The Practical Pig
Encyclopedia
The Practical Pig is a Silly Symphonies
cartoon. Released on February 24, 1939, and directed by Dick Rickard. It was the second-to-last Silly Symphony made, and the fourth and final cartoon starring The Three Pigs
. In fact, it was the only Three Little Pigs Silly Symphony that was credited as a "Three Little Pigs Cartoon".
("He's building another Wolf machine! He must be crazy in the bean!"), his two brothers Fiddler and Fifer Pig go swimming ("To work all day is fun for him, but not for us! Let's take a swim!") despite their brother's warning not to go ("Don't go swimming, do ya hear? The pond ain't safe; the Wolf is near!"). Oblivious to the danger around them, they are soon captured by the Big Bad Wolf
, who disguises himself as a voluptuous mermaid
to entice the two hapless porkers and then catching them in a net.
While the Wolf plans to entrap Practical Pig as well using a fake letter requesting help by his brothers, his three sons, who were told that they don't eat until he captured Practical, try to eat one of Fifer's legs as a sandwich but the Wolf, seeing what his sons are doing, promptly blows the little wolves down. They then lie that they'll wait until the Wolf returns with Practical. But as soon as he leaves, they prepare to make Fiddler & Fifer into a pork pie (With the pigs questioning, "Why don't you mind your father?").
Practical sees right through the Wolf's messenger boy disguise (due to the Wolf unwittingly blowing the fake letter under the door, in turn blowing his cover) and sees an excellent chance to try out his new invention. The welcome mat drops in beneath the Wolf's feet, and he falls, screaming, into the pit below. He is next seen strapped into a chair in Practical's house, helpless against the technology of the resourceful. When interrogated by Practical about the whereabouts of his brothers, the Wolf lies (claiming he had never heard of them, "Your brothers? Never heard of 'em!"), and the machine goes into action. The Wolf's words are played back on a phonograph, and bulbs light up while an alarm bell sounds. Steam is pumped out, chemicals bubble and churn, electricity sizzles, and finally an indicator on the wall with a needle points to "LIE" and two whistles blow. The Wolf gets his mouth washed out with soap by a scrubbing brush.
The second time he lies (this time, claiming he hadn't seen them, "I ain't seen 'em!"), the chair he is sitting in spins around, his pants are pulled down by a hook and he is given a spanking
. The third time, the Wolf tries to fool the machine into thinking he and Practical are "pals" ("I ain't... Now listen, buddy, you got me wrong. Why, I'm your pal."), but the lie detector sees through the ruse and the Wolf ends up getting his mouth washed out and a spanking, as well as having his knuckles whacked with rulers.
Meanwhile, at the wolves' hideout, the Three Little Wolves are about to bake Fifer & Fiddler in the finished pork pie. The two pigs remind them of the Wolf's warning ("You'll be sorry when your Pop gets back and we aren't here!"), of which the young wolves dismiss. But one of the wolves says that they forgot the pepper, and add it onto the pigs. The lid unexpectedly comes off however, and it gets everywhere, causing the inevitable result of explosive sneezing from the pigs, such that it blows the pie crust right off of the pie and into the wolves, splatting them against the far wall. The pigs then escape and rush back to Practical's house.
At Practical's house, the Lie Detector machine punishes the Wolf harder and harder (he is now spun round by it, alternating between being spanked and mouth washed out, and his head getting bonked and his rear getting washed) until he gives in and tells the truth ("They're in the old... the old mill."), and the indicator points to "TRUTH" and a mechanical bird plays a harp. He is then shot right out of the house with a rocket stuck up his shirt. Practical prepares to go save his brothers (he mistakenly picks up a broom as he heads to the door, then goes back to pick up his blunderbuss), but Fiddler and Fifer have since managed to escape from the Three Little Wolves, and return home safe and sound, slamming the door right into Practical and embedding him in the wall. When scolded by their brother (who is not terribly happy even when they came back) against defying his orders ("Didn't I tell you not to go swimming?"), the two pigs play innocent and tell him they didn't go swimming (Fifer: "Oh, we didn't go swimming, did we?", Fiddler: "Oh no..."). But the lie detector springs into action, and the two storytellers are soundly spanked. Practical tells them "Remember, this hurts me more than it does you", but the machine takes him literally, to his chagrin.
's thriller "The Girl Who Played with Fire
", the fiercely indepedndent protagonist Lisbeth Salander
several times uses the term "Practical Pig" for the journalist Mikael Blomkvist
, whose efforts to help her she both appreciates and resents.
Silly Symphonies
Silly Symphonies is a series of animated short subjects, 75 in total, produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939, while the studio was still located at Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles...
cartoon. Released on February 24, 1939, and directed by Dick Rickard. It was the second-to-last Silly Symphony made, and the fourth and final cartoon starring The Three Pigs
Three Little Pigs (film)
Three Little Pigs is an animated short film released on May 27, 1933 by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Burt Gillett. Based on a fairy tale of the same name, Three Little Pigs won the 1934 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. In 1994, it was voted #11 of the 50...
. In fact, it was the only Three Little Pigs Silly Symphony that was credited as a "Three Little Pigs Cartoon".
Plot summary
While Practical Pig is hard at work building a new anti-Wolf contraption, this time a lie detectorLie detection
Lie detection is the practice of attempting to determine whether someone is lying. Activities of the body not easily controlled by the conscious mind are compared under different circumstances. Usually this involves asking the subject control questions where the answers are known to the examiner...
("He's building another Wolf machine! He must be crazy in the bean!"), his two brothers Fiddler and Fifer Pig go swimming ("To work all day is fun for him, but not for us! Let's take a swim!") despite their brother's warning not to go ("Don't go swimming, do ya hear? The pond ain't safe; the Wolf is near!"). Oblivious to the danger around them, they are soon captured by the Big Bad Wolf
Big Bad Wolf
The Big Bad Wolf is a term used to describe a fictional wolf who appears in several precautionary folkloric stories, including some of Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales.-Interpretations:...
, who disguises himself as a voluptuous mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
to entice the two hapless porkers and then catching them in a net.
While the Wolf plans to entrap Practical Pig as well using a fake letter requesting help by his brothers, his three sons, who were told that they don't eat until he captured Practical, try to eat one of Fifer's legs as a sandwich but the Wolf, seeing what his sons are doing, promptly blows the little wolves down. They then lie that they'll wait until the Wolf returns with Practical. But as soon as he leaves, they prepare to make Fiddler & Fifer into a pork pie (With the pigs questioning, "Why don't you mind your father?").
Practical sees right through the Wolf's messenger boy disguise (due to the Wolf unwittingly blowing the fake letter under the door, in turn blowing his cover) and sees an excellent chance to try out his new invention. The welcome mat drops in beneath the Wolf's feet, and he falls, screaming, into the pit below. He is next seen strapped into a chair in Practical's house, helpless against the technology of the resourceful. When interrogated by Practical about the whereabouts of his brothers, the Wolf lies (claiming he had never heard of them, "Your brothers? Never heard of 'em!"), and the machine goes into action. The Wolf's words are played back on a phonograph, and bulbs light up while an alarm bell sounds. Steam is pumped out, chemicals bubble and churn, electricity sizzles, and finally an indicator on the wall with a needle points to "LIE" and two whistles blow. The Wolf gets his mouth washed out with soap by a scrubbing brush.
The second time he lies (this time, claiming he hadn't seen them, "I ain't seen 'em!"), the chair he is sitting in spins around, his pants are pulled down by a hook and he is given a spanking
Spanking
Spanking refers to the act of striking the buttocks of another person to cause temporary pain without producing physical injury. It generally involves one person striking the buttocks of another person with an open hand. When an open hand is used, spanking is referred to in some countries as...
. The third time, the Wolf tries to fool the machine into thinking he and Practical are "pals" ("I ain't... Now listen, buddy, you got me wrong. Why, I'm your pal."), but the lie detector sees through the ruse and the Wolf ends up getting his mouth washed out and a spanking, as well as having his knuckles whacked with rulers.
Meanwhile, at the wolves' hideout, the Three Little Wolves are about to bake Fifer & Fiddler in the finished pork pie. The two pigs remind them of the Wolf's warning ("You'll be sorry when your Pop gets back and we aren't here!"), of which the young wolves dismiss. But one of the wolves says that they forgot the pepper, and add it onto the pigs. The lid unexpectedly comes off however, and it gets everywhere, causing the inevitable result of explosive sneezing from the pigs, such that it blows the pie crust right off of the pie and into the wolves, splatting them against the far wall. The pigs then escape and rush back to Practical's house.
At Practical's house, the Lie Detector machine punishes the Wolf harder and harder (he is now spun round by it, alternating between being spanked and mouth washed out, and his head getting bonked and his rear getting washed) until he gives in and tells the truth ("They're in the old... the old mill."), and the indicator points to "TRUTH" and a mechanical bird plays a harp. He is then shot right out of the house with a rocket stuck up his shirt. Practical prepares to go save his brothers (he mistakenly picks up a broom as he heads to the door, then goes back to pick up his blunderbuss), but Fiddler and Fifer have since managed to escape from the Three Little Wolves, and return home safe and sound, slamming the door right into Practical and embedding him in the wall. When scolded by their brother (who is not terribly happy even when they came back) against defying his orders ("Didn't I tell you not to go swimming?"), the two pigs play innocent and tell him they didn't go swimming (Fifer: "Oh, we didn't go swimming, did we?", Fiddler: "Oh no..."). But the lie detector springs into action, and the two storytellers are soundly spanked. Practical tells them "Remember, this hurts me more than it does you", but the machine takes him literally, to his chagrin.
Later references
In Stieg LarssonStieg Larsson
Karl Stig-Erland Larsson , who wrote professionally as Stieg Larsson, was a Swedish journalist and writer, born in Skelleftehamn outside Skellefteå. He is best known for writing the "Millennium series" of crime novels, which were published posthumously...
's thriller "The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second novel in the best-selling "Millennium series" by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2006 and in English in January 2009....
", the fiercely indepedndent protagonist Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander is a fictional character created by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. She is the heroine of Larsson's award-winning "Millennium series", first appearing in the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...
several times uses the term "Practical Pig" for the journalist Mikael Blomkvist
Mikael Blomkvist
Mikael Blomkvist is a fictional character created by writer Stieg Larsson who appears as a main character in the Millennium series along with Lisbeth Salander.-Name:...
, whose efforts to help her she both appreciates and resents.