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 11th…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…
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