"Son of a b-b-b-b-..."

Factual Questions
1

Has anyone ever heard this? This was frequently played on 96 Rock in Atlanta (usually abbreviated) when I was in high school and college.

About 10 years ago I was watching a late night cartoon show on the USA network. As the show was ending, they showed various cartoon clips. In one of these clips, Porky Pig was in his workshop, pounding a nail into a board, when he struck his thumb with a hammer. He then clutched his swelling, throbbing thumb with the other hand and proceeded to exclaim, “Son of a b-b-b-…” and then the clip ended. I presume this is where the aforelinked *.wav file came from.

My questions:

  1. Is my presumption correct?
  2. Was there actually a “short” that contained this clip created for public entertainment?
  3. If yes to #2, where was it shown?
  4. If yes to #2, is it possible to get a copy? Where?

My internet search only turned up links to the *.wav file. Other than that I couldn’t find any references.

2

I would guess that it would not have been created by the normal cartoon creating folks. But as is with cartoons a lot of words will fit with mouth movements. So my WAG is that there was a Porky Pig cartoon/short that had him hit his thumb and say “Ow that hurtttttt.” or something and then a good voice impersonatory created the new line and they were added.

Jeffery

3

IIRC, it’s from a wartime propaganda cartoon. I think Porky is actually working in a bomb factory or something. I’ve seen the cartoon, and I think it’s legit. I think it was made mainly for the troops, and not for the general public. PBS some years ago aired a special that contained a number of similarly “risque” propaganda cartoons. I don’t specifically recall this one, but it might have been included. I do recall som Disney cartoons, though.

4

I remember seeing this cartoon, but it ended w/

“Ha, you thought I was going to say son-of-a-(THEME MUSIC/CREDITS/Th-th-th-that’s all folks!)”

I assumed it was written that way, but Mjollnir’s theory also sounds plausible.

5

Better than Popeye telling servicemen how to wear condoms . . .

-andros-

6

Mel Blanc talks about this in his book, ‘That’s All Folks’. It was part of an outtake reel that the studio put together each year (mostly of bloopers) and the folks at Termite Terrace felt the need to contribute. Previous accounts notwithstanding, I have seen this cartoon as a whole several times and Porky actually does finish the final sentence: “b-b-b-betcha thought I was gonna say son-of-a-bitch, didn’t ya?”

7

Arken: I believe Mel Blanc was incorrect that it was a reel of bloopers. The original Warner Brothers cartoons were made for an adult audience( during WW2 the movie houses were kept open 24 hours for the benefit of all the shiftworkers ) and when television came in the cartoons were edited for a younger crowd. There is a precedent for this. The original Grimm’s Fairy Tales and the original Sleeping Beauty were tales passed from adult to adult but were changed for kids.

8

I can back up Arken. I’ve seen the whole thing and he says “son of a bitch”. It’s very funny.

Leslie Irish Evans
http://leslie.scrappy.net

9

Here is a clip from the cartoon - it contains the “scandalous” portion under debate…
http://www.surfshop.net/users/gunboy3/porky.avi

Primal

10

Want to try that link again, Primal?

11

Arken,Yep,I saw it too. I was surprised.

12

Now we need to find a tape of Bugs Bunny saying fuck!

13

If you think that’s dirty, check this out: http://www.laughnet.net/archive/multi/donald.wav

14

I think the point was that Mel Blanc and the Termite Terrace crew actually made the Porky cartoon, Robodude. Not some idiot with a synthesizer and a .wav editor.

-andros-

15

Sorry, that came out a little snotty. Didn’t mean for it to.

16

Getting back to the OP, you should be able to find some links to cartoon video sources pretty easily. I don’t have this particular one, but I do have a number of cartoons that are NEVER shown on TV anymore.

Also, a lot of the cartoons that are shown–especially those predating the '70’s–are often heavily edited. Anything the might offend someone is taken out.

Some censored scenes that I remember:

There was one cartoon which ended with a cymbal clanging down on a character’s head. As it is reverberating up and down on his head, the person looks like a Chinese charicature.

Two involving ghosts (hey, this even ties to another thread), both involving someone speeding away in a car to get away from them:

In one, when the smoke (exhaust fumes) clears, the ghost is now Black. He turns to the camera, and in his best “Rochester” voice says, “My, oh, my–now I can work for Mr. Benny.”

In another one, when the smoke clears, the now-Black ghost turns to the camera and starts singing an old “Black tune:”

“Mammy little baby love shawtnin’ shawtnin’”
“Mammy little baby love shawtnin’ bread”

Those cartoons are still shown, but with the “offensive” scenes edited out. So, it’s not anything unusual that the Porky Pig cartoon might have actually aired on TV, but with the “offensive” language removed.

I did a quick check on Ebay for “uncensored cartoons,” and the only thing that showed up was a tape of old Mickey Mouse cartoons that have been taken off the market because of alleged racist attitudes.

17

A) Censorship of old cartoons is new. They shown uncensored as “kid’s TV” all through the 50’s and 60’s.

B) While it is true that the old cartoons were made for mixed audiences, it cuts both ways. Nothing was allowed in any Hollywood movie that wasn’t regarded as theoretically “safe” for kids until the ratings system came in in '69 or so. There’s no way Porky Pig could ever have said “son-of-a-bitch” in a general-release cartoon. Trampas (?) wasn’t allowed to say it in The Virginian, and it’s the most famous line in the book.

C) I cannot, of my own knowledge, judge between the “war training film” and “blooper reel” stories.

John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams

18

I once saw a Disney cartoon (I don’t know when the cartoon was made, but I saw it in the mid 80’s), I think it was a Christmas special. Donald Duck had gotten mad at his nephews, and, well, you know how Donald Duck is a little hard to understand at times, but I believe he said “Goddammit!” at one point. Anybody remember ever seeing something like this?

19

I saw two Warner Brothers cartoons at a (sigh, yes it’s true) Star Trek convention that went beyond the pale. The first was called “Uncle Tom’s Cabana.” The opening scene… Well, I think the title accurately describes the content.

Nobody who has

20

I had heard about this years ago, but had never seen or heard it. Finally, I decided it was probably a UL. It’s nice to know that not all stories are too good to be true.

“It is impossible to experience one’s own death objectively and still carry a tune.” – Woody Allen from Getting Even