Little Beau Porky
Encyclopedia
Little Beau Porky is a Looney Tunes
cartoon
short produced by Leon Schlesinger
and released in 1936. Porky
is in the French Foreign Legion
as a camel
scrubber, but after fighting off the enemy, ends up as Commandant
.
A service man rides into the fortress on a camel to deliver to the Commandant a "Camelgram". The cable, from General Sanflee, says that Ali Mode's Riff Raffs have attacked, and to "...come at once -- Time's a wastin!". The Commandant immediately calls his men to arms, and they all leave the fortress, weapons in hand. Porky is on his way to fight the enemy, but the Commandant pulls his camel aside and asks, "Where do you think you are going? We need men, not camel scrubbers!" Porky is devastated, then angry and is left behind, uttering, "I'd rather be a camel scrubber than an old jingle-bell general!" While Porky is grumbling about his treatment, he runs into a large wall-size Wanted poster of Ali Mode and is frightened by the disturbing image.
Soon after, thinking at any time Ali Mode might show up, Porky begins nailing the fortress door shut. While hammering, he hears a knock coming from the other side of the door. Porky is startled, and thinks his hammering is an echo. The echo turns out to be Ali Mode who is standing outside the door, playing a trick on Porky. He imitates Porky's yodel and pretends to be a lost sheep, so Porky opens the door to discover that it's Ali Mode who begs to be let in and slams the door shut. Porky fights Ali and his henchmen off single-handed, and for his bravery, earns his place as a jingle-bell General.
in 1968. The method used to transfer the animation to a cell greatly decreased the quality of the original film. This involved tracing over every second frame of the film onto a new cell and then painting the cell over a reproduction of the original background image. It was again colorized using a computer to add color to a new print in 1992, preserving the quality of the original animation.
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
short produced by Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger was an American film producer, most noted for founding Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the golden age of Hollywood animation.-Early life and career:...
and released in 1936. Porky
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
is in the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
as a camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
scrubber, but after fighting off the enemy, ends up as Commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
.
Story
The cartoon opens on a fortress in the middle of a desert, home to the French Foreign Legion. The Commandant enters and looks over his group of shoddy, under-developed service men, including Porky, who does not seem to be taking his service very literally. In the inspection line he becomes lazy, and leans against the service man to his left. The Commandant calls out for him, "Porky Pig!". When he stands at attention, his heels click and he mistakenly trips the rest of the service men, and they all end up on the floor. The Commandant is outraged, and orders every man to come to attention again. The Commandant once again calls out for Porky and orders him to follow. Porky imitates the Commandant and bumps into him, who then orders Porky to wash his camel.A service man rides into the fortress on a camel to deliver to the Commandant a "Camelgram". The cable, from General Sanflee, says that Ali Mode's Riff Raffs have attacked, and to "...come at once -- Time's a wastin!". The Commandant immediately calls his men to arms, and they all leave the fortress, weapons in hand. Porky is on his way to fight the enemy, but the Commandant pulls his camel aside and asks, "Where do you think you are going? We need men, not camel scrubbers!" Porky is devastated, then angry and is left behind, uttering, "I'd rather be a camel scrubber than an old jingle-bell general!" While Porky is grumbling about his treatment, he runs into a large wall-size Wanted poster of Ali Mode and is frightened by the disturbing image.
Soon after, thinking at any time Ali Mode might show up, Porky begins nailing the fortress door shut. While hammering, he hears a knock coming from the other side of the door. Porky is startled, and thinks his hammering is an echo. The echo turns out to be Ali Mode who is standing outside the door, playing a trick on Porky. He imitates Porky's yodel and pretends to be a lost sheep, so Porky opens the door to discover that it's Ali Mode who begs to be let in and slams the door shut. Porky fights Ali and his henchmen off single-handed, and for his bravery, earns his place as a jingle-bell General.
Colorization
The film was colorizedFilm colorization
Film colorization is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black-and-white films, or to restore color films...
in 1968. The method used to transfer the animation to a cell greatly decreased the quality of the original film. This involved tracing over every second frame of the film onto a new cell and then painting the cell over a reproduction of the original background image. It was again colorized using a computer to add color to a new print in 1992, preserving the quality of the original animation.