 2004)

Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: volume 2, disc one (DVD, 2004)

Looney Tunes Collection: Best of Tweety and Sylvester, volume one (DVD, 2005, available in Region 2 areas)

Looney Tunes Big Faces Box Set: Tweety Pie (DVD, 2011, available in the United Kingdom)

Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, volume 2 (DVD and Blu-ray, 2012; Blu-ray was later brought back in 2025)

Looney Tunes 3 Feature Collection Best Of (2012, “Porky and Daffy” disc, DVD, available in Region 2 areas)

Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection, volumes 2 and 3 repack (2014, DVD)

Porky Pig 101 (2017, DVD, disc 3)

Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection, volumes 1-3 repack (2018, DVD)

“Dough for the Do-Do” releases:

The Looney Tunes Video Show, volume 6 (VHS, 1982, Canada and UK release only)

Warner Bros. Cartoons Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection: Porky Pig’s Screw Ball Comedies (VHS and Beta, 1985, time-compressed)

Longitude and Looneytude: Globetrotting Looney Tunes Favorites (1994, LaserDisc)

Looney Tunes Presents: Taz's Jungle Jams (1998, VHS)

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume 1 (2003, DVD, disc 2)

Looney Tunes Collection Best of Daffy and Porky (2004, DVD and video CD, available in Region 2 areas)

Looney Tunes Big Faces Box Set: Daffy Duck (2011, DVD)

Looney Tunes 3 Feature Collection Best Of (2012, “Porky and Daffy” disc, DVD, available in Region 2 areas)

Is/Was It on Streaming or Digital Download: “Porky in Wackyland” isn’t available on streaming or digital download as of this writing, but “Dough for the Do-Do” is (I don’t understand why. Anything “Dough for the Do-Do” has, “Porky in Wackyland” does too, so why choose one over the other?). “Dough for the Do-Do” was on Boomerang’s streaming service from 2017 to 2024 and is now on Tubi as part of the 700 to 800 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts available for free. If you’re into digital downloading, you can find it on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video (exact uploading years for both services are unknown, but it’s there and that’s all that matters).

‘Til next time…

What If...Jungle Jitters Was Edited for Content (The Da Vinci Resolve Code)

In my senior year of high school, I started tooling around with video editing (why I didn’t chose that as my college major, I’ll never know. I am good at it and trying to get better). One of the exercises I did was…kind of like what I do now with the approximation/compare and contrast videos: see if I can replicate the censorship cuts found in the classic cartoons. However, I also did Snow White Remix (the 2007-08 version. As I mentioned before, the 2025 version is on hiatus for retooling) as an experiment in recontexualizing film through edits (and making running commentary on it) and edited a King of the Hill episode (season one’s “The Order of the Straight Arrow,” not to be confused with season 13’s “Straight As An Arrow”) to make it look like it was cut on a FOX affiliate (or a family-friendly TV channel with moderate to heavy Christian values that aired edited for syndication [and content] versions of shows from other networks) during teatime/after school into early evening hours, before primetime. However, my earliest film editing experiment was editing the Censored Eleven short “Jungle Jitters” to see if the edited version is suitable for airing on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “This is a Censored Eleven cartoon. Editing those shorts to get rid of the outdated African/African-American stereotypes is like draining the oceans of the world: difficult, impossible, and can lead to disaster for those crazy enough to try.” Well, I like a challenge. How hard can it be to remove all the scenes of the African cannibals (including one who speaks in a stereotypical Japanese voice for no reason other than for Friz Freleng to make the short more racially insensitive than it already is. The man’s a visionary)? Answer: it’s easy, but the results are incoherent. At least with “September in the Rain,” having most (or all) of its black caricatures cut doesn’t make or break the story, as it’s one of those near-plotless “products come to life in a closed store” musical shorts that Termite Terrace had a lot of in its “wannabe Disney” phase. Here…yeah, not so much.

So, as an amuse-bouche to the “Porky in Wackyland/Dough for the Do-Do” entry (as well as the podcast/running commentary video on “Claws for Alarm,” hopefully coming in time for Halloween), enjoy this amateur attempt at making a Censored Eleven cartoon suitable for general audiences. 

For those who don’t want that, “Jungle Jitters,” despite not being released on home media, is a public domain short and can easily be found on YouTube and other video sites.

Wholly Smoke (Three Car[toon] Pile-Up on Tobacco Road)

READER WARNING: This is probably my filthiest episode yet due to the frequent mentions of things that will trigger and upset modern-day audiences, including references to sexual and non-sexual abuse, one use of homophobic language, references to discrimination, and, of course, outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes. If you know my blog by now and what I cover, then you shouldn’t worry about it. If not, then I suggest you either stop reading here or continue on, but know that I do not condone or encourage any bad behavior or upsetting situations presented here. All of these are fleeting references shown in an educational/historical context mixed with humor to make it less of an emotionally-draining slog. The only reason I put this warning here is because there are crybabies out there who don’t want to listen to reason. Then again, no one really comments on my blog anyway, so why am I worried? Still though, it’s a safety precaution in case it does happen.

Director(s): Frank Tashlin

Summary: In this Very Special Episode™ (not really, but the subject matter does put it there by the high, personal standards of the generation who grew up on sitcoms and funny cartoons that suddenly had episodes that tackled serious issues, like drug/alcohol/tobacco use, sexual abuse [including sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault, child molestation, and sexual intimidation/blackmail], non-sexual abuse [including domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, bullying, self-harm, and suicide], family strife, body image issues, mental health problems, gun violence, terminal illness, dealing with death, and everyone’s favorite modern-day problem:  showing that discrimination based on race, gender identity, sexual preference, social class, disability, and religion is alive and well after all these years), a God-fearing Porky Pig (depicted as a child here) is sent to church by his mother (who gives him a nickel for the collection plate) and gets sidetracked when a young tough guy bets that Porky can outsmoke him on his cigar, leading Porky to stumble into a closed tobacco shop and meet Nick O’Teen, a smoke cloud that ruins Porky’s respiratory system to teach him the lesson that little boys shouldn’t smoke.

Fun Facts:

• This is the final Looney Tunes cartoon Frank Tashlin directed during his first stint at the studio, where he left to work at Disney and, later, Screen Gems. Tashlin’s departure (as well as his expressive animation work) is what landed Chuck Jones his new position as animation director (though he wouldn’t become the animation icon he is now until later). Don’t worry, Tashlin fans. Frank would come back just as World War II started (which coincided with Norm McCabe getting drafted and ending his brief stint as director with the shockingly offensive, “definitely-a-product-of-more-racist-times” short “Tokio Jokio”) and he’d make more shorts until he left again to do live-action comedies that feel like cartoons due to how wacky they are.
• Tedd Pierce (one of Termite Terrace’s most prolific animation writers, joining Michael Maltese and Warren Foster) voiced Porky Pig’s mom and Nick O’Teen

The Channel(s): Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends (FOX version; I found a syndicated version that was computer-colorized and uncut), Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang.

Part(s) Edited: There’s a lot to cover on which channel cut and altered what, so I’m going to break it down the only way I know how: through lists (trust me. When you watch the compare/contrast video, you are going to need the lists to keep track):

Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends (FOX edition) Version:

• Cut the matchsticks striking themselves and becoming blackfaced as they harmonize the beginning of the “Little Boys Shouldn’t Smoke” song. Didn’t cut the second shot of the blackfaced matches after the London pipe says, “Children should not smoke, rather!”

• Aired a version where the pipe cleaner walking around, heading for a dirty pipe, sticking his head in it, coming out looking like Cab Calloway, and singing “Little BOYS shouldn’t smoke!” was cut. The shot of the blackfaced pipe cleaner during the end montage of the song was not cut.

Nickelodeon/Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon Version

• Also cut the matchsticks striking themselves and becoming blackfaced as they harmonize the beginning of the “Little Boys Shouldn’t Smoke” song. Didn’t cut the second shot of the blackfaced matches after the London pipe says, “Children should not smoke, rather!”

• Aired a computer-colorized version where the pipe cleaner walking around, heading for a dirty pipe, sticking his head in it, coming out looking like Cab Calloway, and singing “Little BOYS shouldn’t smoke!” was cut, even though I distinctly remember that scene being uncut on Nickelodeon in the early 1990s (there was also video evidence that Nickelodeon aired an uncut, computer-colorized version, but I can’t seem to find it. The closest I can find is the syndicated Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends version). Neither version cut the shot of the blackfaced pipe cleaner during the end montage of the song.

Cartoon Network and Boomerang Version

• Aired a redrawn-colorized version that kept in the matchsticks striking themselves, but changed the blackface to redface (which sounds what happens when a white person plays a Native/Indigenous American, a Communist Russian, or someone who’s constantly embarrassed or has high blood pressure. Hey, if yellowface is used for white people playing Asian and brownface for white people playing people from India, African-Americans, Latinos, or really anyone with brown skin, then redface can be for that).

• Cut the Cab Calloway pipe cleaner part rather obviously. They left in the white pipe cleaner walking out and looking around, then, because they also cut the Indian peace pipes dancing around Porky as he’s tied to a flaming pipe, immediately cut to the scene of a Cuban cigar climbing out of the box and shaking two matchboxes like maracas.

• Had an alternate version of the end of the musical number after the Busby Berkeley-esque cigarette march spelling out, “NO SMOKING,” that replaces the scenes cut for being racially insensitive with more benign footage, which, for some reason, includes the Indian peace pipe part that was edited. The video explains it better than I could.

What Wasn’t Cut But Should Have Been: The “Light a fag/and take a drag” line, of course, since U.S. slang uses “fag” more as a homophobic slur rather than a slang term for a cigarette. The UK (and possibly Australia/New Zealand) uses “fag” to mean both, though some people think the UK only uses the “cigarette” variant. Also: neither channel cut the Cuban cigars part (even though the sombreros and dancing suggest that they’re Mexican. Cuba and Mexico don’t have the same culture, and their Spanish does have differences and nuances to it too, especially when it comes to accents, pronunciation, and the slang/colloquialisms).

It really doesn’t matter. The use of that word (whether to describe a cigarette or fan the flames of homophobia), the underage smoking theme, and the outdated racial/ethnic stereotypes are why this short isn’t as frequently-shown as it used to be, which is a shame, because the underage smoking theme isn’t glamorized or encouraged. The cartoon’s main message is that smoking is bad for kids (or anthropomorphic animals coded as children for the sake of the story).

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit(s): The only thing that grinds my gears is Cartoon Network’s/Boomerang’s version. Not only is it a redrawn-colorized (which means terrible art and coloring and worse animation), but the way they cut the Cab Calloway pipe cleaner scene was appalling in how painfully obvious it is. Most versions would just cut away after the white pipe cleaner puts his head in the dirty pipe (I’m assuming that’s what Nickelodeon’s edited version did after it aired uncut) or go from Porky getting force-fed chewing tobacco to the Cuban/Mexican cigar dance number. Either version would have been fine with me. Cartoon Network’s and Boomerang’s version just had the pipe cleaner walk around, then cut to the Cuban/Mexican cigar dance number, which isn’t fine with me, because the uncut version has stuck with me for so long that if there was a change, I’d instantly know it.

Video Comparison: Here it is, in all its infuriating (at least to me) glory. I’m still using Filmora Wondershare with the watermark. It’s going to take me a few weeks to get the un-watermarked version. I tried making it on Da Vinci Resolve, but it kept crashing on me:

 

Availability Uncut: It didn’t have any VHS, laser disc, or even Super8 releases. It was only released on DVD and Blu-ray. Here are the DVD sets you can find them on (all uncut, uncensored, in black and white, and remastered and restored):

• Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD (volume 5, disc four, with optional commentary by Daniel Goldmark, who talks about the musical cues of the short)
• Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Blu-ray (volume 3, disc two, same version from the Golden Collection DVD)
• Porky Pig 101 DVD (disc 3)

Is/Was It on Streaming or Digital Download?: Not as of this writing, and probably never because of the un-PC content (mostly the racial caricatures, but some might not like the underage smoking theme or the fact that Porky goes to a Christian church. Where else is he going to go? Jews and Muslims don’t allow pigs, pork, or anything made from pork and pork by-products. Then, there are the religions that feel that eating animals is wrong and would rather be vegetarian or vegan for moral reasons rather than for health reasons…). So, enjoy the DVD releases while you can.

Before I close out, I want to share this video that also covers how “Wholly Smoke” was censored on American TV, but my version actually covers what channels cut it and the differences between cuts:

'Til next time...

Have You Got Any Castles? (Black Woollcott)

Director(s): Frank Tashlin

Summary: The second of Frank Tashlin’s “Midnight in the Bookstore” shorts (first is “Speaking of the Weather,” which I covered before, and the third is “You’re An Education”). This one is introduced by Alex Woollcott, includes The Three Musketeers breaking The Prisoner of Zenda out of jail, and Rip Van Winkle shutting down the latest après-minuit literary party because he needs his sleep (why? He’s had 100 years’ worth).

Compared to “Speaking of the Weather,” this is a bit heavier on the racial/ethnic caricatures of years past, but “You’re An Education” wins at the end of the day. Despite that, this short (and the other two)  did make its rounds on American TV and did appear on home media, as mentioned below.

The Channel(s): Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodie reissue version, TBS, Cartoon Network, and unnamed syndication (local affiliate stations).

Part(s) Edited: Before I get in on the edits done to remove racial/ethnic stereotypes, I’d like to start with the edits done on the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodie reissue, which also applies to the syndicated versions and the versions shown on TBS and Cartoon Network.

Alex Woollcott (who was caricatured before on Tashlin’s “The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos”) did not like his caricature in this short, so he requested it to be cut when the short was reissued to theaters (which, coincidentally, happened after he died). This decision affected only two scenes in this short: the beginning where Woollcott introduces the literary performance and the end when he closes out the short, and the cuckoo bird is muffled while Rip Van Winkle continues to sleep (that scene was an innocent bystander that got removed because the Alex Woollcott scenes got deleted). The reissued version was the version that aired on television (when it did air on television), including TBS and Cartoon Network.

In addition to the appearances of Alex Woollcott, TBS’ version also cut Bill “Bojangles” Robinson tap dancing up and down the cover of The 39 Steps, the “Swing for Sale” part that was recycled from the Censored Eleven cartoon “Clean Pastures,” and both scenes of Rip Van Winkle cutting Uncle Tom’s hair to use as earplugs during the performance of the title song (with Uncle Tom punching Rip Van Winkle in the face several times and cutting his beard the second time).

If you can believe it, Cartoon Network actually aired this cartoon during their weekday morning installment show, The Acme Hour (which is a collection of Warner Bros., MGM, and Fleischer shorts with the intro, outro, and commercial bumpers showing what it’s like to be on the business end of classic cartoon slapstick, like getting hit in the face with a plank, falling off a cliff, having a piano drop on your head, wearing rocket-powered roller skates, covering a house with invisible paint, flooding a living room after using an ACME brand glass cutter on an aquarium, etc) and aired a version where the only edits made were to the bookend scenes with Woollcott, as well as the final image where Rip Van Winkle is asleep on the cuckoo clock after tying the bird’s beak shut, making this the closest that a Censored Eleven cartoon has come to airing on television in the United States because the “Clean Pastures” part with Cab Calloway singing “Swing for Sale” wasn’t censored. The short eventually got phased out and replaced with other cartoons, so, you know, pyrrhic victory.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: It’s been a while, but we’re back with, “The edits are jarring, but since this is one of those thinly-plotted musical cartoons, it doesn’t affect anything else about it.” At least, when it comes to the “Clean Pastures”/“Swing for Sale” part that was edited on TBS. The reissue cuts will leave you wondering what was edited from the beginning and ending (though the ending cut is seamlessly done) and why if you’ve never seen this short before and know nothing of its history…then, when you find the reason, you’ll either still ask, “Why?” or just say, “Oh,” and carry on.

Video Comparison: You can tell that the Alex Woollcott scenes were supposed to be edited out because the newer version has film splice marks on it. The other cuts, well…let’s go to the video:

Availability Uncut: It’s on the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laser disc (volume 1, side 1: 1930s Musicals) and VHS (volume 1: 1930s Musicals), but it’s most likely the version that didn’t restore the Alex Woollcott scenes. Those scenes wouldn’t be restored until the Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume two DVD set. This also applies to volume two of the Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection (and all its repackaged versions, such as The Looney Tunes Collection All Stars, The Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection Double Feature [a repack of volumes two and three], and The Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection volumes 1-3 repack). It’s also a special feature on the DVD version of the movie Varsity Show, starring Dick Powell and Fred Waring, though I don’t know specifically if it’s the older version without Alex Woollcott or the newer version with him. The older version has become harder to find than the newer version, which is everywhere thanks to the short being in the public domain since 1967 and the relative easer in which one can upload the newer version on YouTube and let that proliferate (or “go viral,” in today’s terms).

Is/Was It Available on Streaming?: No, it isn’t. That also applies to “Speaking of the Weather” (which I covered prior to the news that Tubi uploaded the Warner Bros shorts on their service) and “You’re An Education” (which I’m covering in a future special post about cartoons with scenes that have missing scenes long before television censors got their hands on them. It wasn’t edited for anything on the one time it aired on Cartoon Network, but it was replaced with another cartoon on a rerun of the animation history show, ToonHeads, for the episode “Midnight in the Bookstore”). This shouldn't worry you, though, because it's a public domain cartoon and it can be watched on YouTube or on the Golden Collection DVD.

As an added bonus, here’s the actual, uncut version of “Have You Got Any Castles?”, complete with outdated racial stereotypes and scenes featuring Alex Woollcott:

And a censored version shown on a former WB affiliate known as WB18 (I have no idea what state had that as a channel. The closest I could find is either WBG18 in Wheeling, West Virginia or WVTV18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin):

This version just cut the “Bill Robinson tap dances up and down The 39 Steps” and the “Swing for Sale” part (in very much the same way I did on the approximation video, only they left in the part where The Invisible Man and Topper perform a tap-dance number. I just assumed it would be cut for continuity reasons, like the part where they show Greta Garbo on the cover of So Big in yet another joke about how she had big feet for a woman), as well as the Alex Woollcott scenes. The Rip Van Winkle/Uncle Tom parts weren’t censored.

‘Til next time…