Introduction

Often an Orphan is a 1949 cartoon in the Looney Tunes

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...

 series. It stars Charlie Dog and Porky Pig

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...

 and is the last Charlie Dog short to have Porky present in it. The cartoon deals with Charlie trying to get Porky to adopt him after his old owner dumps him at Porky's farm on a trip disguised as a picnic. Charlie instead irritates Porky and the short deals with him trying to get rid of the dog in various ways, but failing each time.

Plot

The cartoon opens with a car driving up near a farm for a picnic and a man coming out and the dog Charlie coming out shortly after him. The man throws a stick, and when Charlie is off getting it, the man packs up and leaves in his car, leaving the dog behind. After Charlie is dumped, he tries various tricks to attract new owners from the people driving along the road. After three failures in various ways, he hears Porky singing and decides to go talk to him. He annoys Porky though as he says he is 50 % various dogs but is mostly a Labrador Retriever

Labrador Retriever

The Labrador Retriever is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United...

. He eventually drives Porky off and is kicked off his property. A series of gags then ensues with Charlie trying to become Porky's dog, with them all failing until the final gag involving Porky tricking Charlie into accepting him as a pet and putting him in a sleeping bag which he promptly shuts and sends off to Scotland. However, when Porky returns Charlie is there in Scottish attire complete with bagpipe and he eventually drives Porky into accepting him as a pet with the bagpipe's annoying music. Porky promptly suggests a picnic afterwards and he decides to head to the middle of a desert to do it. As Porky unpacks the food and calls Charlie out to catch the stick he has, Charlie comes running out. Porky proceeds to throw the stick and Charlie runs to the car instead of going after the stick and drives off, leaving Porky behind. Porky then goes insane and starts actiing a like a dog and is picked up by the county dog catcher, who picks him up and puts him in the bag with the other dogs where he barks with them as the cartoon irises out.