I Haven't Got a Hat

Yes, this is Porky Pig's debut, although it certainly is not an attractive first look at the stuttering porker. Porky and a couple of other "kids" are all part of school musical and recital and Porky's bit leads off the show.

He recites a rendition of Longfellow's "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," or at least starts to but it quickly becomes Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade." Mostly he just sweats while trying to remember his lines. I liked the sound effects help Porky received from offstage and the fact that even though his classmates unleashed the dogs on him, they did give him good applause!

"Ham and Ex," two little singing dogs, get my vote for "best in show," which also featured "Miss Kitty" reciting "Mary Had A Little Lamb," and the piano playing "Oliver Owl," whose tune is greatly enhanced by a fighting dog and cat inserted into the piano by a mischief-making fellow student.

This one really isn't much for laughs but overall, it's "cute" and it's in color, which is pretty good considering it's made in 1935. In fact, the graphics and the color restoration are excellent for 1935 and it's a collector's piece of sorts being that it's Porky's debut. It is the lead-off cartoon on Disc 3 of Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3.

Although "I Haven't Got a Hat" just looks like a cute cartoon, it really seems to be focusing on the various kinds of things that can happen during a school recital, namely stage fright and resentment. Probably most famous as Porky Pig's debut (he sings about Paul Revere's ride), the cartoon culminates when an owl tries to play the piano but a cat messes with the piano.

So, this is a formidable part of cartoon history. The crowd behind the Looney Tunes cartoons would further develop the cartoons in later years, but this is a good reference point. Worth seeing.

The lamb's fleece was as white as corn flakes. Ha!

It's an earlier version of Porky though. He still stutters, but not the way he stuttered when Mel Blanc started doing his voice later. In this cartoon, he still manages to get his words out after a few tries, unlike when Blanc did the voice, and Porky would choose different words in mid sentence that were easier for him to say.

I liked the teacher. She even had her own bell.

The poem by Little Kitty was cute. "Corn Flakes".

The song, "I Haven't Got A Hat" by the twin dogs, Ham and Ex was done well with some good bass lines.

The highlight of the cartoon was the piano recital by Oliver Owl. A brilliant bit of musicianship, thanks to assistance from Beans and a fighting cat and dog.

Miss Cud is the school teacher. The students include Beans the Cat, Porky Pig, Oliver Owl, Ham and Ex. The students are performing in a Musical and Recital.

Warner Brothers was trying to copy Our Gang's success with a bunch of characters as kids. Beans became an early minor Looney Tunes star, but it is Porky Pig who is the big longtime breakout. Both made their first appearance here. By itself, this is mostly an introduction to a bunch of characters. There isn't much to the story. It is basic and a passable six. But that is only if there is nothing else. This is a rookie card. Those are worth way more.

Friz Freleng's 'I Haven't Got a Hat' is sort of an audition piece for new characters. With neither Bosko nor Buddy proving particularly inspiring, Warner cartoons needed a new star player and they hedged their bets by introducing a host of new creations based on the 'Our Gang' series. A range of young animals and their school teacher Miss Cud are introduced with captions at the beginning of 'I Haven't Got a Hat'. Not unreasonably, the studio assumed that the real winner was Beans the naughty little cat and they went on to make a handful of cartoons in which he was the lead. However, the character the audience found most interesting was Porky Pig who would go on to be the studio's first real star. In 'I Haven't Got a Hat', Porky performs a recital of 'The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere' but he is so nervous that he sweats profusely and stutters in the extreme. This stutter would ultimately become the character's defining feature, although it would later be portrayed as merely a speech impediment and not the result of extreme nerves. Porky's age was also altered from cartoon to cartoon at this stage. Often he would maintain the characteristics of a child while at other times he would assume the adult role which finally became the constant. As early as his second appearance in Tex Avery's 'Gold Diggers of '49', Porky was already playing a grown-up, the father of one of his classmates in this cartoon, no-less! All of which tells you very little about 'I Haven't Got a Hat', for which I apologise! A very early colour Merrie Melody, 'I Haven't Got a Hat' is cutesy but enjoyable. Set at a school talent show, we get to watch various acts starting with Porky's jumbled poetry. We hear Little Kitty (the most self-consciously cute character who is noticeably absent from the opening introductions) recite 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' with a little help from Miss Cud, then the twin dogs Ham and Ex (the weakest creations of this batch of new characters) perform the jaunty song that gives the cartoon its title. All of this is fairly enjoyable but the best antics come courtesy of Oliver Owl and Beans, who are engaged in an off-stage war over sweets which spills over into Oliver's act. I always enjoy 'I Haven't Got a Hat' despite its absence of big laughs. It's interesting to see Porky's debut but this amounts to barely a cameo really. What makes 'I Haven't Got a Hat' so enjoyable is its gentle warmth and bright, colourful animation. While my ribs remain largely untickled during these seven minutes, my lips remain in a upturned position and, every now and then, my foot taps to the tunes on offer. A small treat for cartoon enthusiasts.