Porky Pig

Porky Pig "Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!" Gender: Male Type: Modest Stuttering Pig Age: Unknown Species: Pig Portrayed by: Joe Dougherty (1935–1937) Mel Blanc (1937–1989) Jeff Bergman (1990–2006) Noel Blanc (1990) Bob Bergen (1990–present) Status: Alive Media of origin: Looney Tunes

Porky Pig is a Warner Bros. cartoon character, created by Friz Freleng in 1935. He made his debut in the two-strip Technicolor Merrie Melodies cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat.

Why H-H-H-He's a Hilarious Ham

1. He was the very first star of Warner Bros. cartoons, and the birth of the glorious future of Warner Bros. animation.
   • In fact, when he first appeared in 1935, he was the very first Looney Tunes character with a distinctive characterization, in his case his signature stutter, which was considered unique and original back in the day, which is in stark contrast to previous Looney Tunes characters that came before him such as Bosko (or his bland whitewashed replacement Buddy), Foxy, Piggy, etc. who on the other hand had no distinctive personality aside from being cheerful and musically-inclined and therefore come off as nothing more than just cheap Mickey Mouse/Felix the Cat clones overall.
2. This stuttering pig marked the birthplace for future Warner Bros. cartoon superstars, such as Taz, Foghorn Leghorn, Daffy Duck, and of course, Bugs Bunny.
3. He is very sweet, kind, and caring.
4. Mel Blanc did an excellent job voicing him.
5. He had a bit of character development from a Butt-Monkey type character to an intelligent, snarky, and competent sidekick who always came out on top whenever paired with Daffy, especially in New Looney Tunes.
6. He is at his best in the episode "The Float", where you grow a giant sense of sympathy for Porky being conned out of his money by Daffy Duck, where Porky was the only person who was willing to give money to Daffy to help him with what Porky thought was a "kidney transplant", and when he went broke, he is seen beating up Daffy for the first time, which just shows why you should never mess with Porky.
   • It's not helping that in previous episodes like "The Prize Pest", "Fool Coverage", and "Boobs in the Woods", he always gets back at Daffy for harassing him and acting unruly toward him, making Porky that subtle trait for him being capable of standing up for himself against loud-mouthed troublemakers like Daffy for example.
7. His design is very cute.
8. Unlike most other Looney Tunes stars, he is usually innocent and friendly.
   • In fact, when the brasher and funnier Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck surpassed him in popularity in the 1940s, his personality which contrasts the other Looney Tunes stars makes him perfect for the role of straight man to the zany-wacky characters he crosses paths with such as Daffy Duck.
9. He ends almost every Looney Tunes cartoon/film with his iconic catchphrase "Th-Th-Th-That's All Folks!", especially "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" (1988) and "Space Jam: A New Legacy" (2021).
10. Like Bugs Bunny, he also had his own show "The Porky Pig Show" from 1964 until 1967, which unlike Bugs (whose his show originally appears to take place in a stage), Porky's own show took place in a barn, which is interesting.

B-B-B-Bad Qualities

1. His earliest character design in the mid-1930s cartoons, back when he used to be a fat pig, looked pretty ugly and uncanny compared to his current design.
   • His first debut from 1935 to 1937 started off rough and awkward, where his original voice actor, Joe Dougherty, was stuttering so much since he was born with a hard-to-manage stammer, and this became an issue of producing episodes with him involved as Joe got replaced by Mel Blanc for the latter's uncontrollable stuttering. This also becomes unpleasant for viewers to see nowadays since it makes you feel sorry for the voice actor trying to voice a line without fail. Thankfully, Mel Blanc made his voice much more comical and endearing in comparison beginning with "Porky's Duck Hunt" a.k.a. the debut cartoon for Daffy Duck.
2. He can be too much of a doormat, to the point of being too nice for his own good.
   • He can be a Butt-Monkey type character in many cartoons, especially when he gets abused in "Looney Tunes Cartoons" for practically no reason.
   • He sometimes gets interrupted, such as when he tries to say "That's All Folks!" in The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981), Gremlins 2 (1990) and Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003).
3. There were episodes when he was paired with Sylvester; Despite him having some redeeming qualities in these shorts like trusting Sylvester only one time in the episode "Scaredy Cat", Porky had an unlikable characterization where he was horribly misguided, oblivious to a fault, kind of selfish, incredibly harsh towards Sylvester for his constant anxiety, and he unintentionally made things worse for Sylvester's situation; all because of not trusting him.
   • In the episode "Claws for Alarm" for example; he was at his worst in these shorts, he doesn't think to see why Sylvester seemed neurotic and fearful, but he constantly berates him as if Sylvester was being a total nutcase the whole time, including one time where he questions Sylvester's sanity ("Th-th-tell me, Sylvester, is there any insanity in your family?"), which at the end of the short, Sylvester understandably had to enforce his resilience onto Porky in order to move out of the hotel after trying to constantly keep Porky safe from the malicious nature of the rodents there (to the point of being paranoid).
   • In the episode "Scaredy Cat", Porky unintentionally drove Sylvester to suicide one time when he scolded Sylvester for his "ridiculous acting", failing to grasp the truth about the house they're living in being haunted with murderous killer mice, resulting a depressed and neglected Sylvester to attempt to shoot himself in the head with a pistol. And if that's not enough, when Sylvester attempts to shoot himself, he snatches the gun away from the cat and scolds him, which results Sylvester to cry. Though, Porky eventually takes pity at Sylvester when he cries over it and allows the cat to sleep in his bed. Later in the same short, Porky receives repercussion for his obliviousness throughout the entire short where he finally realizes the danger they're in when he gets captured by the killer mice, finally admitting that Sylvester was right the whole time.

Trivia

• He received his very first starring role in Tex Avery's black-and-white Looney Tunes cartoon The Blow Out, released in 1936.
• He is named after one of Friz Freleng's old friends who was nicknamed as "Porky".

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