You Ought to Be in Pictures

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You Ought to Be in Pictures
You Ought to Be in Pictures title card.png
Directed by I. Freleng
Story byJack Miller
Produced by Leon Schlesinger
Starring Mel Blanc
Leon Schlesinger
Fred Jones
Chuck Jones
Bob Clampett
Michael Maltese
Gerry Chiniquy
Henry Binder
Paul Marin
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation byHerman Cohen
Color process Black and white (computer colorized in 1995)
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
May 18, 1940
Running time
9:44
LanguageEnglish

You Ought to Be in Pictures is a 1940 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short film directed by Friz Freleng. [1] The cartoon was released on May 18, 1940, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. [2]

Contents

The film combined live-action and animation, and features live-action appearances by Leon Schlesinger, writer Michael Maltese, animator Gerry Chiniquy and other Schlesinger Productions staff members. [3] The title comes from the popular 1934 song "You Oughta Be in Pictures" by Dana Suesse and Edward Heyman, which plays in the beginning of the film.

In 2016, it was shortlisted for the 1941 Retro-Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. [4]

Plot

Daffy tries to convince Leon Schlesinger that he should become the new star of Warner Bros. cartoons You Ought to Be in Pictures (screenshot).jpg
Daffy tries to convince Leon Schlesinger that he should become the new star of Warner Bros. cartoons

An animator is seen drawing Porky Pig, after Porky is drawn the animator looks at a clock and realizes that it's time for the studio's lunch break at 12 'o clock. The animator advises all the staff that it is lunch break. Quickly the staff runs out of the building.

The Porky drawing comes to life after a Daffy Duck drawing hanging on a frame wants to talk to Porky. Daffy tells Porky that he wants to be the top star in the studio. To this end, he persuades Porky to resign from the Schlesinger studios to pursue a career in feature films as Bette Davis' co-star {"Three grand a week!"}. Porky goes to Leon Schlesinger and asks to have his contract torn up. Schlesinger reluctantly agrees and wishes Porky the best of luck. Once Porky is out of earshot, Schlesinger assures the audience that Porky will be back.

Porky spends the rest of the film trying to get into the lots and sets of the Warner Bros studio, with little success. After several failures in convincing the security guard (played by Michael Maltese, voiced by Mel Blanc) to let him in, dressing up as Oliver Hardy to gain access, (until the guard realizes the real Hardy already entered the studio) and inadvertently interrupting the shooting of a dance film, he decides to see if Schlesinger will take him back.

He returns to Schlesinger's office after frantically dodging his cartoon car in and out of live-action Los Angeles traffic, only to see Daffy doing a wild audition to become the new star of Warner Bros. cartoons, openly disparaging Porky. Porky then takes Daffy with him to another room, where he beats Daffy up. After this, he hurriedly runs into Schlesinger's office to beg for his job back. Schlesinger, laughing heartily and saying he knew he would return, reveals that he did not really rip up Porky's contract, and happily tells him to get back to work. Porky gladly thanks him and runs back into the animation paper that he was in when the short started. Daffy, wrapped in bandages after being beaten up by Porky but still not quite having learned his lesson, again attempts to persuade Porky to resign and work with Greta Garbo, only to get splattered with a tomato, which irritates him.

Cast

Production

On this occasion, Daffy Duck is seen as a much more self-centered individual who shows willingness to do anything to get what he wants, whether it was money or fame, instead of being seen as a trouble-inducing screwball. This, in turn, is indirectly a foreshadowing of the character he would later become, particularly in Rabbit Fire , and onward until he was returned to his original screwball personality in the late 2010s. It was also Friz Freleng's first film back at the studio after being at MGM for two years. The film has become one of the better known shorts made by Warner Bros, and in 1994 was voted #34 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. [5]

Reception

Animation historian Jerry Beck writes, "Predating Who Framed Roger Rabbit by several decades — in fact, it's credited with inspiring the 1988 film — You Ought to Be in Pictures is one of the most memorable of the black-and-white-era Porky Pig cartoons. It's also one of the funniest." [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 103. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ↑ Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. pp. 65–66. ISBN   0-8050-0889-6.
  4. ↑ 1941 Retro-Hugos, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 28, 2017
  5. ↑ Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals . Atlanta: Turner Publishing.
  6. 1 2 Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. p. 205. ISBN   978-1-64722-137-9.
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