| Wholly Smoke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Frank Tashlin |
| Story by | Geo. Manuell |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Tedd Pierce Cliff Nazarro |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by | Robt Bentley Volney White Joe D'Igalo Robert McKimson Rod Scribner Ken Harris A.C. Gamer |
| Color process | Black-and-white |
| Production company | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 7:14 |
| Language | English |
Wholly Smoke is a 1938 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on August 27, 1938, and stars Porky Pig.
Plot
Porky Pig is preparing for church after his mother gives him money for the collection plate. On his way, he encounters a bully practicing smoking tricks. Porky bets his nickel for the bully's cigar to prove he is not a wimp, but fails miserably when he tries the tricks. Later, Porky hallucinates and encounters Nick O'Teen, who tempts him with smoking. In a nightmare sequence, tobacco products force-feed Porky. He quickly wakes up, rushes to church, and narrowly avoids giving in to temptation. Determined to never smoke again, Porky returns the bully's cigar, causing it to explode, and makes his offering at church.
Reception
Animation historian David Gerstein writes that Wholly Smoke represents "Warner Bros.' most successful effort to capture what it's like to be a child. Wholly Smoke isn't just a morality tale or just another wacky Warner flight into dreamland. It's also the surprisingly real story of a little boy—our Porky—and his struggle with a larger world."
Edited versions
The Nickelodeon, syndicated Merrie Melodies Show, and Cartoon Network versions of this cartoon were colorized or redrawn, with edits from the original black-and-white version.
- On Nickelodeon and the syndicated Merrie Melodies Show, the beginning of the "Little Boys Shouldn't Smoke" song featuring matchsticks forming blackface while singing in the style of The Mills Brothers was cut. Cartoon Network left the scene intact but changed the blackface to red during colorization.
- On the syndicated Merrie Melodies Show and Cartoon Network, the part where a pipe cleaner resembles Cab Calloway was cut. Nickelodeon initially left this scene uncut in the early 1990s but later edited it out.
- The brief shot of Porky tied to a post while a tribe of Indian pipes dance around him was cut on Cartoon Network but left in on the syndicated Merrie Melodies Show and Nickelodeon.
Home media
DVD:
DVD/Blu-ray:
References
- Ohmart, Ben (2012). Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices. BearManor Media. p. 334. ISBN 978-1-5939-3788-1.
- "Tralfaz: Smokers, Stooges and Crooners". Tralfaz. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- Hartley, Steven (30 October 2012). "Likely Looney, Mostly Merrie: 212. Wholly Smoke (1938)". Likely Looney, Mostly Merrie. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 75. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 124-126. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.
- "The Censored Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Guide: U-Z". Archived from the original on 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
External links
- Wholly Smoke at IMDb