Africa Squeaks | |
---|---|
![]() Title card | |
Directed by | Robert Clampett |
Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
Starring | Mel Blanc Ben Frommer Lou Marcelle Kay Kyser Bill Days (all uncredited) [1] |
Narrated by | Lou Marcelle (uncredited) |
Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
Animation by | John Carey Dave Hoffman Uncredited: Izzy Ellis Norman McCabe Vive Risto |
Color process | Black-and-white |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8 minutes 5 minutes (1968 colorized version) |
Language | English |
Africa Squeaks is a 1940 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. [2] The short was released on January 27, 1940, and stars Porky Pig. [3]
The cartoon is a parody of the movie Stanley and Livingstone starring Spencer Tracy and Cedric Hardwicke. The title parodies the 1930 documentary Africa Speaks!
The narrator introduces the audience to Africa. The journey begins in the heart of Darkest Africa. Porky Pig is leading a group of African people as they sing, carrying items. Then, during their song, they sing "We don't know where we're going, but we're going!". Meanwhile, a sign says, "Welcome to Africa Lions Club". Then, Porky and the Africans approach a sour-pussed caricature of Spencer Tracy named Stanley, a reference to his role in Stanley and Livingstone . Stanley presumes that Porky is Dr. Livingstone, but Porky tells him his name. Stanley shrugs and lets Porky and the Africans continue marching.
The narrator tells the audience that during their journey, they saw interesting specimen of wild life. An ostrich has put his head into a hole. Underground, the ostrich is actually sleeping on a pillow, and a loud snore from the ostrich is heard.
Meanwhile, two lions are eating bones of their prey. The second lion gets a columba, and together, the two lions grab the ends of the bone. The lion says "Make a wish", and after breaking the bone, they continue eating.
High in the tree tops, a mother monkey is taking her baby for a breath of fresh air. The mother is using her tail to swing her baby is if in a carriage.
Meanwhile, emerging out of the grass comes a gorilla, and as it turns around, it reveals itself to be a caricature of Tony Galento with a beer, saying that he'll "moider da bum".
A native is seen using a blowgun to "put meat on the table". Just then, it is revealed that the native is playing a carnival-related game to win a ham. The person in charge (with Mel Blanc's voice imitating Rochester from The Jack Benny Program ) gives the native a ham to put meat on the table.
Later, after nightfall, the narrator says that at night, the African jungle is filled with silence, but noises start being heard. A tired Porky pops his head out of his tent, and yells to the animals "QUIET!", and goes back to sleep. Meanwhile, Stanley is still looking for Dr. Livingstone. He looks in a mother kangaroo's pouch, only to be honked on the nose by her baby.
The next day, the Africans and Porky resume their march. A tree has a poster that is a re-election poster for "King of the Jungle" (promising "Thirty Coconuts Every Thursday"- a reference to a popular "Thirty Dollars Every Thursday" pension plan of the day).
Meanwhile, the explorers come upon a very unusual situation. A cat kicks an elephant out of her house, and until he can pay his rent, she'll be keeping his trunk. Then the elephant, now without his trunk, starts crying and says that his trunk has all his stuff in it.
A vulture is looking for food. He sees three baby deer who wandered away from their mother. The vulture starts charging at them, and the deer run into a clump of grass. Just then, the grass lowers, as the deer use "Air Raid" on the vulture. They shoot down the vulture, and the deer laugh in a villainous manner.
Back with Porky, a little African native is running, yelling "Two arms!", and random gibberish. He points to the village, as the narrator says that the boy says that the villagers have spotted a strange white man in the village. Porky then drags Stanley over to the village, as the narrator says that his journey is finally over. Stanley presumes that the white man is Dr. Livingstone. The white man reveals himself to be "Cake-Icer", as he is a music teacher (a reference to Kay Kyser, and his "Kollege of Musical Knowledge" radio program). He asks the students if he's right, and then a monkey comes out of Stanley's hat saying "Yeah!" many times. Cake-Icer wants everyone to dance, and music starts with an elephant using his trunk like a tuba. Everybody starts dancing, including two fat Africans.
The narrator says that after a long day, they decide to return home. Then, Porky and the Africans start running, as the Africans are singing a different song this time. The narrator says his farewell to Africa, and then the actual continent (with a face) moves and waves goodbye.
Many clips of the short were removed on both 1968 and 1992 colorized versions on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network due to its racial stereotyped theme as the short reduced to 5 minutes. The short begins with the continents and immediately goes straight to the animal clips (which is its main focus) starting with the ostrich. After the gorilla clip, it immediately fades black to the nighttime clip. However, the "King of the jungle" poster is left attached. Scenes later after the baby deer clip, it fades black to Stanley presuming Dr. Livingstone, and then cuts to the clip where the "Cake-Icer" pointing to his introduction, and following by animals playing instruments along with a clip of the "Cake-Icer" and immediately goes back to the continents. However, the face and the tissue does not show on the actual continent. Instead it immediately zooms out the continent as the cartoon ends.
The cartoon was reviewed by Boxoffice on February 3, 1940, saying: "Play this one by all means. It is composed of the stuff that shakes the rafters and fairly blows the roof off when the laughter starts to whip around. Porky goes to Africa on a safari. What occurs when he does a little exploring was cooked up by the fertile brain that injected the right touches of unusual caricature and bang-up comedy to give 'em the shrieks. And there is an ending that will knock 'em right out of their seats." [5]
Motion Picture Exhibitor agreed, on February 7: "One of the best of the Leon Schlesinger series... The belly laughs are many, and the gags good." [5]
On February 20, Motion Picture Herald said: "This time porcine Porky is a leader of a safari into the darkest regions of the Black Continent. Particularly productive of funny bone tickling in the spoofing of the Stanley search for Dr. Livingstone. There are additional sights of the strange behavior of animals and natives. In fact, the whole fun and frivolity piece is good." [5]
The short had its copyright renewed in 1969. [6]
Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts featuring the character. Even after he was supplanted by later characters, Porky continued to be popular with moviegoers and, more importantly, the Warners directors, who recast him in numerous everyman and sidekick roles.
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is a 1988 animated compilation film featuring classic Warner Bros. Cartoons shorts and animated bridging sequences, starring Daffy Duck. The film was released to theaters by Warner Bros. on September 24, 1988. It was the final theatrical production in which Mel Blanc provided the voices of the various Looney Tunes characters before his death in July 1989.
Baby Bottleneck is a 1946 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett and written by Warren Foster. The cartoon was released on March 16, 1946, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. Tweety makes a cameo appearance in the film.
Deduce, You Say is a 1956 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on September 29, 1956, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. The title is a play on the exclamation, "The deuce, you say!"
Jeepers Creepers is a 1939 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes police comedy animated short, directed by Robert Clampett. The short was released on September 23, 1939, and stars Porky Pig.
The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie is a 1981 American animated comedy package film with a compilation of classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and animated bridging sequences produced and directed by Friz Freleng, hosted by Bugs Bunny. The new footage was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It was the first Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies film with a compilation of classic cartoon comedy shorts produced by Warner Bros. Animation.
Robert Cameron Bruce Jr. was an American voice actor and the son of Robert Cameron Bruce (1887–1948) who was a cinematographer and documentary producer. He was the narrator for a number of Warner Bros. cartoons in the 1930s and 1940s. The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series' had occasional entries which were driven not by one of their stable of stars such as Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, but by individual short sketches, usually filled with sight gags and word-play. Later he was a writer and producer of industrial motion pictures based in Minnesota.
Fool Coverage is a 1952 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on December 13, 1952, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.
This is a list of all cartoons featuring Porky Pig. Directors are listed in parentheses.
James Patton "Jack" King was an American animator and short film director best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions.
A Day at the Zoo is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon supervised by Tex Avery. The short was produced in 1938 and released on March 11, 1939 and features an early version of Elmer Fudd.
Who's Who in the Zoo is a 1942 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Norman McCabe. The short was released on February 14, 1942.
One Meat Brawl is a 1947 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The short stars Porky Pig and Barnyard Dawg, and was released on January 18, 1947. The title is a takeoff on the popular song "One Meat Ball".
Dime to Retire is a 1955 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on September 3, 1955, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.
We, the Animals Squeak! is a 1941 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon short directing Bob Clampett. The short was released on August 9, 1941, and stars Porky Pig. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc, Sara Berner, Billy Bletcher and Phil Kramer.
Sherlock Yack is an animated television series in 52 episodes of 13 minutes, co-produced by Mondo TV France and ZDF Enterprises, with the participation of TF1 and ZDF, and adapted from the novels of Michel Amelin, illustrated by Ruth Christelle. The airing of the series began on 4 May 2011 on TF1 as part of their TFOU block, and since 22 December 2012.
New Looney Tunes is an American animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation based on the characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The series debuted on January 26, 2015, on Cartoon Network, and continued with new episodes beginning on March 14, 2015, on Boomerang. Part way through the first season, new episodes would premiere on Boomerang's video on demand service before airing on television.
Looney Tunes Cartoons is an American animated television series developed by Pete Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The series made its worldwide debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 10, 2019, and premiered on HBO Max on May 27, 2020.