Western Animation / The Case of the Stuttering Pig

"You see? If anything happens to you, I will get all this property. However nothing will happen...I hope."

— Lawyer Goodwill

"The Case of the Stuttering Pig" is a 1937 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Porky Pig. Originally in black and white it was redrawn in color in 1967.

One dark and rainy night, Porky, his brothers (Patrick, Percy, Portis, Peter) and sister (Petunia^note which is odd, as Petunia is often depicted as Porky's girlfriend) await the arrival of their late uncle Solomon Swine's lawyer, Goodwill. During the reading of Solomon's will, it's stated that the pigs will inherit his fortune, but should anything happen to them, the inheritance would go to Goodwill. After Goodwill leaves, his true colors are shown as he sneaks into a hidden laboratory beneath the house and drinks Jekyll and Hyde juice to become an insidious fiend, with intentions of doing away with the pigs, while also insulting an audience member in the third row. When Porky's siblings start disappearing, he goes to search for them, only to encounter the fiend. Just when it looks like the pigs are doomed, an unlikely hero saves the day.

Tropes appearing in this cartoon:

• Actor Allusion: It's probably just a coincidence but it's not the first time that Billy Bletcher voices a canine villain (Goodwill is an anthropomorphic bulldog) who targets pigs. He's even introduced by knocking on the door.
• Alliterative Name:
  • Porky, Petunia and all their siblings have names that begin with P. And of course, their surname is Pig.
  • Same goes for the late Solomon Swine.
• Amoral Attorney: Lawyer Goodwill presents himself as the friendly lawyer of Porky Pig's uncle...who's actually scheming to murder Porky and all his siblings in order to inherit their property.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • After downing the Hyde juice, Goodwill pants while bracing himself for the transformation and... absolutely nothing happens. Apparently, he didn't shake the first dose up enough.
  • After the other four pigs are grabbed, the lights briefly go out again, and we see Porky and Petunia are now gone. However, they're simply hiding behind the chair.
• Big Damn Heroes: The guy in the third row, who hits Goodwill with his chair.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Lawyer Goodwill acts kind and saintly, but once he sneaks into his secret laboratory his true colors are shown.
• Body Horror: Tamer than any other examples, but during his transformation Goodwill shows sings of this: his nose becomes black and grows bigger, his ears become pointy, his torso turns more bulky, his fingers become longer and sharp, his teeth like his nose grow bigger forming a Slasher Smile and we later see that his feet have three non-human fingers.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: After his transformation, Goodwill does this twice to talk about what he's doing and to insult the audience (particularly that guy in the third row). Later, while trailing an unaware Porky, Goodwill's eyes occasionally glance in our direction.
• Bullying a Dragon: Goowdill spends most of the time insulting the unnamed guy in the third row; even threatening to "fix"^note which possibly means "kill" him if he tries to intervene. At the short's end the same guy saves the day by hitting Goowdill with a chair and trap him in his own stocks.
• Darker and Edgier: Of all Porky Pig's shorts at least. The atmosphere is more sinister and Lawyer Goodwill, despite not without his comedic moments, is quite an intimidating and creepy villain.
• Dark Is Evil: Goodwill when he prepares himself to kill the Pigs wears a black coat and after turning himself into a monster he has dark grey skin (dark green in the colorized version).
• Dastardly Whiplash: Except the lack of mustache, Goodwill has the look of this with his black coat, pointed hat and an hateful personality.
• The Dog Bites Back: In the end Goodwill is foiled because he insulted the guy in the third row too many times.
• Dramatic Irony: Porky and his siblings are unaware that the fiend after them is Lawyer Goodwill^note at least it's not mentioned if they find out.
• Evil Gloating: After turning himself into a monster Goodwill gloats that he will kill Porky and his brothers and the audience won't be able to stop him.
• Evil Is Petty: While attempting to murder Porky and his brothers, Goodwill also mocks the audience expecially the guy in the third row just out of spite.
• Evil Laugh: Goodwill in his Hyde form often does it.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: Goodwill after his transformation talks in a very guttural and croaky tone of voice.
• Evil Wears Black: Before taking his Jekyll and Hyde juice, Goodwill dons a black suit.
• Failed a Spot Check: For some reason, Porky and his siblings were completely unaware that Goodwill had a hidden laboratory under their house.
• Fat Bastard: The evil Lawyer Goodwill is quite overweight. After drinking the potion he's more fit and muscular-looking, though still quite large.
• Faux Affably Evil: Goodwill is at first gentle and nice towards Porky and his siblings. Once his true nature is exposed, all his niceness becomes hollow.
• Foreshadowing: The first clue that Goodwill might not be the "good friend" he claims to be is when he points out to the Pigs before (seemingly) leaving that if anything happens to them he will inherit the house. He however assures them that nothing bad will happen to them...hopefully.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Twice: first Goodwill at some point arrives to threaten the guy in the third row with possible death if he tries to come up. Then Goodwill is defeated by the guy in the third row who throws a chair at him just when he's about to kill the Pigs.
• From Beyond the Fourth Wall: Just when Goodwill is about to get Porky and his siblings, he gets hit by a theater seat thrown at him, courtesy of the guy in the third row.
• Gag Nose: Goodwill as a monster has a very long black nose.
• Gonk: Goodwill, once transformed, looks more freaky and goblin-like than his true form.
• Green and Mean: In the colorized version, Goodwill has green skin after his transformation, making him look almost like the Wicked Witch of the West.
• Inheritance Murder: Goodwill's goal, as he's next in line to inherit Solomon's estate if anything happens to his niece and nephews.
• Ironic Name: At first, Lawyer Goodwill seems to live up to his name, but when he leaves and enters a secret laboratory, it turns out he's as far from goodwill as one can get.
• It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: In the short's opening there's a quite furious storm outside Solomon Swine's house.
• Jerkass: Attempted multiple murder aside, Goodwill also likes to insult and provoke the guy in the third row for no particularly reason.
• The Jekyll Is a Jerk: Goodwill in order to kill Porky and his siblings without being recognized drinks a potion who turns him into a monstruos Mr Hyde-like being. Then again, Goodwill was already a greedy and wicked person and the potion only brought out the literal and figurative monster he has always been under a friendly façade.
• Jekyll & Hyde: Goodwill takes a potion that turns him into a hideous brute to make himself unrecognizable when he goes to kill the pigs. It doesn't work at first, however, until he puts it in a milkshake mixer to foam it up. Downplayed as Goodwill was nasty beneath his demeanor and his transformation removes the subtlety for him to fully embrace a boisterous attitude to villainy.
• Kick the Dog: Goodwill calling the guy in the the third row a "big softie" and later a "big cream puff".
• Knight of Cerebus: Goodwill is still remembered for being one of the few Looney Tunes villains with very little, if not any, comedic moments at all. Notice how the music in the background while he prepares himself to kill the Pigs is very dramatic and dark and his actions are never Played for Laughs. After becoming a monster, aside from some Black Humor, he's downright terrifying.
• Large Ham: Goodwill as a monster. He's more excited and extravagant than his normal status.
• Lights Out Somebody Dies: The Pig siblings are left all alone when the lights go out and one of them disappears, with an X left where they sat. This repeats until only Porky and Petunia remain. Fortunately, they are only captured and are still alive... for the time being.
• Mad Scientist Laboratory: Goodwill has one under the pigs' house that acts as his lair.
• Manipulative Bastard: Lawyer Goodwill, thanks to his nice demeanor, is able to pass himself as a friendly and trusty figure to Porky and his brothers without them being suspicious not even once of his true colors.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: The picture of Solomon Swine is a porcine caricature of Oliver Hardy.
• No Fourth Wall: After transforming, Lawyer Goodwill talks straight to the audience, taunting them that they can't do anything to stop him, and specifically targets "you in the third row, you big softie!" In the end, it's the guy in the third row who saves the day.
• Oh, Crap!: Porky when he first sees the transformed Goodwill and again with Right Behind You.
• Painful Transformation: Subtlety version, but Goodwill is shown to breath silently but definitely heavily as he transforms into his Hyde persona. This suggests that the transformation is not exactly painless.
• Pointy Ears: Goodwill has these when he's fully transformed.
• Quaking with Fear: Porky tells Petunia that he's not afraid, as the camera cuts to a close-up of his shaking knees.
• Related in the Adaptation: Petunia is usually Porky's girlfriend, but here she's apparently his sister.
• Right Behind You: After encountering Goodwill in his brute appearance, Porky races upstairs and jumps into what he thinks is Petunia's arms, while looking back and describing the fiend he just ran from, unaware that very fiend is whose holding him right now.
• Sadist: The other pigs are grabbed quickly, but Goodwill takes his time revealing himself to Porky just to maximize the shock.
• Shout-Out:
  • The title references the Perry Mason book and movie The Case of the Stuttering Bishop.
  • Goodwill explaining his evil plan to the audience may be partly based on Richard III.
• Slasher Smile: Goodwill show this before descending in the laboratory and thus revealing his true evil colors. He later does this again when he secretely trails Porky.
• Super-Speed: When Porky finally spots the monstrous Goodwill behind him he escapes running up a stairwell. When he reaches the top however for unexplained reasons Goodwill has arrived before him though Porky doesn't notice it at first.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Goodwill declares that he's going to get rid of Porky and his siblings and there's nothing the audience can do to help them, specifically the guy in the third row. That's what he thinks.
  • Porky comments on how he and the family are safe and sound in their house. Cue relatives disappearing amid the lights going out.
• Throat-Slitting Gesture: Goodwill does this when he tells to the captured Pigs how intend to get rid of them as soon as he'll catch Porky and Petunia too.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: In this short Porky he's as always the Plucky Comic Relief he's always presented. Who darknes the cartoon's tone however is the apparently kind and nice but actually greedy and sadistic Lawyer Goodwill who turns into a monstruos creature in order to kill him along with his siblings so he can obtain their inheritance.
• Wham Shot: When Lawyer Goodwill is leaving the pigs' home, we get a shot of him looking back with an Evil Grin, cluing us in as to who the villain of this picture is.
• Wild Take: Porky does this the first time he sees the transformed Goodwill as his eyes pop up while he screams "W-W-W-Wow !" in terror.
• Who Are You?: After Goodwill is foiled, the pigs wonder who is responsible for this and hear a man off-screen answer them.
  Goodwill: Who are you?!
  Man: I'm da guy in the third row, ya big sourpuss!