Porky's Poppa (1938) User Reviews

Holy Cow!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 14 November 2007]

This turned out to be a strange cartoon, and a fun one. It starts slowly, and for the first half of it you think this is a dud, nothing funny and too dated. However, it really starts to pick up and then gets faster and faster with a very wild ending.

It winds up being a contest between a real cow, "Bessie," and a new mechanical one. Bessie, with hoof-in-mouth disease, is forced to snap out of it or she's going to be made into hamburgers. Once the cow starts to complete with this incredible mechanical cow - who churns out milk, cottage cheese, banana splits, cold cream and more! - the cartoon gets really wild and the final few minutes are a lot of fun.

They misnamed the cartoon because he though it starts off being about Porky's poppa is dire financial straights, the story is about the contest between cows.

Decent but nothing you must see.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 12 December 2021]

This Looney Tunes cartoon begins with a variation on the song "Old MacDonald's Farm"...but it's about Porky Pig's papa, who owns the farm. It seems that the family's cow is sick and so Papa orders a new cow...which turns out to be a robot cow! But Porky doesn't want to get rid of the cow and soon the cow and robot cow are competing.

This is a pleasant but otherwise unremarkable cartoon short. Well animated but not a ton of laughs.

By the way, in the cow's stall is a poster for 'Bull Bontana'...a cow. In real life, Bull Montana was a silent film star and professional wrestler.

Once again Warner Bros. sounds a clarion alarm . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 15 November 2016]

. . . this time, opposing Frankenfood in this 1930s animated short, PORKY'S POPPA. Warner's Looney Tunes Early Warning System always had the uncanny knack of warning America of its upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti. A case in point from PORKY'S POPPA is when the Acme Corp. Robot Cow begins PAINTING "cream" at the top on the OUTSIDE of its milk bottles. Though such a crass, deceptive practice in Real Life would have been unimaginable to Normal Americans in the 1900s, 21st Century Big "Food" Conglomerates routinely use carcinogenic dyes to color EVERYTHING available for us to eat--they use whatever hue (some NOT found in Nature) that their Marketing psychopaths believe will fetch the highest price. Obviously, any of the mush slopped out by the Acme Robot Cow in PORKY'S POPPA will taste like soggy poisonous cardboard, which is exactly how a mixture of a McDonald's, TV dinner, and processed supermarket "food" diet strikes our palates Today. Since the vast majority of U.S. citizens alive Today cannot tell the difference between a "factory farm" and a World War Two-style Death Camp, it's no wonder that Armageddon is just around the corner!

It's all about the music!

[slymusic · 3 January 2011]

Directed by Bob Clampett, with animation by Chuck Jones, "Porky's Poppa" is a very nice Porky Pig cartoon that takes place on a farm, like many Porky cartoons do. Porky's dad purchases a mechanically "creamlined" cow as a replacement for his quarantined cow Bessie, and Porky is not happy about it.

Two scenes in this cartoon are very funny, thanks to Carl Stalling's musical accompaniment. The film opens with a hilariously extended male-chorus version of "Old MacDonald", even switching to a minor key! As Bessie gives milk bottles to Porky, who then wraps them in blankets, the sweetly concluding phrases of "Lullaby of Broadway" can be heard, interrupted by a rambunctious "Dixie" with a bottle of chocolate malted milk.

"Porky's Poppa" is fun to watch, featuring some nice sight gags. Equally satisfying is the fact that both Porky and his father are voiced by that supreme "Man of a Thousand Voices": Mel Blanc.

The animation, music and cows steal the show

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 11 July 2016]

Bob Clampett's cartoons often were high in energy and fun and displayed a uniquely wacky visual style that one can recognise immediately.

'Porky's Poppa' may not quite one of his masterpieces, but it is still a great cartoon that has Clampett's style all over it.

Carl Stalling's energetically high-voltage, luscious, rousing, dynamic and action-enhancing music score and inspired arrangements of pre-existing music shows off his genius. Absolutely love his unique version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".

The animation is deliciously wacky, eye-popping, rich in detail and high in imagination.

Loved the pacing, with many unpredictable and deliciously bizarre gags that come thick and fast at you, going seamlessly from one to another without being rushed and disjointed. The opening and the fast and furious chase scene are the most memorable.

Porky is likable enough, though the cows are much funnier, have more screen time and make much more of an impact especially the mechanical one. The voice acting is strong, interesting that the duck voiced by Clampett himself is a little reminiscent of Daffy Duck but sounds Donald Duck-esque.

All in all, a great cartoon where the animation, music and cows are the high-points, as well as that it's hugely entertaining. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Good start, gets worse

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 9 September 2015]

"Porky's Poppa" is a 7-minute cartoon from over 75 years ago. The director is Robert Clampett, who made many Warner Bros cartoon and also has a short cameo as voice actor in here. The original cartoon was made in black-and-white, although there are also colored versions of this one. Shortly before the days of World War II, Porky was still a huge star, but with the rise of Bugs and Daffy, he lost significance quickly in the coming years. Here he is at his Poppa's farm. I really liked the first 90 seconds, so over the top in terms of content and the very catchy tune of "Old McDonald has a Farm". Unfortunately, the remaining five minutes are not half as good. We hear about the financial struggles of the duo and basically see how milk is turned into cheese, ice... for the entire duration. It was neither funny nor interesting I must say, just like the final competition, even if Bessie the Cow may be among the strangest you get to see in these cartoons. All in all, not recommended. Or just stop watching at the 2-minute mark.