A hip squirrel from New York goes to the woods to relax but his vacation is interrupted by lumberjack Porky, who's trying to cut down his tree. Judging by some of the reviews on here, this one seems to set off some Porky Pig fans. I can kind of see why since Porky is little more than an Elmer Fudd-like villain for the squirrel to defeat. But this didn't really bother me as Porky is not high on my list of favorite Looney Tunes characters. The squirrel is clearly the star of this short with all the best lines and gags. I disagree strongly with another reviewer who said this cartoon was ugly. The animation is quite lovely, with beautiful colors and nicely-drawn characters and backgrounds. Lively, whimsical music from Carl Stalling. Great voice work from Mel Blanc. An enjoyable cartoon if all one is expecting is entertainment. If you're a Porky fan looking for an impressive showcase for his character, you might be disappointed.
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utgard1411 October 2015
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lee_eisenberg4 January 2007Arthur Davis, who directed "Porky Chops", was most famous as an animator; maybe he just didn't have exactly what it takes to be a director. This cartoon is pretty funny - hell, it looks like "Citizen Kane" compared to some of the cartoons coming out today - but it mostly seems to be a one-joke premise, as Porky Pig tries to chop down a tree but the wise-guy squirrel using it as his vacation home keeps interfering.
So, it's not a great cartoon, but still good for a few laughs...particularly with what happens after the dynamite gag (the Termite Terrace crowd sure had a way with dynamite, didn't they?).
PS: The name "The squirrels of Central Park" originally came from Gary Larson's cartoon "The Far Side". The squirrel here reminded me of that. -
. . . this animated Looney Tunes short released by Warner Bros. in the 1940s could go a long way toward fleshing out that dire Another Dimensional possibility. Sid Squirrel doesn't even merit a name on Wikipedia's Master Compendium spreadsheet of all things Looney Tunes (unlike "Michigan J. Frog," whose lone appearance in ONE FROGGY NIGHT will live forever in cartoon infamy). Perhaps this also is Sid's only Looney Tunes role (though I cannot say for sure, as I have seen just 200 or so of Warner's 1,039 classic shorts). Suffice it to say that Sid hails from Brooklyn, and is a huge Dodgers fan (with no inkling that his team will desert him for greener pastures within a decade). Here, Sid is vacationing high in the Last Tree Standing on a woodlot Porky Pig is clear-cutting (or "pork-chopping," if he's working as a government contractor). Taking offense to Porky's efforts, Sid affects Bugs' accents and clothing styles as he rivets a metal girdle around "his" tree, breaking 11 of Porky's axes, driving the porker to resort to firearms and dynamite. Amid this action, Sid drops a few of Bugs' tag-lines, such as "Bon Vo-Ahhh-Gee" (for "Bon Voyage"). Bugs, however, could have said, "What's up, Doc?" if he had starred in this episode, with Porky clear-cutting something more down-to-earth (such as ginseng or morel mushrooms).
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GrouchoFan26 February 2004I don't understand this cartoon at all. Essentially, Porky is the villain, trying to chop down a tree in which a vaguely Bugs Bunny-esque squirrel makes his home. Our villain is a much-beloved regular character, and our hero is a generic wiseacre squirrel that we've never seen before. It's almost as if they were originally going to use Bugs, but decided he was too big to live in a tree, so they used Porky in the other role just to have a "star" in the picture. Also, most of the gags just plain aren't funny. The cartoon just kind of sits there until it's over, and then you forget about it. How this was chosen for the first Looney Toons DVD set over classics like Book Revue and the Great Piggy Bank Robbery, I'll never know.
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lukeneedssand29 June 2021Don't get me wrong, this cartoon is good, but Not that good. The Squirrel is highly amusing, and doesn't need any improvement, but porky on the other hand..... Who is he? This just isn't porky, if it was Elmer it would make so much more sense, or even Yosemite Sam in a different Profession, but porky just doesn't work. The Animation is pretty nice though, with nice fluid movements, and Storybeats that are fast-paced and leave you on the edge of your seat at all times.
The problem is, you don't care for porky in this cartoon, quite the opposite when he's with Daffy Duck. He's a bland piece of tofu, In A pig form! The jokes and the squirrel redeem it though, and all in all, kids will find it enormous fun.
7/10. -
TheLittleSongbird5 December 2017Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.
'Porky Chops' is a long way from being among the best Porky Pig cartoons, he's done better before and since particularly in supporting roles when pitted off against a stronger character, or among the best work of underrated Arthur Davis (being in the shadow of the likes of Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery and Bob Clampett and having nowhere near as long a career, which is sad). It seems to have divided reviewers and it is not hard to see why, it could have been better and needed more to it but it is a long way from a mess.
The story is a pretty slight and obvious one, and doesn't always have the madcap energy of the best cartoons. Porky is likable and amusing enough but somewhat bland in a role that could easily have been filled by Elmer.
In terms of the humour, 'Porky Chops' is more amusing than it is hilarious.
However, the animation is excellent. Beautifully drawn, very detailed and the colours are vibrant, complete with some great expressions and Davis' distinctive style of the characters moving from foreground to background.
Carl Stalling's music score is typically lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms, it's also beautifully synchronised with the action and gestures/expressions and even enhances the impact.
Although not hilarious, 'Porky Chops' amuses and entertains with some nice wit and good timing. The squirrel is a lot of fun with a personality that's lively, cute and anarchic. The ever versatile Mel Blanc's voice acting is stellar.
Overall, quite good fun though won't blow anybody away. 7/10 Bethany Cox -
Cult director Arthur Davis has made some hysterically funny cartoons in his time but 'Porky Chops' sure ain't one of 'em! One of the ugliest, most unfunny Warner shorts I have ever seen, 'Porky Chops' is something of an oddity. Its problems are numerous. For a start, it is very poorly paced and full of misfiring gags. The animation is clunky and the character designs are unattractive. This is especially true of the one-shot squirrel character who spends the cartoon trying to prevent Porky from cutting down his tree. Aside from looking lousy, this squirrel is a thinly veiled re-imagining of Bugs Bunny. Come to mention it, Porky's role in this film could just as easily have been played by Elmer Fudd and there are even moments when, if you squint, Porky looks just like Elmer in his hunting hat and brandishing his gun. As he was replaced by more interesting characters, Porky's starring roles became rarer and even in his earlier cartoons he frequently played second fiddle to crazier characters (see 'Porky's Party', in which Porky barely gets a look in). Chuck Jones brilliantly injected new life into him by casting him opposite Daffy in several inspired genre spoofs but Davis's attempt to throw the spotlight on the fame-starved pig falls completely flat. 'Porky Chops' is as pitiful as its dreadful title would suggest.
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ccthemovieman-124 February 2007A city-wise squirrel is resting comfortably in his new vacation-type room in the middle of a big tree trunk in the Northwest. He's from Flatbush and has his "Brooklyn Dodgers"pennant tacked on the wall. As he is getting ready for his first long nap, he hears what he thinks is a woodpecker. However, he soon realizes it isn't: it's some "lumberjackson" down below chopping the tree (Porky Pig). "One of the local yokels," he says. "I'll fix that icky."
I don't what all the complaints are here. I thought this was very entertaining. The squirrel was a "hipster" that had many dated-but-funny lines. That alone made this worth watching. Some of ploys to keep Porky from chopping the tree down weren't bad, either.
Whoever this squirrel was, it was really HIS cartoon, not Porky's. -
movieman_kev23 November 2004Elmer..I mean Porky Pig is a lumberjack, waiting to chop down a tree that a wascilly rab..i mean squirrel is in. This short didn't sit well with me, it just didn't jibe at all. Porky didn't act like Porky at all. Who is this squirrel?? And while the completist in me is happy that it's on the DVD collection, the lover of good animated shorts is disheartened that it's included. Definitely among the worst Looney Tunes shorts that I have seen, and I say that sadly. This cartoon is on Disk 2 of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1" I send raspberries to whomever made this.
My Grade: D+ -
tavm5 January 2008In a nutshell, Porky Pig is a lumberjack who's chopping down a tree that occupies a squirrel who wears pajamas, hangs a "Brooklyn Dodgers" banner over his bed, and reads the racing forms from the newspaper. The squirrel tries various ways to shoo the pig away like putting aluminum siding on the tree and then disguising it with varnish as Porky fails to chop with various axes that keep losing their sharp heads. Many funny chase gags abound and a twist involving a bear especially pays off here. This cartoon came from the short-lived Arthur Davis unit and it shows how talented Davis really was with the timing of the gags and pacing that also marked his predecessor, Bob Clampett. Too bad, due to budget constraints, Warner Bros. later had to cut Davis' staff. Porky Chops is highly recommended.
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Michael_Elliott12 April 2009Porky Chops (1949) *** (out of 4)
A squirrel from Brooklyn goes to the great Northwoods to get some rest but then comes across lumberjack Porky Pig trying to cut down his tree. The two start battling one another but soon a third party is going to enter the picture. This is a pleasant short that manages to have quite a few smiles and it's certainly cute enough. The one problem I have with the short is the actual squirrel who just doesn't sit too well with me. I've seen this film several times over the years and each time I can't help but think it would have been different with a better character. As far as Porky goes he's at the top of his game and the poor guy takes a nice beating like he always does. The third party that shows up only appears for a matter of seconds but he clearly steals the film. I won't ruin the gag as it's one of the best in the film. -
slymusic8 March 2007"Porky Chops" is a good Porky Pig cartoon directed by Arthur Davis. Porky is a lumberjack who is constantly antagonized by an obnoxious squirrel (with a Brooklyn accent) trying to get some peace and quiet inside his tree domicile.
Highlights: The squirrel removes the blade from Porky's axe, causing Porky's entire body to shake violently when he strikes the squirrel's tree with his bare stick (and don't forget the brilliant sound effects). Later on, Porky ruins all his axes by striking the camouflaged aluminum siding on the tree. When Porky falls to the ground, he ends up wearing a fruit basket as a ten-gallon hat; the squirrel then squirts a pair of bananas at him, giving him a funny moustache. And at the end of this short, a bear, having scared Porky and the squirrel away, occupies the squirrel's tree residence and tries to fit his over-sized body into the squirrel's undersized pajamas.
"Porky Chops" is pure slapstick from beginning to end. Try as he might, Porky just can't seem to defeat that pesty squirrel, but at least the bear's presence is enough to convince the squirrel to do his harassing elsewhere. -
Even if you were not to know who the director and the writers were before watching this cartoon, it's almost certain that you would start suspecting none of the usual gang at the Warner Brothers animation studio were behind this entry. What we have here are writers who worked at the studio only for a brief time, and a director who was more successful as an animator. The end result is very strange, feeling like it was done by people who had only seen a handful of Looney Tunes cartoons before being assigned to make this cartoon. They have the words, but not the music - the timing is very off, and they don't seem to understand how the characters (both the protagonist and antagonist) need to act. I agree with the previous poster that this was an odd choice for Warner Brothers first box set of Looney Tunes cartoons - it certainly is no classic. Still, I must admit it shines when placed next to some of the cartoons that came out of the cartoon studio during its dying days.