Curtain Razor

As an adult watching the Looney Tunes cartoons, I'm always amazed at some of the spoofs and references thrown in that I didn't recognize when I was three and four. I get the feeling that the people behind the cartoons probably used some of their own experiences as inspiration (let's face it: there's lots to spoof in Hollywood). So, "Curtain Razor" features Porky Pig as a talent agent auditioning various and sundry misfits to see whether or not he can find spots for them. Now that I think about it, the final scene was sort of a strange thing to show in something intended for children.

OK, so I admit that I don't know whether or not this cartoon was based on a real experience. But either way, it's great to watch, hearing Porky grouchily stutter comments about the hokey acts that he has to watch. You're sure to like it.

"I can only do it once". Well, you can watch this cartoon many times and still like it.

Porky Pig is a talent agent with a whole range of potential stars queued up outside his office just looking for their big break. However, a pushy manager keeps breaking into his office and pushing his own act, making it difficult for Porky to see the others there to audition.

Porky Pig is not a great character when he is by himself, usually he needs a good partner to really make a short film work. Here he has no direct partner but the film is structured to be a series of auditions that Porky watches. In this regard the film is both good and bad; when the auditions are funny then the cartoon works pretty well. However others are not as good and it feels surprisingly episodic (considering it is a short!) and not that great.

Like I say, I'm not convinced that Porky can carry a film by himself and, on the basis of this, it doesn't matter what you do with him he can't. In fairness he has almost nothing to do here apart from watch and occasionally say the odd amusing line. The support characters vary moment to moment, but there are a few good spoofs in there. The final act is OK but not as funny a punchline as I think the writers thought.

Overall this is an average cartoon; it seems very broken up with some of it working and other bits not working as well. Porky is poor here with nothing for him to really do but generally that is the story of many of the characters. Amusing enough as long as you don't expect belly laughs.

Maybe not one of my favourites of all time, but still a cartoon that I enjoy enormously. True, the story is structurally episodic, but considering the whole idea that to me was inevitable really. Besides, the story is still well-paced and entertaining. I would also understand if anybody considered Porky as a bland character, there are definitely much stronger Looney Tunes characters including Bugs, Sylvester and especially Daffy. But there have been cartoons of his where he has been a surprisingly decent lead, and with his grouchy comments on the auditions or having to see them this is one such case. The spoofs are a lot of fun as well. The humour is what makes Curtain Razor, everything is razor sharp(intended pun here) with dialogue, gags and references really freshly and wittily done. I am in agreement that it is the sort of humour that may go over the heads of kids, though even they will find some amusement, but adults will find much pleasure spotting them. The animation shows a lot of fluidity and beautiful use of colour, while the music is lushly orchestrated and jaunty in its energy. Mel Blanc's vocals are superb as always. Overall, an absolutely great cartoon in my opinion. 10/10 Bethany Cox