The Wearing of the Grin

I have not watched all that many Looney Tunes cartoons where Porky is the main character (and he is accompanied by side characters), but I am starting to thoroughly enjoy them. Why more cartoons with Porky in the spotlight were not made is something that I cannot really understand, but in a way I guess that makes it all the more exciting to watch these kind of cartoons (ones where Porky is the main character). Here he is in Ireland(!) and is on his way to Dublin, when he realizes that it is: a) Late at night and b) That the rain is coming down in obvious torrents. Porky makes up his mind to stay in the "quaint little castle at the top of the hill" (yeah right) and makes his way up to ask for lodging. On the way he reads the sign "Beware of Leprechauns." If only Porky pays attention to the warning more carefully...

I very much enjoyed this cartoon for the Irish theme (I am partly Irish and anything with an Irish theme tends to excite me), which works very well. I also liked the leprechauns, who are mean characters but very likable. The other things I enjoyed about this cartoon was the randomness, the animation and the character of Porky. One of the reviewers here, magicunicorn, says this cartoon is not very exciting. I think his brain was not working properly. This is anything BUT not exciting. It's very exciting. :-)

I recommend this to people who like exciting cartoons (unless you find very odd stuff exciting), Ireland, Porky Pig and wacky cartoons. Enjoy "Wearing of the Grin"! :-)

8 and a half out of ten.

The Wearing of the Grin is not a favourite by all means, but I liked it a lot. The animation is very good, with beautiful colouring, convincing character features and dream-like visual effects. The music as pretty much always is a delight as well, as are the sight gags(beware of the leprechauns was a good one). I for one enjoyed the climax, it was funny if a tad predictable, and the dialogue comes by thick and fast. The story is effective if slight, and the characters are good too. Porky is suitably timid here, but it is O Pat and O Mike who steal the show, they could be seen as stereotypical but they were funny, that's what mattered to me. And of course Mel Blanc is excellent. Overall, it is visually imaginative and definitely worth a look at least once. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In The Wearing of the Grin, Porky is stuck in a haunted house in Ireland inhabited by a couple of leprechauns. They attempt to banish the pig to wearing green shoes because they think he's going to steal their pot-o-gold. Another very amusing short directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The music here is not by Carl Stalling but Eugene Poddany who would eventually do the scores of Jones' cartoons for MGM. Loved the way Porky dances whenever he's wearing the shoes. Highly whimsical dream sequences also abound near the end. This is on disc 2 of Vol. 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection on DVD. If you're a big animation fan, I highly recommend you check that out.

Top o' the mornin' to ye. The rest of the day to you as well. Young Porky, bound for Dublin in the rain, meets the Little Folk and has the harder part of it, to be sure. O'Pat and O'Mike make it a time he'll remember the length of his days, I'll be bound! Great dialogue, including one line I have to quote here or a banshee will haunt me: Sure and it's sight enough to set the heart crossways in ye! Tis a fine treat for all the children of Erin and those that are Irish only one day a year! Tis recommending it strongly, that I am!

Wearing of the Grin, The (1951)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

It's a dark and stormy night so Porky Pig tries to get shelter inside a dark castle but he turns into a couple leprechauns who think he's there to steal their gold. This has never been one of my favorites and this latest viewing just affirmed that for me. The thought of Porky going up against a couple leprechauns should have made for some great entertainment but that's not the case here as we only get a couple small laughs. The whole gimmick of the two leprechauns coming together as one was an interesting idea but not enough is done with it. The same could be said about the joke dealing with the dancing shoes. Even Porky himself doesn't have too much to do. Considering it only runs 7-minutes you're going to stay entertained but there's so much better out there.