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to sexual and non-sexual abuse, one use of homophobic language, references to discrimination, and, of course, outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes.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. However, I’m going to draw the likely conclusion that this, 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). 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).

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. 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.

'Til next time...