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…

Porky's Party (Ain't N-N-No Party Like a P-P-P-Porky Pig Party, 'Cuz a P-P-Porky Pig Party Don't S-S-S-Doesn't End)

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

Summary: Porky is having a birthday party, where he must deal with a Chinese silkworm that creates lingerie if you say “sew,” a penguin who swallowed a top hat that won’t stop popping up, and a drunk dog that’s been mistaken for rabid. Why can’t any of my birthday parties be this fun?!

Fun Facts:

• This short was originally titled, “Porky’s Birthday Surprise!”
• Chuck Jones’ work in this short (particularly the scene of Porky’s pet dog, Black Fury, getting wasted on an alcohol-based hair tonic in the bathroom) was so good, he was granted a position as director later in 1938.
• The storyboards on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume 3 special features originally showed that Gabby Goat (Porky’s comedy partner in such shorts as “Porky and Gabby,” “Porky’s Badtime Story,” and “Get Rich Quick Porky” -- all from 1937, with “Get Rich Quick Porky” as the only short that’s fallen into the public domain) and Petunia Pig were supposed to be in this short as the party guests, but, for whatever reason, were replaced with a goofy, prank-playing goose and an irritable penguin.

The Channel(s): Nickelodeon

Part(s) Edited: Here we go again, another batch of redrawn-colorized version edits. This time around, there are no issues with outdated racial stereotypes (unless you count the bucktoothed Chinese silkworm, whose appearance, surprisingly, was not a problem when this aired on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and, I’m going to assume, MeTV), but parts are missing (READER NOTE: These scenes weren’t edited when Nickelodeon aired the computer-colorized version of this short).

Cut #1: The scene of Goosey helping the penguin flatten the top hat that keeps growing from his head (including using the penguin as a battering ram and running him into the wall) was shortened.

Cut #2: When Porky freaks out over a rabid dog (not knowing that it’s Black Fury drunk and with shaving cream all over his mouth) and runs into the closet (with Black Fury close behind), Nickelodeon cut the short scene of Porky lighting a match to see that Black Fury is behind him in the closet.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: The first edit grinds my gears more than the second edit. With the second edit, I can chalk it up as “Nickelodeon doesn’t want kids lighting matches in small spaces, because that’s dangerous, imitable behavior.” The first edit is just slapstick and not all that violent (though some might argue that it is imitable, considering that it’s easy to pick someone up and use them as a battering ram. Even if it takes two or more people to hold the person up, it can be done if you’re drunk and/or you believe in yourself), so why would it be cut? Some theories include, “The redrawn-colorized version got rid of scenes that had lively and frenetic animation because the people doing the redrawing couldn’t copy Bob Clampett’s style at the time” and the ever-popular “The scene ate a lot of clock that could be better used for commercials, station ID interstitials, promos for other shows, some movie trailers, and other cartoons, so some of it had to be trimmed for pacing.”

Video Comparison: Once again, I found a redrawn-colorized version that actually aired on Nickelodeon. Please excuse the Filmora watermark; something happened that caused me to revert to the free version instead of the paid version. Until I can get it fixed (or I give up, whichever comes first), I will be using Da Vinci Resolve for all my videos on this blog and the A.I.-generated Snow White project (currently on hiatus due to outside obligations, but it will be back before the end of the year at the earliest and the start of 2026 at the latest):

Availability Uncut: The computer-colorized version was available on a 1992 VHS called “Porky Pig: Days of Swine and Roses.” The original black and white version can be seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set (volume 3), with the original storyboard available as a special feature and DVD commentary by John Kricfalusi (Bob Clampett’s fan and protégé; while he can be annoying about his love for the man, I do like that he picks up on how Clampett mixes in the childlike vibe with risqué humor in this short, as seen with the Chinese silkworm creating women’s lingerie or the dog getting drunk on hair tonic. Shame he didn’t include it more in his works, opting instead for weirdness and gross-out humor that feels inappropriate for kids) and Eddie Fitzgerald (who worked on Ren and Stimpy with John K and seems to me like he was influential too…at least when it came to the character design. The “What a Cartoon!” short “Tales of Worm Paranoia” really scream, “Hey, that’s Ren and Stimpy’s style…at least after John K was let go.”), as well as the Porky Pig 101 DVD.

Is/Was It Available on Streaming?: Sorry, no. No HBO Max/Max releases (not even in Latin America and Brazil, where a lot of the shorts that were too spicy for America ended up), no digital download availability, and definitely no appearance on Tubi.

‘Til next time… 

Porky the Fireman (Moments of Doubt)

Director(s): Frank Tashlin

Summary: Porky is a fireman who, along with his fellow firefighters, has to save a theatrical boarding house from burning down. Most of the cartoon is just visual gags centered on a harrowing situation like this, but they’re good gags and do showcase Tashlin’s skills as an animation director, which would serve him well when he did live-action years later.

The Channel(s): Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network (and possibly unnamed syndication) 

Part(s) Edited: The Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network versions both cut the scene of the falling white guy screaming, “Help! Help! Catch me! Get the net ready! Hurry! Hurry!”, going through a black cloud, and coming out as a caricature of Stepin Fetchit lazily calling for help as he now floats down. There is also word that the scene after that where Porky collects the flames and dumps them into a fishbowl, leaving the fish in blackface was also cut on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, but that’s the half-truth. The computer-colorized versions never edited that part, but a redrawn-colorized version exists where the “falling white guy turns into Stepin Fetchit” part is completely cut and the fishbowl part is altered so that way the fish are red instead of black (similar to how the matches were recolored red instead of black on “Wholly Smoke” -- stay tuned for that one. It’s coming), though I don’t know if that’s a censorship cut or yet another example of redrawns being so bad that miscoloring objects is common.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: There’s nothing that grinds my gears about the edit (though you could still tell what the punchline was going to be…unless this is your first Looney Tunes cartoon and you have no idea of the racially insensitive jokes that the shorts used to have). However, there was a time where a lot of online commentators thought that the scene that was cut never existed in the first place. What’s worse is that I believed them and didn’t have that critical voice in the back of my head that said, “No! They’re wrong! Do research to make sure that the scene actually existed.” I’ve had faint whisperings of it, but I was firmly in the camp of “The scene might not have existed, and if it did, it’s lost to time.” Turns out when it was released on home media, the scene was real and any doubts I had vanished (plus, it’s fun to see online commentators be proven wrong with cold, hard, substantial evidence. Admit it).

Video Comparison:

Availability Uncut: As of this writing, it’s on two DVD releases: The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume 4 (disc 2) and the Porky Pig 101 DVD set (disc 3).

Is/Was It Available on Streaming?: Sadly, no. It’s not even available on digital download. I understand if HBO Max (“Max”) or Tubi won’t touch it, but this feels like it could have been available on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video before being taken off for racially-insensitive content, like with what happened to episodes of 30 Rock and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia following the George Floyd riots in 2020 when Hollywood finally realized that the blackface scenes they let slip by in their modern shows aren’t appropriate (though it did lead to an episode of Community getting cut because a dark elf costume was mistaken for blackface. I’m so sure the episode is back now thanks to viewer complaints). It’s just one part that’s the problem. But, hey, that’s what physical media and the Internet are for: to find evidence to lost media, whether it’s the actual media or witness testimonial.

‘Til next time…

Injun Trouble (Give Me Liberty or Give Me a Break)

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

Summary: In the days when most of the United States was “Indian Territory” (a disporportionate part, if the map in the cartoon is indicative of anything), Porky sets off on a wagon train expedition from New York to the territory that would later become California, where he and his horse run afoul of Injun Joe and a strange, bearded man who knows something about Injun Joe that others don’t.

Fun Facts: 

• This has a color remake called “Wagon Heels” that was released in 1945. That one I remember seeing more as a kid. How? Well, late 1980s/early 1990s TBS and TNT did air some cartoons that had racially insensitive content (mostly stereotypes of Native Americans, though, as I mentioned before, there was one instance of “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” airing in the early 1990s).
• There’s another WB cartoon called “Injun Trouble” that also rarely, if ever, gets aired much because of outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes. The second “Injun Trouble” is a late 1960s Cool Cat cartoon (1969, to be exact) that really shows just how far the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies have fallen in quality. It’s considered one of the rarest WB shorts ever and is the last new Golden Age short released in theaters.
• This is one of the many non-Censored Eleven/non-Bugs Bunny 12 cartoons that doesn’t air much because of Native American stereotypes, even though “Wagon Heels” had more airtime (both on and off Cartoon Network). “Injun Trouble” isn’t even included on The Bob Clampett Show (the early 2000s Cartoon Network show celebrating Bob Clampett’s works when he worked at Termite Terrace and when he went on to do Beany and Cecil), but it was shown on...

The Channel(s): ...Cartoon Network (Late Night Black and White)

Part(s) Edited: A rather inexplicable cut. When Injun Joe is chasing Porky with an axe, a brief part where Injun Joe is chasing Porky up one side of a tree is cut, though the rest of the scene where he chases Porky down the other side and creates a wooden replica of The Statue of Liberty wasn’t cut.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: It doesn’t “grind my gears,” but it does make me ask questions, like, “What was the point of cutting this?”, “Shouldn’t the whole scene be cut if a Cartoon Network censor had a problem with a Native American creating The Statue of Liberty out of a tree?”, “Who would think that scene was problematic in the first place?”, and “Why am I bothering? I should be used to the poor decisions and inexplicable reasons behind American censorship by now.”

Video Comparison:

Availability Uncut: For obvious reasons, it didn’t/doesn’t air much on TV (not even when Cartoon Network had The Bob Clampett Show, as mentioned in “Fun Facts”). It does, however, have a DVD release: 2017’s Porky Pig 101 DVD set…and that’s probably where it’ll stay until someone gets the courage to remaster it to Blu-ray.

For comparison, Wagon Heels had more home media releases: it was on two Viddy-Oh! For Kids VHSes, one Cartoon Moviestar VHS, The Golden Age of Looney Tunes laser disc set (volume 3, side 9: “Porky and Daffy”), volume 5 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set, the “Porky Pig and Friends: Hilarious Ham” volume of the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVD collection (as well as its repackaged reissue Looney Tunes Super Stars Family Multi-Feature Vol. 2), and is a bonus cartoon for the DVD version of the Western movie San Antonio, starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith.

Is/Was It Available on Streaming?: Never was and (most likely) never will be, not even on Tubi. This also applies to “Wagon Heels.”

Rather than a “‘Til next time” ending, I’d like to close out today’s blog with an installment of “Animator Breakdown,” a recurring segment on the website “Cartoon Research” in which Devon Baxter identifies which animator animated which scene in classic cartoons (mostly Warner Bros., but he’s done different studios). Today’s installment, of course, is a look at not just who animated the individual scenes on “Injun Trouble” (1938 edition) and “Wagon Heels.”

UPDATE (10/14/2025): While searching for redrawn- and computer-colorized versions of some upcoming entries for this blog, I found a version of this short that aired on South American TV (so it’s in Spanish, not Portuguese, Dutch, French, or English/Guyanese Creole like you get in Brazil, Suriname, French Guiana, or Guyana. The channel is ATV from Peru), is computer-colorized, and also cut the short part where Injun Joe chases Porky up one side of a tree, creating half of the Statue of Liberty. Check it out here. There's also another Spanish channel that aired it in color and with the same edit (I'm beginning to suspect there was a film splice issue when colorizing it, and this wasn't actually a censorship cut). That one is from Canal 13 in Guatemala, which is a Central American country (that strip of land starting from south Mexico and ending in Panama).