Dispatches from the Middle Circle

A semi-autobiographical comic told by way of Daffy Dumas Duck

This is probably like my favourite comic ever made in the world i think

He’s literally worse than the joker

@flailingwings your tags are GOLD #daffy at least is a fair fight#he as experience being the straight man#bugs would break him like dry spaghetti

The Joker would drop Bugs into a vat of acid and start cackling, and he'd hear a carrot crunch and "Ehhhhh what's so funny, doc?"

"I'm watching that rabbit boil ali-"

Frank Tashlin was a MASTER at demonstrating comedy through parallels and juxtaposition, which was a prominent component of his ‘30s cartoons (much to their success). not only are the music arrangements, typography, and general attitudes different, but the filmmaking too. the first train has lots of fast cuts and dynamic camera angles which makes it feel more sporadic, more energetic, more streamlined and more engaging visually. Porky, on the other hand, is all one long, slow, bloated shot, which feels comparatively and purposefully uninspired and boring.

‘Mech post number 10! This one is a silly little guy, my friend @mortallyminiaturewerewolf, brought in a Crockett/Katana for me, the most fanatically loyal Kuritan in our area. We were having a game in our FLGS when she presented me with it and I wanted to paint it straight away. So, after a lot of joking around I bought paints and painted it as we played and thus was born the Daffy mech.

He was painted in just one afternoon so while he isn’t the prettiest he is my baby boy and I love him.

i’m posting this with no ulterior motive other than it makes me very happy and i hope it makes you happy too.

I'M NOW POSTING THIS WITH AN ULTERIOR MOTIVE! i had a bit of a breakthrough moment regarding why this scene and short appeals to me as much as it does and so i want to relay that to you:

one of the biggest draws for the '30s Porkys (including/perhaps especially the Dougherty era) is how earnest they are. earnest doesn't necessarily mean sappy or saccharine--far from it, given that this short is all about Porky trying to return a bomb to a mad bomber, who ends up giving himself to the police because Porky is being such an innocent, aggressively oblivious hellion--but there is a certain intimacy and sympathy the filmmaking gives him that gets lost in later years, and this clip is full of it

namely, all of the adults are portrayed completely off-screen. they become segmented hands, legs, and torsos. Porky is put at the focus of attention through this, but it ALSO accentuates just how little he is. adults exist sorely as a figure of authority, some sort of detached source that gives Porky something to react to or against.

likewise, you have shots like these that look directly down upon him and again demonstrate just how small he is. all of the above shots are from Porky's point of view, we are on his same eye level and, thusly, same emotional and mental level as well, but this one below is detached and looks directly down at him. still, his diminutiveness (and its intended pathos) is the strongest takeaway rather than "we're the clerk looking down at Porky". multiple angles to demonstrate how tiny he is

this extends to Tex Avery's other Porky shorts as well, and Porky the Rainmaker is another one i love for the exact same reason. during these crowd shot scenes especially, it makes great use of demonstrating just how tiny and, consequentially, out of place he is. note the three guys turning their gaze downward to initiate the act of Porky popping up--another gesture that directly forces the audience to confront just how small he is

and our disembodied adults theorem still continues! maybe even to a greater extent than our Blow Out example--the salesman uses his cane to swat Porky off the platform ("don't lean on the platform, son, you bother me") which again directly addresses his size and almost makes that his sole attribute. it's a nice touch to keep the staging in solidarity with Porky--the salesman's comments in conjunction with a down shot, seeking to make Porky seem even smaller and insignificant, might be a bit too malicious. likewise, Porky just reacts in his typical nonplussed vacancy, which makes the punchline the salesman being such a jerk.

in short (ha): the early Porkys are so great about inducing a fondness for him without being patronizing or disgustingly cloying. most of the Porky shorts never feel forced in their warmth and sincerity, and the few exceptions i'm thinking of come years later and aren't relevant to this post at all (ie Old Glory). i never expected to fall head over heels for Porky as a character, and DOUBLY never expected to be so in love with his earliest efforts especially. there's so much good to be found in them, and Tex Avery really knew the appeal of the character--just as he knew not to sacrifice the comedy for it.

Chuck Jones is the best counterexample to “the curtains are just blue” because you would not believe the amount of thought and art theory he put into his silly little cartoons

I need to dig out my Chuck Jones books but one time he was talking about the Wile E Coyote gag where he runs off a cliff and continues running for a little bit before noticing there’s no ground underneath him and then turns to the camera and holds up a sign saying “Help!” before plummeting and Jones said the reason Coyote does that instead of immediately trying to get back to the cliff edge is bc Coyote embodies anxiety and in that particular moment represents the fear and worry about the judgement of others over and above the desire for self-preservation.

Like, if someone was told that interpretation without knowing any better they’d think it came from some pretentious academic or whatever but nope! It’s literally the creator like those are the thoughts he had in his head when he was creating the cartoons

the Nine Rules of the Roadrunner cartoons always sticks with me. Rule 3 especially

Most people know of Bob Clampett’s work as a director. His work as an animator is a little less known—let’s change that!

In honor of his 110th birthday, I bring you a reel of some of his animation work! He was such a versatile cartoonist–animation, directing, comics, puppeteering, stop motion–that it feels criminal only such a select portion of his work gets talked about. He’s one of only a handful who have the distinction of animating in a short they also directed!

(Big thanks to @baxterfilms and KingMcdaniel20 on Twitter for their input and corrections!)

Prehistoric Porky is a 7 minute manifestation of every single thing i love about Bob Clampett’s interpretation of Porky and Porky as a character in general, and this clip is a particularly apt example. he’s much more concerned with establishing himself as a beacon of “modern” fashion trends than obeying basic survival instincts; he demonstrates an endearing fastidiousness that no caveman would have nor care to have.

likewise, the entire cartoon makes a point to establish just how joyously oblivious he is. much of it is a lack of awareness, but much of it is also a very polite entitlement that comes as a response to said unawareness. the “break it up, boys” line wouldn’t work with any character as well as it does him, just because it feels so wholly sincere and honest. i’ve said my piece many times (and will continue to do so) on how sorely overlooked he is and that his earnest is often conflated with being boring or milquetoast, but such unabashed sincerity is such an anomaly compared to other characters that i think it makes him all the more engaging.

this short is a dynamite example of how his sincerity and lack of awareness is rife with equal parts comedic potential and appeal. Clampett especially excelled at straddling a fine line between portraying Porky’s conceit as innocent rather than obnoxious. it just feels like it’s all he knows, and is again why it’s so entertaining–the audience and filmmakers alike opt to humor him rather than shame him. he gets away with a lot that other characters could not; so much so that it escapes a majority of viewers now (who are not as legitimately obsessive about spreading the gospel of Porky Pig such as myself), but is very much there and very much intended

addendum 15 months later: instead of the usual “these beloved characters need to adapt to their new stone age settings for this cartoon, AHYUCK!” fodder, this short is about the established stone age setting being forced to adapt to Porky Pig because he’s so obliviously and endearingly set in his ways, which is what makes it so stinking good. if people have trouble discerning the appeal of early Porky (usually the case) this is one of the very first shorts i would redirect towards

Ohhh my God, the current VA for Foghorn Leghorn actually dubbed it.

They're doing it with video games now :/

This is just awful, like absolutely no respect for creatives

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BEST CARTOON DRINKING SOUND EFFECT I HAVE EVER HEARD

probably one of the most amusing bits to come out of a cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton… the inimitable Mel Blanc does it again!

(and here’s the original song if you’re curious)

i can't even think of anything witty to say i am genuinely seething and i think thats half because i knew this was coming ever since they removed the post-1950 titles last year. OKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀 COOL

Warner Bros backpedaled so hard on the coyote vs acme situation because apparently after they announced that they weren’t gonna release it, a bunch of creatives called and cancelled their booked meetings and movie pitches with the studio to go other places.

After all, what’s the point of making a movie with Warner Bros when it’s more likely that they’re just gonna use it as a tax write off and never let it see the light of day?

And now an ACTUAL CONGRESSMAN is calling them out, this is ABSOLUTELY glorious!!

Like to charge reblog to cast

Count your fucking days Devil

“The WBD tactic of scrapping fully made films for tax breaks is predatory and anti-competitive,” the San Antonio Democrat wrote. “As the Justice Department and @FTC revise their antitrust guidelines they should review this conduct. As someone remarked, it’s like burning down a building for the insurance money

How to improve the "Genefather"-novel in one easy step.

Idea by @leaofthewolves.