Release Date:

July 15, 1944

Main Character(s):

Porky Pig

Summary:

A riveter recruits Porky Pig to babysit her son, Butch, while she’s at work doing her part for the war effort. Given a book on child psychology to help him, Porky finds out that Butch is a naughty little brute.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 6-14, the 6th Looney Tune in the 14th release season.

The cartoon wasn’t restored for HBO Max, but Warner Archive did restore it for the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 2 Blu-ray set in 2023.

This is Tashlin’s last Porky Pig cartoon.

This is a rare instance of Porky wearing pants.

This is the first cartoon to use the Porky Pig headshot that would be used in all Porky cartoons without Daffy that were released as Looney Tunes up until 1951.

The riveter works at “Blockheed”, which is a parody of Lockheed.

In one scene, Butch looks at a junior version of the adult magazine, “Esquire”, as “Exquire Junior” which consists of infant girls in diapers in sexy poses.

Robert McKimson would later do two cartoons focusing on a character babysitting a problematic child. In “The Up Standing Sitter” (1948), Daffy is the ACME Sitting Agency’s “star sitter” and must deal with a newly hatched chick who is afraid of strangers and doesn’t understand the concept of babysitting. And in “The Slick Chick” (1962), Foghorn Leghorn volunteers to babysit a widow hen’s mischievous son while she’s away at a hen party and he is eager to prove there’s no such thing as a bad boy only to learn how false that statement is when he falls victim to the kid’s mischievously destructive pranks.

What I Like About This One:

The opening which shows how much women contribute to the war effort and how they’ve overcome all obstacles except one- where to put their kids while they’re at work. The riveter agrees: “You ain’t kiddin’, brother! I’m a beat pigeon. I can’t find no one to mind MY kid. The situation is supernatural. I don’t want to be an absentee! Or what’s a girl gonna do? I just got to find someone to mind my Percy” (this is likely implied that Butch renamed himself without his mother’s knowledge; animated by George Cannata).

Porky answering his door when the riveter rings his doorbell and screaming at the unusual sight of someone wearing a welding mask at his door. She tells him to not be afraid and reveals she’s a riveter at Blockheed while lifting up her mask. The riveter then asks, “ You want to help the United Nations, don’t ya? You want those planes should roll off the assembly line, don’t ya? You want those Nazis and Japs bombed off the Earth, don’t ya?” Porky then declares, “I hate Hitl- Hitl- Schikelgruber and Toj- Toj-” (animated by Cal Dalton up to here) before he is interrupted by the riveter who pushes Butch’s stroller in. “Well, then mind my kid”. After giving Porky the book on child psychology (animated by Arthur Davis), she is happy to go off to work welding planes. “We’ve gotta have planes, you know”. She then imitates one and flies off (animated by Dalton).

Porky laughs, “Say, she’s a character” and decides to take a peek in the stroller to see what Butch looks like. He finds Butch playing solitaire and saying, “Let’s not get nosy, bub!” before shoving the cards in Porky’s face (animated by Cannata). After Porky hits a wall, he spits cards out of his mouth. Porky realizes, “He’s a character, too!” and laughs before this turns into a scowl (animated by Davis).

The book’s first piece of advice is “Ask baby his name. After all even a pot has a handle”. Porky does so and when the answer is “Butch”, Porky asks, “B-B-B-Butch?”. Butch replies, “No, not B-B-B-Butch. Just plain Butch”, while putting extra emphasis on the “u” in his name. He then hands Porky an anvil which sends him crashing into the basement (animated by Davis).

Advised to give Butch a pet, Porky brings home a cat, who becomes startled at Butch glaring at him, so he hisses. Butch mimics the cat’s hissing and uses him as a jump rope much to Porky’s shock (animated by Izzy Ellis).

Butch reading “Exquire Jr.”, which contains photos of infant girls in diapers and in sexy poses. When Porky questions why he’s looking at something like that, Butch bites his finger. The book is no help as the next advice is “Not only will he eat your finger, a kid’ll eat ivy too, wouldn’t you??” Once Porky pulls Butch free, Butch bites on a finger from Porky’s other hand, causing Porky to fling Butch into a pile of pots and pans. After declaring, “Of course, you know this means war!”, Butch imitates Winston Churchill: “We will fight until Hitler and his Nazi gangsters suffer disastrous, overwhelming, and complete defeat” (animated by Cannata).

A chase ensues with Butch going after both Porky and the cat with a meat cleaver while the book gives Porky only one suggestion: “Don’t hold a grudge- the kid’s ready to bury the hatchet” (animated by Ellis). The riveter returns in time to witness the chase. She asks Porky, “What’s the matter? Didn’t you use the book?” Porky tells her he did, but it didn’t work. The riveter reveals that Porky didn’t use it correctly and shows him how she uses it- to give Butch a spanking (animated by Dalton).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕