Piggy (Merrie Melodies)

Last updated
Piggy
Looney Tunes character
Piggy Merrie Melodies.jpg
Piggy in You Don't Know What You're Doin'!.
First appearance You Don't Know What You're Doin'! (1931) (Piggy)
At Your Service Madame (1936) (Piggy Hamhock)
Last appearance Pigs Is Pigs (1937)
Created by Rudolf Ising (Piggy)
Friz Freleng (Piggy Hamhock)
Voiced by Johnny Murray (1931)
Shirley Reed (1937)
In-universe information
Species Domestic pig
GenderMale

Piggy is the name of two animated cartoon characters in the Merrie Melodies series of films distributed by Warner Bros. The first character was a fat, black pig wearing a pair of shorts with two large buttons in the front, and his first film was You Don't Know What You're Doin'! [1]

Piggy's name came from one of two brothers who were childhood classmates of Freleng's, nicknamed "Porky" and "Piggy". [2]

Merrie Melodies

Animator Rudolf Ising introduced Piggy to replace his previous character, Foxy, as the star of the Merrie Melodies series Ising was directing for producer Leon Schlesinger. [3] Nonetheless, Ising had only made two Piggy shorts in 1931 before he left Warner Bros. with partner Hugh Harman. The animators who took over the Merrie Melodies cartoons dropped the Piggy character (as well as his girlfriend Fluffy) and turned the series into a string of one-shots.

Piggy's coloration and dress were identical to those of the Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse before the advent of color film. John Kenworthy argues that, considering the fact that some sketches of mice that Hugh Harman had drawn in 1925 were the inspiration for the creation of Mickey Mouse, Harman and Ising never intended to copy Disney. [4]

Despite their clichéd lead character, Ising's two Piggy shorts are well received by some critics. In the first, You Don't Know What You're Doin'!, Piggy visits a surreal nightclub where he heckles and plays with the club's jazz band. Cartoon historians Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald call this "the definitive Harman-Ising Warner film: the characters are cute, the humor is gross, the visuals are uninhibited, and the music is red hot." [1]

This was followed by Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land , also in 1931. [5] Here, Piggy plays a steamboat captain who must rescue a drowning Uncle Tom. Due to its stereotypical portrayal of the Uncle Tom character, the cartoon is included among the so-called "Censored 11", Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts that are withheld from circulation due to their heavy use of ethnic stereotypes. Piggy never starred in another cartoon, although he continued to appear at the end of every short up to 1932's You're Too Careless with Your Kisses!

In 1936, Animator Friz Freleng created another character named Piggy. This character was given lighter, more white color with distinguishing birthmarks. The redesigned character appeared as a gluttonous child in a large family of pigs in At Your Service Madame (which gives his full name as Piggy Hamhock), [6] where he leads his fellow siblings in foiling a bum's attempt to rob their mother.

A year later, the new Piggy starred in Pigs Is Pigs in which his gluttony takes center stage. [7] This is his final appearance. After this, he is discarded, with his character traits transferred for a time to Porky Pig.

Related Research Articles

<i>Looney Tunes</i> Warner Bros. animated short film series and media franchise

Looney Tunes is an American animated franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It began as a series of short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation. Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a large cast of characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.

This is a listing of the shorts, feature films, television programs, and television specials in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon series, extending from 1929 through the present day. Altogether, 1,002 animated shorts alone were released under the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners from the 1930s through the 1960s. From the beginning to the present day, 1,041 theatrical shorts have been created.

Charlie Dog is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character was featured in nine cartoons between 1941 and 1958. He is generally characterized as a friendly wise guy.

<i>Merrie Melodies</i> Cartoon series owned by Warner Bros. (1931–1969 and 1988–1997)

Merrie Melodies is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the companion series to Looney Tunes, and featured many of the same characters as the former series. It originally ran from August 2, 1931, to September 20, 1969, during the golden age of American animation, though it had been revived in 1979, with new shorts sporadically released until June 13, 1997. Originally, Merrie Melodies placed emphasis on one-shot color films in comparison to the black and white Looney Tunes films. After Bugs Bunny became the breakout character of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes transitioned to color production in the early 1940s, the two series gradually lost their distinctions and shorts were assigned to each series randomly.

Buddy (<i>Looney Tunes</i>) Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Buddy is an animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes series by Leon Schlesinger Productions. He was the second star of the series, after Bosko.

Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier are animated cartoon characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Spike is a burly, gray bulldog wearing a red sweater, a brown bowler hat, and a perpetual scowl. Chester is a Jack Russell terrier who is just the opposite, small and jumpy with yellow fur and brown, perky ears.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petunia Pig</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Petunia Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. She looks much like her significant other, Porky Pig, except that she wears a dress and has pigtailed black hair.

Foxy (<i>Merrie Melodies</i>) Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Foxy is an animated cartoon character featured in the first three animated shorts in the Merrie Melodies series, all distributed by Warner Bros. in 1931. He was the creation of animator Rudolf Ising, who had worked for Walt Disney in the 1920s.

<i>Sinkin in the Bathtub</i> 1930 film

Sinkin' in the Bathtub is the first Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon short as well as the first of the Looney Tunes series. The short debuted in April 1930, at the Warner Bros. Theater in Hollywood. The cartoon features Bosko, and the title is a pun on the 1929 song Singin' in the Bathtub. The film was erroneously copyrighted under the same title as the 1929 song. It is now in the public domain in the United States as the copyright was not renewed.

Granny (<i>Looney Tunes</i>) Warner Bros. fictional character

Emma Webster also known as Granny is a fictional character created by Friz Freleng, best known from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated short films of the 1950s and 1960s. She is the owner of Tweety Bird and, more often than not, Sylvester and Hector. Her voice was first provided by Bea Benaderet from 1950 through 1955, then by June Foray for almost 60 years then Candi Milo took over in 2017 following Foray’s death.

<i>I Havent Got a Hat</i> 1935 film

I Haven't Got a Hat is a 1935 animated short film, directed by Isadore Freleng for Leon Schlesinger Productions as part of the Merrie Melodies series. Released on March 2, 1935, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of several Warner Bros. cartoon characters, most notably future cartoon star Porky Pig. Beans the Cat, a minor Looney Tunes star in 1935-1936, also made his first appearance in this cartoon.

<i>Dough for the Do-Do</i> 1949 film

Dough for the Do-Do is a 1949 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on September 2, 1949, and stars Porky Pig. The short is a remake of Bob Clampett's 1938 cartoon Porky in Wackyland, as well as using footage from his 1943 cartoon Tin Pan Alley Cats.

<i>Hold Anything</i> 1930 film

Hold Anything is the third short in the Looney Tunes series from Warner Bros., released to theaters in October 1930. Featuring Bosko, it is loosely based on the lost film Hold Everything, one of whose songs, "Don't Hold Everything," features prominently in the cartoon. It was directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, and animated by Isadore "Friz" Freleng and Norman Blackburn.

<i>Hittin the Trail for Hallelujah Land</i> 1931 Merrie Melodies cartoon

Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land is a 1931 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on November 28, 1931, and stars Piggy.

<i>Bugs Bunnys Looney Christmas Tales</i> 1979 American animated film

Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales is a 1979 animated Christmas television special featuring Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters in three newly created cartoon shorts with seasonal themes. It premiered on CBS on November 27, 1979.

This is a listing of all the animated shorts released by Warner Bros. under the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners between 1930 and 1939, plus the pilot film from 1929 which was used to sell the Looney Tunes series to Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. A total of 270 shorts were released during the 1930s.

Good Night Elmer is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon short, directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Phil Monroe and written by Rich Hogan. The short was released on October 26, 1940, and features Elmer Fudd.

This article is about the 1934 film. For other uses, see Beauty and the Beast (disambiguation).

Porky and Gabby is a 1937 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon short directed by Ub Iwerks, the co-creator of Mickey Mouse. The short was released on May 15, 1937, and stars Porky Pig along with the first appearance of Gabby Goat.

Cracked Quack is a 1952 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon was released on July 5, 1952, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.

References

  1. 1 2 Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 6. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ↑ Beck, Jerry. Audio commentary for "I Haven't Got a Hat" on the Warner Brothers DVD set Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 3. (2005) citing Freleng's autobiography.
  3. ↑ Markstein, Don. "Piggy". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Kenworthy, John The Hand Behind the Mouse, Disney Editions: New York, 2001. p. 54
  5. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 118. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  6. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 49. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  7. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 53. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.