They call it "Looney Tunes" for a reason, y'know.
"It CAN happen... here. Population, 100 nuts and a squirrel."
— Signpost on the border of Wackyland.
— Signpost on the border of Wackyland.
"Porky in Wackyland" is a 1938 Looney Tunes short, directed by Bob Clampett and written by an uncredited Warren Foster. The short has Porky Pig going off on a quest to Darkest Africa to find the legendary Do-Do bird, for a cash reward of $4,000,000,000,000note . Upon arriving, he discovers the Do-Do's homeland: Wackyland, an unbelievably insane place where nothing makes sense and anything can happen. All in all, the short winds up being one really, really strange ride.
The color remake, "Dough for the Do-Do", which was directed by an uncredited Friz Freleng and released in 1949, is the version most viewers are familiar with simply because it was a more attractive version to air on color television during the 1960s, '70s, and '80s (alongside being in the post-1948 package of cartoons that often aired on The Bugs Bunny Show, as opposed to the original, which was in the package of pre-1943 black & white and aired less often on television). However, there's also a computer colorized version of "Porky in Wackyland" that aired on Nickelodeon and later Cartoon Network in the 1990s and the early 2000s.
The film has been inducted into the National Film Registry.
"Porky in Wackyland" provides examples of:
- Anti-Climax: In the beginning when it seems like the first monster that Porky encounters is about to attack him, it instead delivers a playful "Boo!" and prances off campily.
- Art Initiates Life: One of the Do-Do's tricks used to evade Porky is to draw a house that he can easily enter, but Porky struggles to gain access to.
- Ass Kicks You: During Porky's chase against the Do-Do, one of his quarry's tricks is to halt in place, causing Porky to collide violently with the bird's rear end.
- Bowdlerization: The colorized version of this cartoon shown on Nickelodeon (back when it aired Looney Tunes on Nick) cuts out the brief scene of the big-lipped Al Jolson duck saying, "Mammy, mammy," as he passes by Porky. This scene was also cut when ABC aired the shot-for-shot remake.
- Versions of this cartoon distributed by Guild Films in the 1950s cut the part where the Do-Do pops into frame onto the Warner Bros. shield and hits Porky with a rock from a slingshot. This cut was made because Warner Bros. did not want to be associated with television back in 1955. A similar cut was made when ABC aired the 1949 shot-for-shot remake of "Porky in Wackyland" called "Dough for the Do-Do" (though this cut was made because of comic violencenote and because ABC at the time was controlled by the theater chain spun off from Warner Bros.' rival studio, Paramountnote ).
- The scene where the three-headed freak is slapping itself and poking itself in the eyes was cut when "Dough for the Do-Do" was shown on ABC.
- Averted on Cartoon Network and Boomerang who aired both shorts completely uncut; even the Al Jolson duck scene was left in.
- Butt-Monkey: Porky Pig's confrontations with the Do-do are very one sided, thanks in part to that the Do-Do is an experienced Reality Warper. It's not until the end when he disguises himself as a newsboy (or, in "Dough for the Do-Do", a do-do himself) that he is actually able to catch him.
- Cloudcuckooland
- Darkest Africa: It's right after Dark Africa and Darker Africa.
- Deranged Animation: Quite possibly the Trope Codifier. While far from the first weird, off-the-wall cartoon, it's certainly one of the most iconic uses of it.
- Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: At the beginning.
- Feathered Fiend: The Do-Do, although he's less than truly malicious, just mischievous and wacky. Nevertheless, he antagonizes Porky when the pig finally meets him in person.
- Fungus Humongous: Large mushrooms are amongst the scenery when Porky first enters Wackyland.
- He Went That Way: When Porky asks a goggily eyed resident with a candle on his head where the Dodo is, he says this and his many arms point in different directions.
- Humiliation Conga: Porky is put through a lot of abuse for trying to catch the Do-Do, and in the original cartoon, this is capped off by him bawling in tears before he comes up with his plan. The remake changes this so he simply gets knocked dizzy by the pile of bricks, and Porky is shown to run off with the Do-Do in the end, unlike the original, which ends with him learning he was wrong about the Do-Do being the last of its kind.
- It Runs on Nonsensoleum: Pretty much anything that exists within Wackyland.
- Last of His Kind: The Do-Do. Subverted at the end, where dozens of Do-Dos pop out.Do-Dos: [in "Dough for the Do-Do"] Yes, sir! He's got the last Do-Do!
- Logo Joke: See the picture.
- Misplaced Wildlife: The real-life dodo was native to Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean just east of Madagascar, not the African mainland as shown here. Of course, this is Looney Tunes, and Rule of Funny is in full effect. Also, seeing as it is spelled Do-Do, it might just be a different species.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Porky runs into a creature that is half cat and half dog, which is constantly fighting with itself.
- Named by the Adaptation: The Do-Do has no real name in the cartoon. Decades later, the video game Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal gave his full name as Yo-Yo the Do-Do.
- Not Rare Over There: See above. (And right below.)
- Not So Extinct: The Do-Do, along with dozens more of his kind at the end. Apparently, Wackyland is where they all went.
- Population: X, and Counting: The population of Wackyland according to a sign is "100 nuts and a Squirrel".
- Reality Warper: The Do-Do.
- Remake: 1949's Dough for the Do-Do by Friz Freleng, made with most of the original animation included note , but with updated Dali-esque backgrounds, entirely new audio, and new scenes.
- Screwball Squirrel: The Dodo.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is an obvious play on Alice In Wonderland.
- The Do-Do bird and exotic setting were inspired by a 1930 Charlie Bowers stop motion film, Its a Bird.
- The "It Can Happen Here" line on the signpost is a reference to the 1935 book "It Can't Happen Here."
- Among the residents of Wackyland is a duck who is imitating Al Jolson's famous "Mammy!" number from The Jazz Singer.
- One of the "monsters" in Wackyland is a three-headed goon whose heads slap and poke each other while babbling incoherently. Guess who they look like?Tiny creature: He says his mother was scared by a pawnbroker's sign!
- The scene where Porky is lured into an underground trap by a creature with a candle on his head is a reference to Fleischer Studios' Bimbo's Initiation.
- The backgrounds in "Dough for the Do-Do" are directly lifted from paintings by Salvador Dalí.
- The word Foo shows up - taken from the Smokey Stover comic strip.
- Spell My Name with a "The": The Do-Do, apparently. The video game Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal lists his official name as Yo-Yo the Do-Do, however.
- Stock Footage: Some of the footage in this cartoon was later recycled for another Bob Clampett short: Tin Pan Alley Cats.
- Surreal Humor
- Travel Montage: The line on the map variety.
- Twist Ending: There are actually DOZENS of Do-Dos living in Wackyland, though Porky isn't made aware of this in the remake.
- Visual Pun: "Dough for the Do-Do" adds a gag where a literal Rubber (Marching) Band marches across the ground.
- Wackyland: Trope Maker and Trope Namer.
- Vo-do-diddy-oh-doh-vo-do-diddy-oh-doh-vo-doh-diddy-oh-doh-VOH-DO-DE-OH-DO-VO-DO-DIDDY-OH-DOH-DO-DE-OH-VO-DOH-EE-OH!!!! WoooooOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooh!
