The Blow Out is a 1936 black and white Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon directed by Tex Avery and starring Porky Pig.
The cartoon opens with the city being terrorized by a Mad Bomber who is blowing up every building he can. At the same time, Porky wants an ice cream soda but finds he's five cents short. Discovering he can earn pennies by doing good deeds, Porky sets off on a campaign of returning dropped belongings to their owners. When the Mad Bomber goes after his next target, Porky discovers his time bomb and attempts to return it to him, resulting in the Bomber racing around the city as he's pursued by the pig who keeps trying to give him back his dropped 'clock'.
Tropes appearing in this cartoon:
- Accidental Hero: Porky, in spades. In trying to earn enough money to buy an ice cream soda, he inadvertently captured the Bomber and ended his reign of terror, not to mention saved the building he tried to blow up.
- Achievements in Ignorance: Porky Pig ends up capturing the Bomber (and earning the large reward money) completely by accident. He just thought he was a stranger who dropped his clock and was trying to give it back to him, hoping to earn a penny from him.
- Big Eater: The plot gets started by Porky wanting to eat an ice cream soda. In the end, the police give him enough reward money to buy all the ice cream sodas he wants, which he happily devours.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The Bomber says he’s going to blow Porky into little pieces, then turns towards the camera to add, “whether you people like it or not!”
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: While the Bomber is hiding in the shadows in the sewer, all that's seen are his eyes. It's soon accompanied by Porky's...and the outline of bomb's clock face.
- The Cat Came Back: The Bomber keeps trying to escape Porky, but no matter where he goes, Porky is there to give him back his "clock".
- Dramatic Irony: Porky was completely unaware that the stranger he was following was the Bomber and that the clock he had been trying to give back to him was a bomb. Two police officers that were chasing the Bomber even said he had a lot of guts to have a hold on him. Even when he was given his reward money, he just thought he was being paid handsomely for giving back the 'clock'.
- Evil Laugh: The Bomber has a fiendish cackle that sounds like that of a Wicked Witch.
- For the Evulz: The Bomber doesn't seem to have any particular reason for blowing up buildings, except for the enjoyment of causing destruction.
- Hammerspace:
- The clock the Bomber turns into a Time Bomb seems to be surprising spacious, able to hold things like dynamite, a black bomb, and sky rockets with no problem.
- Averted with Porky's pocket. When he tries to toss his bag of reward money into the air and catch it in his pocket, the bag instead hits him and spills open.
- Happy Dance: Porky does a little jig every time he gets a penny, capped off with tossing the coin into the air and letting it land in his pocket.
- Mad Bomber: The Bomber, of course, who has a talent for being able to turn ordinary clocks into potent time bombs able to blow up entire buildings, with his motive being just for the love of the destruction.
- Prefer Jail to the Protagonist: In the end, the Bomber just jumps into a police wagon and willingly get himself arrested to get away from Porky. Unfortunately, Porky leaves the bomb in the van with him.
- Thrifty Scot: While walking, Porky spots a nickel on the sidewalk, which would give him enough for an ice cream soda. Unfortunately, before he could pick it up, a Scottish terrier down the street zoomed up and snatched it up first.
- Vocal Dissonance: The Bomber is voiced by a woman, Martha Wentworth (more remembered these days for voicing Madam Mim).
