So many safety code violations.
Pigs in a Polka is a 1943 animated short (8 minutes) directed by Friz Freleng and released as part of the Merrie Melodies series.
It's Warner Bros.' comic response to Disney films such as "The Three Little Pigs" and Fantasia. It starts up with the standard Three Little Pigs setup, except pig #2 decides to get even more unsafe and build his house out of matchsticks. After the Big Bad Wolf destroys houses 1 and 2, he corners the three pigs in the more industrious pig #3's house of bricks. After the wolf fails to huff and puff and blow the house down, and knocking the door down also fails, it becomes a battle of wits as the wolf attempts to trick his way into the house. All of it set to a selection of Johannes Brahms' "Hungarian Dances".
Tropes:
- Alliterative Title: "Pigs in a Polka"
- The Big Bad Wolf: He's hungry for pork.
- Door Judo: The wolf builds up a head of steam and charges the front door—which the first pig opens. He then hurtles towards an inner door—which the second pig opens. He then careens towards the third door, which the third pig closes, causing the wolf to crash violently into the door.
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: By the time the wolf gets to the elevator, he steps inside and starts falling down the shaft, completely unaware that he's not inside an elevator.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The first two pigs wear shirts but no pants, while the third pig and the wolf wear overalls and lack shirts.
- Hot Gypsy Woman: One of the wolf's disguises. The pigs aren't fooled.
- Mickey Mousing: All the action is synched up with Brahms's "Hungarian Dances" #5, #7, #6, and #17.
- Mime and Music-Only Cartoon: Except for a brief intro in which the wolf introduces the story and the parts where the pigs introduce themselves.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: In the introduction, the wolf describes the cartoon as "Starring the Big Bad Wolf... and the three little pigs.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Wolf emcee at the beginning is a caricature of Deems Taylor, the emcee for Fantasia, while standing on a podium used by Leopold Stokowski in the same film.
- Only Sane Man: The pig in the black overalls ain’t fooled by the wolf as a poor old lady when it was convincing enough for the other two pigs.
- Rough Overalls: The third pig wears overalls to emphasize his hardworking nature (he's the one who built his house out of bricks rather than straw or sticks).
- That Russian Squat Dance: The wolf does it as he first enters the scene. He does it again later while disguised as a poor old woman, which gives him away as the clothes fly off.
- That Syncing Feeling: The wolf has disguised himself as an old lady playing the violin. The third pig discovers that he has a record player hidden under his cloak playing violin music. The pig flips the record, which has a more up-tempo number on the other side, causing the wolf to shake out of his costume.
- You Need a Breath Mint: When the wolf is huffing and puffing and trying to blow down the brick house, one of the pigs offers him some mouthwash.
