The Village Smithy

During the 1940s and 50s, Fred 'Tex' Avery made some of the weirdest and funniest cartoons in history...for MGM. However, in the 30s and early 40s, Avery worked for Looney Tunes and his loss to MGM was, in hindsight, huge. Some of Avery's strange sense of humor is present in this one and it's well worth seeing.

During the 1930s, Looney Tunes suffered from having great artists but lousy stories compared to some of the competition. Bland stories and bland characters which make viewing these cartoons today a bit of a chore. However, by 1936 the studio had finally created a decent character in Porky Pig and here Avery injects his weirdness into the tale.

"The Village Smithy" is a famous poem by Longfellow and here the film begins with the narrator reciting a bit of it. But weirdness sets in and then it degenerates into a silly cartoon...very silly indeed. And, the Smithy's assistant, Porky, is a bit of a screw-up...leading to some nice laughs.

An Avery trait is breaking the fourth wall...and this film does several times, mostly at the beginning. As a result of this and some clever gags, you get one of the best Porky cartoons of 1936. Well worth seeing and, especially, fun.