Pigs Is Pigs (1937 film)
Encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Pigs Is Pigs (1954 film)
.
Pigs Is Pigs, is a 1937
Merrie Melodies
cartoon
that featured Piggy and the Hamhock family, in what would be Piggy's final appearance in the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes repertory in the Golden Age of American animation.
) is always hungry, thinking of food
, eating
, and stealing food when he can. And no matter how much he eats, he never fills up.
When his mother leaves a pair of pies out to cool, Piggy swipes a pie from the windowsill and spins it around his finger as he eats it; he tries to eat a second pie in the same manner, but his mother catches him in time and he accidentally chomps on his bare fingers. That afternoon, his mother serves spaghetti for dinner. While the family says grace, he ties all of their spaghetti strands together, so that he can devour all the spaghetti (enough to feed a family of eight) in a single slurp! His mother scolds him, but he clearly doesn't care.
As the other pigs sleep, he is awake, in deep thought of food. The next morning, he finds himself invited into the home of a kindly, hiccuping old man (voiced by Billy Bletcher
, better known for the voice of Paw Bear in some later Warners toons). The old man asks Piggy if he is hungry and presents Piggy with a table laid out with a full-blown feast – complete with a roasted turkey
. Overjoyed at the man's generosity, Piggy sits down, rubbing his belly in anticipation. At that moment the man shoves the table of food out of Piggy's reach as the cover of the chair is pulled out from under him. A leather belt across his arms and chest straps him in place as a robotic arm swings around to take hold of his nose. The man shows himself to be some sort of mad scientist
declaring, "So, it's food you want! Ha, ha! (Hic) We'll give you plenty of it!"
The scene switches to the basement, revealing the Feed-A-Matic -- a bizarre machine built for the sole purpose of force-feeding
hungry little kids like Piggy (not that he would need any forcing). The scientist rushes down to activate the controls, yelling, "So, you love food, (hic) eh?", and goes straight to his work.
The chair Piggy is strapped into first carries him to a huge vat (labeled "SUPER SOUP FEEDER") filling with gallon
s of soup
from cans; the mechanical arm then pulls on Piggy's nose forcing his mouth open to let in a torrent of soup through a feeder shaped like a Pelton wheel
but with spoons as buckets. He is then fed banana
s popped out of their skins down his throat like bullets. Next to follow are stops at a gumball machine
that doles out olive
s and at a conveyor belt
of ice cream
cones dispensing ice cream via a bellows
. Then comes the main course
, a sandwich
as big as a king-sized bed (featuring the first appearance of Freleng’s "hold the onions" gag), followed by dessert dispensed from the "PIE-A-TROPE" -- pie
s spinning on the spindle of a converted jukebox
.
Laughing mania
cally, the scientist--in various montages--incessantly continues forcing food into Piggy. After an entire day of the business, the pig is returned from the basement up to the mad scientist's living room, transformed into an extremely obese
, food-packed ball. Bulging out of the restraints, Piggy is utterly happy. Smiling at the sight of Piggy’s extreme obesity, the scientist pokes him twice and kindly asks "Have enough, my boy?" To which Piggy replies "Y-y-y-yes sir!" The doctor then unstraps him commenting, "Why, you're not half full!"
With the sun setting, Piggy waddled his bloated way to the door, passing by the food the scientist had laid out on the kitchen table to bait him. Looking at the turkey he delights at the prospect of more food. He pulls off a drumstick, and after taking a bite, explodes. Or rather, he wakes up screaming in his own bed – it was just a dream
. Then hearing the sound of his mother calling him to breakfast, he dashes downstairs and starts eating again with gusto.
), Andy Panda
is tempted by the Devil to cross a fence to eat apples in an orchard. An angel appears to remind him of what might happen if he follows the devil. After giving in to temptation, Andy has a major nightmare. Andy dreams that he has gone to hell. He is strapped into the Feed-A-Matic machine, with the devil operating the controls. A turning lathe force-feeds green apples to him, followed by a worm shoving fistfuls of applesauce into his mouth, and a dead apple tree pouring apple cider
down his throat.
did a full re-imaging of this cartoon in 1957 as part of The Gumby Show. "Grub Grabber Gumby" recast Gumby in Piggy’s role. Like Piggy, Gumby has been developing a liking for eating, and he starts the day by eating almost all the cookies on the kitchen table. Then he eats Pokey's sandwich and steals one of the pies Mrs. Applebee left out to cool (as Piggy did at the beginning). With a full stomach, he falls asleep and later awakes to find himself in the clutches of a bipedal equine named "Mr. Stuff".
Like Piggy, Gumby's face lights up with joy at the offer. Mr. Stuff is true to his word, using a conveyor belt to cram thousands of scoops of vanilla ice cream into Gumby's eagerly waiting mouth. After that a tank car
of soda pop is brought over and its contents is pumped into Gumby's stomach. This all leaves Gumby’s stomach over swollen and bloated. But Mr. Stuff won't quit until Gumby is totally stuffed.
series, The Lost Saucer
episode, "Fatropolis," Jerry and his babysitter Alice wander into a city where fat
is the law
. The Mayor
declares them guilty
of breaking the law, and sentences them to the "Fattenarium" until they each weigh 500 pounds.
In The Simpsons
fourth Halloween
episode
segment "The Devil and Homer Simpson," Homer Simpson spends a day in Hell
. In the "Ironic Punishment Department," a demon
has Homer strapped in the Feed-A-Matic chair (recreated in exact detail) forcing him to eat "all the doughnuts in the world!" The punishment fails, however, when Homer does eat all the doughnuts in the world, and still asks for more. The demon says "I don't understand it. James Coco
went mad in fifteen minutes!" Simpsons creator Matt Groening has gone to say on record (according to the season five DVD set audio commentaries) that the torture sequence in "Pigs is Pigs" is his favorite scene in all of animation and his inspiration for the sequence in this episode of The Simpsons.
Pigs Is Pigs (1954 film)
Not to be confused with Pigs Is Pigs Pigs Is Pigs is a 1954 animated film by Walt Disney Studios. It is based on the story "Pigs Is Pigs" by Ellis Parker Butler. This was Gary Owens' film debut. The cartoon was animated in the flat, colorful UPA Style.It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best...
.
Pigs Is Pigs, is a 1937
1937 in film
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
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...
that featured Piggy and the Hamhock family, in what would be Piggy's final appearance in the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes repertory in the Golden Age of American animation.
Synopsis
Piggy Hamhock (not to be confused with Porky PigPorky 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 always hungry, thinking of food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
, eating
Eating
Eating is the ingestion of food to provide for all organisms their nutritional needs, particularly for energy and growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive: carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, omnivores consume a mixture of both plant and animal matter,...
, and stealing food when he can. And no matter how much he eats, he never fills up.
As the other pigs sleep, he is awake, in deep thought of food. The next morning, he finds himself invited into the home of a kindly, hiccuping old man (voiced by Billy Bletcher
Billy Bletcher
William "Billy" Bletcher was an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
, better known for the voice of Paw Bear in some later Warners toons). The old man asks Piggy if he is hungry and presents Piggy with a table laid out with a full-blown feast – complete with a roasted turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Overjoyed at the man's generosity, Piggy sits down, rubbing his belly in anticipation. At that moment the man shoves the table of food out of Piggy's reach as the cover of the chair is pulled out from under him. A leather belt across his arms and chest straps him in place as a robotic arm swings around to take hold of his nose. The man shows himself to be some sort of mad scientist
Mad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
declaring, "So, it's food you want! Ha, ha! (Hic) We'll give you plenty of it!"
The scene switches to the basement, revealing the Feed-A-Matic -- a bizarre machine built for the sole purpose of force-feeding
Force-feeding
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a person or an animal against their will. "Gavage" is supplying a nutritional substance by means of a small plastic tube passed through the nose or mouth into the stomach, not explicitly 'forcibly'....
hungry little kids like Piggy (not that he would need any forcing). The scientist rushes down to activate the controls, yelling, "So, you love food, (hic) eh?", and goes straight to his work.
The chair Piggy is strapped into first carries him to a huge vat (labeled "SUPER SOUP FEEDER") filling with gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
s of soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
from cans; the mechanical arm then pulls on Piggy's nose forcing his mouth open to let in a torrent of soup through a feeder shaped like a Pelton wheel
Pelton wheel
The Pelton wheel is an impulse turbine which is among the most efficient types of water turbines. It was invented by Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to its weight like traditional overshot water wheel...
but with spoons as buckets. He is then fed banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s popped out of their skins down his throat like bullets. Next to follow are stops at a gumball machine
Gumball machine
A gumball machine is a toy or commercial device, a type of bulk vending machine, which dispenses gumballs, usually for a small fee.Originally one penny, the standard cost of one gumball in the United States is now one quarter.-History:...
that doles out olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
s and at a conveyor belt
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
of ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
cones dispensing ice cream via a bellows
Bellows
A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location.Basically, a bellows is a deformable container which has an outlet nozzle. When the volume of the bellows is decreased, the air escapes through the outlet...
. Then comes the main course
Main course
A main dish is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée course, and the salad course. In North American usage it may in fact be called the "entree"....
, a sandwich
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
as big as a king-sized bed (featuring the first appearance of Freleng’s "hold the onions" gag), followed by dessert dispensed from the "PIE-A-TROPE" -- pie
Pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
s spinning on the spindle of a converted jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
.
Laughing mania
Mania
Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression...
cally, the scientist--in various montages--incessantly continues forcing food into Piggy. After an entire day of the business, the pig is returned from the basement up to the mad scientist's living room, transformed into an extremely obese
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
, food-packed ball. Bulging out of the restraints, Piggy is utterly happy. Smiling at the sight of Piggy’s extreme obesity, the scientist pokes him twice and kindly asks "Have enough, my boy?" To which Piggy replies "Y-y-y-yes sir!" The doctor then unstraps him commenting, "Why, you're not half full!"
With the sun setting, Piggy waddled his bloated way to the door, passing by the food the scientist had laid out on the kitchen table to bait him. Looking at the turkey he delights at the prospect of more food. He pulls off a drumstick, and after taking a bite, explodes. Or rather, he wakes up screaming in his own bed – it was just a dream
Dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...
. Then hearing the sound of his mother calling him to breakfast, he dashes downstairs and starts eating again with gusto.
Pigs Is Pigs in other works
Over the years, various writers have incorporated themes and settings similar to Pigs is Pigs into their works.Andy Panda
In "Apple Andy" (1946, Walter Lantz StudioWalter Lantz Studio
Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1948 and then 1950 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios, now part of the media conglomerate NBC Universal.-History:...
), Andy Panda
Andy Panda
Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947 and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The titular character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a...
is tempted by the Devil to cross a fence to eat apples in an orchard. An angel appears to remind him of what might happen if he follows the devil. After giving in to temptation, Andy has a major nightmare. Andy dreams that he has gone to hell. He is strapped into the Feed-A-Matic machine, with the devil operating the controls. A turning lathe force-feeds green apples to him, followed by a worm shoving fistfuls of applesauce into his mouth, and a dead apple tree pouring apple cider
Apple cider
Apple cider is the name used in the United States and parts of Canada for an unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic beverage made from apples...
down his throat.
Little Audrey
Near to the end of "Butterscotch and Soda", where Little Audrey gathered so much candy that she got sick to her stomach. The bag, where she gathered the candy from came to life and sang, "You Got the Stomachache Blues". Also various candy came to life to torture and capture her and strap her to a chair and force fed her candy going down her throat.The Gumby Show
Art ClokeyArt Clokey
Arthur "Art" Clokey was a pioneer in the popularization of stop motion clay animation, beginning in 1955 with a film experiment called Gumbasia, influenced by his professor, Slavko Vorkapich, at the University of Southern California.After the Gumbasia project, Art Clokey and his wife Ruth came up...
did a full re-imaging of this cartoon in 1957 as part of The Gumby Show. "Grub Grabber Gumby" recast Gumby in Piggy’s role. Like Piggy, Gumby has been developing a liking for eating, and he starts the day by eating almost all the cookies on the kitchen table. Then he eats Pokey's sandwich and steals one of the pies Mrs. Applebee left out to cool (as Piggy did at the beginning). With a full stomach, he falls asleep and later awakes to find himself in the clutches of a bipedal equine named "Mr. Stuff".
- Mr. Stuff: Hee, hee, hee -- so, you're the boy who likes to eat!
- Gumby: Who are you?
- Mr. Stuff: Don't worry, just call me Mr. Stuff. I'm going to do you a favor; how'd you like to have all the goodies you can hold?
Like Piggy, Gumby's face lights up with joy at the offer. Mr. Stuff is true to his word, using a conveyor belt to cram thousands of scoops of vanilla ice cream into Gumby's eagerly waiting mouth. After that a tank car
Tank car
A tank car is a type of railroad rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.-Timeline:...
of soda pop is brought over and its contents is pumped into Gumby's stomach. This all leaves Gumby’s stomach over swollen and bloated. But Mr. Stuff won't quit until Gumby is totally stuffed.
The Lost Saucer
In the Sid and Marty KrofftSid and Marty Krofft
Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft , are a sibling team of television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs in the USA, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s....
series, The Lost Saucer
The Lost Saucer
The Lost Saucer is an ABC network television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. It first aired September 6, 1975.-Premise:The Lost Saucer was about two time-travelling futuristic androids named Fi and Fum who land their flying saucer on present day Earth...
episode, "Fatropolis," Jerry and his babysitter Alice wander into a city where fat
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
is the law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. The Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
declares them guilty
Guilty
Guilty commonly refers to the feeling of guilt, an experience that occurs when a person believes that they have violated a moral standard.Guilty or The Guilty may also refer to:-Law:*Guilty plea, a formal admission of legal culpability...
of breaking the law, and sentences them to the "Fattenarium" until they each weigh 500 pounds.
Treehouse of Horror IV
In The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
fourth Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
episode
Treehouse of Horror IV
"Treehouse of Horror IV" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons fifth season and the fourth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 28, 1993, and features three short stories called "The Devil and Homer...
segment "The Devil and Homer Simpson," Homer Simpson spends a day in Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. In the "Ironic Punishment Department," a demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
has Homer strapped in the Feed-A-Matic chair (recreated in exact detail) forcing him to eat "all the doughnuts in the world!" The punishment fails, however, when Homer does eat all the doughnuts in the world, and still asks for more. The demon says "I don't understand it. James Coco
James Coco
James Coco was an American character actor.- Early life and career :Born James Emil Coco in New York City, son of Feliche Coco, a shoemaker and Ida Detestes Coco, James began acting straight out of high school. As an overweight and prematurely balding adult, he found himself relegated to character...
went mad in fifteen minutes!" Simpsons creator Matt Groening has gone to say on record (according to the season five DVD set audio commentaries) that the torture sequence in "Pigs is Pigs" is his favorite scene in all of animation and his inspiration for the sequence in this episode of The Simpsons.
See also
- GluttonyGluttonyGluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste...
- Merrie MelodiesMerrie MelodiesMerrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
- Termite Terrace
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929–1939)
