I’m only talking about the real Warner cartoons, the ones no later than say the early 60s. Stuff like the godawful Quackbusters movie etc. doesn’t count. Neither does the “Tales from the Vienna Woods” classic because its not a regular cartoon (no dialog).
Why is it that Porky co-starred with Daffy and Sylvester alot but never with Bugs?
I for one welcome our new insect overlords… - K. Brockman
My theory:
Cartoons usually need one character that’s the ‘good guy’ and one that is considered ‘bad’ (at least more bad then the good guy…). Anyway, that’s why there was always Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, the Bull, etc. in the toons with Bugs. Bugs is the ‘star’ so he doesn’t need anyone else helping him out in his episodes. I would venture to say this applies more to Bugs than Porky. In Porky and Sylvester/Daffy Duck toons, both of them were usually on the same side. Bugs is the star so he works alone. It could be argued that Bugs and Daffy once teamed up against Elmer Fudd in one ep., but Daffy and Bugs started out as antagonists (as usual).
That isn’t the most coherent paragraph I’ve ever written, but I hope you catch my meanings.
From the WARNER BROTHERS CARTOON COMPANION:
Not exactly a definitive answer, but apparently since Bugs and Porky are diametric opposites, the chemistry just wasn’t there.
TT
“Believe those who seek the truth.
Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide
I seem to remember one of the old Old OLD WB toons that had Porky in the traditional Elmer Fudd role of hunting Bugs.
“The large print givith, and the small print taketh away.”
Tom Waites, “Step Right Up”
You’re thinking of the “Vienna Woods” toon I mentioned above. Elmer was the emcee so they made Porky the hunter.
I for one welcome our new insect overlords… - K. Brockman
This has nothing to do with your question. I don’t know, BTW. I always called myself a big Bugs fan and I never even thought about it.
But my 6yo has a video with the hunting scene only the character in the “Elmer role” is a racial characterization of an African-American. While this will be a good educational tool someday to show the dark side of history, I couldn’t believe it was on a video marketed to children! Has anyone else seen this?
I believe you’re referring to the cartoon All This and Rabbit Stew and, yes, it’s pretty shocking to modern sensibilities. There were in fact a number of other Warner Brother cartoons which have virtually disappeared because the humor of the era they were written in would no longer be generally acceptable. However, I don’t think I’d go as far as to call these the dark side of history. For that, you can check out this thread: http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/005223.html
Well, yes, that is WORSE, but still I’m glad it’s not considered appropriate for characterizations like the Bugs Bunny cartoon to be the norm. It creates a barrier between people before they even have a chance to get to know one another as people. “Oh, yeah. I know people like him. They are all lazy and stupid.” And someday when she’s able to grasp it, we’ll talk about the kinds of things people had to put up with in the past even from mainstream “nice, polite” people that would consider those post cards vulgar.
I’ve tried checking the IMDb, but I can’t remember the name of the one exception I can think of. There is an old cartoon (guessing 1930s) where Porky and Daffy are in a hotel (I think). At the end of it, the manager locks them up in a room. Out of tricks to use to get out, they decide to call Bugs. Bugs asks them about the different stunts they tried, each acknowledge as tried and failed. Finally, it’s revealed that Bugs is trapped in the same hotel as he says “They don’t work, do they?”
Anyone remember the name of this one?
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Actually Bugs and Porky couldn’t stand each other. When Bugs’s popularity began to eclipse Porky’s there were rancorous contract disputes between the two toons and Leon Schlesinger. They refused to appear in the same cartoons thereafter (this was ca. 1938, IIRC).
Interestingly, the current sightings of the two in the same cartoon are achieved through camera wizardry and special effects, allowing them to shoot on separate days. Their images are then laser-spliced to create the illusion that they are acting with and reacting to each other.
It’s shocking, I know, but Porky and Bugs are the original Sunshine Boys of the toon industry.
Both, however speak fondly of Mel Blanc.
The Dave-Guy
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One of the reasons there wouldn’t have been much Bugs Bunny/Porky Pig intersection is that Bugs Bunny is a Merrie Melodies character, whereas Porky Pig is a Loony Toons character.
To expound on what DaveWoo was saying, Bugs was also known by many Hollywood Insiders to be something of an Anti-Hamite.
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