Porky's Poultry Plant (1936)

. . . should have no problem seeing that Warner Bros. is foreshadowing all four years of Benghazi with its animated short, PORKY'S POULTRY PLANT. This cartoon begins with Porky stuttering. Such repetition represents Hillary's Private Email Server, which Gratuitously Rebroadcast all of America's Top Hat Secrets here, there, and everywhere. Porky's scattershot approach to chicken feeding denotes Hillary's haphazard expenditure of mere chicken feed on securing our U.S. embassies abroad. The posters mourning the losses of Olga, Dorothy, Gertie, Rebecca, and poor Petunia are meant to prepare Americans for the attacks on our African Embassies (three in total), the U.S.S. Cole, and our NSA Protection Program under the Clinton Team. When a clueless Porky cannot operate his own gun proficiently after the Chicknapping here, Warner is predicting Hillary's indecisive dithering during the Benghazi Zero Hour. But Porky's Transformation into a fighter-plane-flying hero to wrap up PORKY'S POULTRY PLANT is Warner's way of saying "Don't give up--there's still hope, as long as America doesn't expect a chick to do a rooster's job!" Just be thankful that the Looney Tuners are so easy to decipher, that they cover such important topics, and that they allow us ample lead time to react to their warnings. Eat your heart out, Nostradamus!

(From LT Golden Collection V4D2) Frank Tashlin's cartoons always have a great setup - think of Porky and Daffy trying to escape the hotel manager. This one is a bit more basic but still fun, with Porky the owner of a poultry farm and a bunch of hens. A run-in with a chicken hawk quickly turns into a pre-World-War-2 dogfight when Porky, still very chubby in 1936, takes to the skies in his equally paunchy airplane. Really solid short with some very cool action shots. The creative black & whites often are the best surprises because they're so often overlooked, and this one is no exception.A 10 line minimum for a 7-minute short does seem a bit steep, doesn't it?

Porky's Poultry Plant is interesting from a historical perspective for Frank Tashlin and Carl Stalling at the start of their Warner Brothers/Looney Tunes careers. But it does deserve to be known for more than just historical value. Tashlin and Porky have done much better since, but Porky's Poultry Plant is entertaining, sometimes cute and a decent enough start for Tashlin. There is the sense that he was finding his feet(which is normal really), the cartoon does lack energy sometimes and the ending is too cutesy and abrupt. It is unexceptional story-wise with a routine structure, and Joe Dougherty's voice work is very uncontrolled and not very dynamic(Mel Blanc is missed here). However the animation is great, detailed, crisp and beautifully shaded, plus there is evidence of directorial mastery with Tashlin in the camera angles, the opening shot is simply gorgeous. Stalling's music is similarly wonderful, it is lushly orchestrated and lively with Stalling's style all over it. The dialogue is witty and amusing, and while never hilarious the gags are also decent. The airborne chase is exciting and Porky's Pultry Plant's highlight, the snake charmer bit while a somewhat predictable gag is funny too. Porky despite the lack of Mel Blanc voicing him is a decent lead character, if not the most charismatic. The chickens are cute and the vultures are appropriately antagonistic. All in all, not great but fun and interesting. 7/10 Bethany Cox

A remarkable cartoon for the period. First, it was Carl Stallings' debut as Termite Terrace's musical director, a position he would hold for twenty years, producing a remarkable body of work. Second, it was Frank Tashlin's second directorial credit -- his first was three years before for Van Beuren -- and his mastery of directing is already obvious. Notice the long panning shot that opens the movie, and the POV (Point Of View) shots from the chickenhawk's perspective. Or perhaps it is a vulture; species are not rigid in the cartoon universe.This is not, I should add, a very funny cartoon. The situations are handled dramatically and the number of gags is not very high. But it is worth your time.