Release Date:

October 22, 1949

Main Character(s):

Porky Pig

Summary:

Porky Pig has been having trouble with a wise-guy mouse who is trying to steal his large amount of food he’s eating in rhythm to an exercise program. They both hear on the radio that a dangerous killer named Bluebeard (whose hair is literally blue) is at large, so the mouse takes advantage of this by disguising as Bluebeard. By the time Porky gets wise, the real Bluebeard shows up and seeing that Bluebeard also likes food, the mouse ends up heckling him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1101 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

This is the final cartoon directed by Davis due to his unit having been disbanded since Warner could no longer afford to have more than three units at the end of the 1940’s. As Davis had the least seniority, he was discontinued from directing duties, which was actually fine with him as he preferred being an animator (for the rest of 2025 and almost all of 2026, it will only be Freleng, Jones, and McKimson). Davis remained at the studio until the early 1960’s as an animator in Freleng’s unit, and would often get the best scenes to do. He would direct one more cartoon in the early 1960’s with Freleng’s unit before leaving, “Quackodile Tears” (1962).

Ever since June 2018, this cartoon has been one of my all-time favorites (and another that I think should’ve been included in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons) as that was around the period where I started to find characters willing to kill others getting their comeuppance to be extremely satisfying (and since everything the mouse does to Bluebeard is hilarious).

This is the first Warner cartoon written by Sid Marcus and the only time he wrote a Warner cartoon not directed by McKimson.

This is also the last Warner cartoon to have animation by Basil Davidovich, the last to have layouts by Don Smith, and the last Warner cartoon to have animation by Don Williams until the DePatie-Freleng era in the mid-1960’s. Emery Hawkins and Bill Melendez both remained at the studio for a few years animating for McKimson (though Hawkins would occasionally do animation for both Freleng and Jones).

The title is a pun for the song “Bye Bye Blackbird” (this song also plays over the opening credits).

Bluebeard might be based off of the French folk tale of the same name, where a wealthy man murders his wives and the latest one attempts to avoid the same doom as her predecessors. The only differences are that Bluebeard is a wolf and he speaks in an accent that sounds vaguely Russian.

Interestingly, Davis’ first cartoon, “Mouse Menace”, involved Porky dealing with a mouse, and this one, his last cartoon, has Porky dealing with another mouse (albeit they make amends in the end).

This is a rare instance where a character dies (in this case, Bluebeard) without returning as an angel or a ghost.

“War Dance for Wooden Indians” plays during the scene where Bluebeard ties Porky to a rocket up to the point where Bluebeard isn’t convinced that the mouse is his conscience: “Well, what are you doing OUTSIDE?” It also plays during the scene where the mouse sticks Bluebeard’s head in the toaster up to the point where Bluebeard is pied for the fifth and final time.

A few drugs seen in the bathroom’s medicine cabinet near the end are in-jokes to several crew members: “Frizby Miniatures” (referring to Freleng), “Jones Laxative” (referring to Chuck), “McKink’s Solution” (presumably referring to McKimson), “Ted Pierce’s Medicine” (referring to the writer of the same name, albeit without the extra “d”), “Maltese Minestrone” (referring to Michael Maltese), and “Dr. Foster’s Panace” (referring to Warren Foster).

This cartoon contains what is easily the funniest usage of pieing someone in the face in history, being in real life or fiction (specifically the bit with the welding mask).

What I Like About This One:

Porky is seemingly about to do a reducing exercise but it turns out he’s actually eating a large pile of food in rhythm to it which is mostly: “In, up, out, down, in, up, out, down, in, up, out, down, 1, 2, 3, 4”. The mouse sneaks along inside a vase and drills out a hole with a corkscrew so he can grab something for himself while hidden. He attempts to make a sandwich but accidentally makes Porky’s finger the middle part and chomps it offscreen, causing Porky to scream in pain, and shatter the vase. It’s implied that Porky’s had to deal with him before as he tells him, “Y-y-y-you again! I-I thought I told you to b-b-b-b-get out!” The mouse dodges Porky’s attempt to slap him with his hands (animated by Bill Melendez) and runs to his hole, missing several knives Porky throws at it before Porky nails it shut with a board (animated by Emery Hawkins).

Porky mutters to himself, “Huh. Unsanitary r-r-rodent. Lowdown thief”, but upon walking past the radio, it announces, “Stop! We interrupt this program with a special news bulletin. Bluebeard the killer is at large.” Porky is beyond terrified at this as the radio continues, “Use every precaution to protect yourself. Lock your windows. Bolt your doors. Remember, this man is dangerous. Report any suspicious character to your local police”. Porky immediately races around the house, shutting all of the windows and barricading the door (animated by Hawkins).

Putting down his hammer after barricading the door, Porky comments, “Th-th-that old Bluebeard can’t scare me- much (animated by Basil Davidovich). I-i-if he comes here, I-I’ll give him the old w-w-one, two. That’s what I-” but then hears evil laughter and turns around to see the menacing shadow of Bluebeard coming towards him with a knife (animated by Melendez). Porky is so scared that he literally jumps out of his skin! The shadow is actually the mouse disguised as Bluebeard as he comes into view. Shaking in fear against the wall (animated by Davidovich), Porky pleads with “Bluebeard” to not kill him as the mouse sharpens his knife on a miniature grinding wheel, telling him he can have anything he wants. When Porky requests, “Eh-eh-how about a nice, thick steak?”, the mouse seems to agree with this, doing the evil laugh while twirling his fake beard (animated by Melendez).

Porky is seen serving the mouse a meal and goes out to come back with “some champa-champa-s-some wine”. Just as Porky comes back with the wine, the radio gives an update: “Flash. We have just received a description of Bluebeard. He weighs 350 pounds and his height is 6 feet 11 inches.” “S-s-six feet eleven inches?”, Porky asks. The radio responds back to him, “Yes, 6 feet 11 inches”. Realizing he’s been tricked, Porky gives an angry look with teeth shown in the mouse’s direction (animated by Melendez).

The mouse has just finished making a large sandwich for himself and climbs down to eat it (animated by Melendez) just as Porky puts a ruler next to him. “Well, b-b-bon appetit, Mr. Rodent. I-I mean, Mr. Bluebeard. Eh-eh-how IS everything? E-enjoying yourself?”, Porky asks sarcastically. The mouse attempts to scare him off with an evil laugh, but Porky mimics him, so the mouse tries again, but each laugh becomes meeker and meeker upon realizing that Porky is on to him. He narrowly misses Porky trying to chop him with a meat cleaver as he runs off. The mouse hides in a teacup which Porky chops with the meat cleaver. Pushing the pieces away, Porky rants, “Why, you phony rodent! You r-r-rat in Bluebeard’s clothing! I’ll find ya no matter w-WHERE ya are!” before the table thumps against his chin two times (animated by Davidovich).

Spotting what appears to be the mouse’s fake beard sticking out under the table, Porky grabs it: “Eh,g-g-gotcha!” and attempts to tug him out: “Eh, c-c-come out, ya little v-v-v-varmint. Y-You might as well face it. Y-y-you’re all washed up”, but it turns out to be the REAL Bluebeard, who has presumably been under the table this whole time. Porky obliviously continues pulling Bluebeard behind him while confronting the mouse: “D-d-don’t try to get away b-b-because I’m too smart for ya. I have a high IQ. I know you’re a phony, Bluebeard, because you’re only thr-thr-three inches high. And the real Bluebeard is, eh…” The mouse points upward to Bluebeard as Porky turns around nervously repeating, “The real Bluebeard is, eh…” and is scared to find out that the character who’s beard he had been tugging on accurately matches the description on the broadcast, complete with a ruler measuring 6 feet and a hand pointing “11 inches” with the 11 blinking (animated by Hawkins up to here). “S-six feet eleven inches”, Porky says wearily before he turns white in fear, his heart thumps a few times, and he faints (animated by Davidovich).

Bluebeard ties Porky to a rocket heading out the window and sits down to enjoy a steak. Before he can eat it, he spots the mouse helping himself to it. Seeing he looks just like him, Bluebeard asks him, “Who are you?” The mouse tells him, “I am your conscience.” “My CONSCIENCE?”, Bluebeard asks, puzzled. “Sure. Everybody has a conscience inside of them”, the mouse replies. Bluebeard isn’t fooled and grabs him: “Well, what are you doing OUTSIDE?” before putting the mouse into his mouth. The mouse runs out by grabbing Bluebeard’s uvula and exiting his shut mouth by using one of his bottom teeth as a door. The mouse then pours tabasco sauce on himself so that when Bluebeard attempts to eat him again, he reacts to how hot said tabasco sauce is by breathing flames. The mouse daintily exits by using Bluebeard’s tongue as stairs (animated by Hawkins).

The mouse then runs into a loaf of bread which Bluebeard chops with a knife into several slices. The one he dropped is the one the mouse is hidden in, so Bluebeard chops it into smaller and smaller pieces, ending with a very tiny piece (animated by Melendez) jumping into a container. Every time Bluebeard looks into a container the mouse (whose disguise flies off the first time this happens) is hiding in, the mouse pies him in the face. At one point, Bluebeard puts on a welding mask to avoid getting pied, but upon getting no response from opening this container, he lifts up his mask in confusion, takes a closer look, and is immediately given another pie pelt. As Bluebeard looks into a vase for the mouse, the mouse sticks Bluebeard’s head in a toaster, where his head comes out resembling a piece of toast. The mouse finally runs back to his hole before giving Bluebeard one final pie in the face when the latter looks into the hole (animated by Davidovich).

After several attempts to yank the fuse out of the rocket, Porky finally succeeds and blows it out but Bluebeard grabs him (animated by Don Williams) and while the mouse is in his hole annoyed, Porky is heard yelling in agony. When the mouse looks outside of his hole to see what’s going on, he sees (animated by Hawkins) Bluebeard’s shadow building a guillotine as a tied-up Porky is desperately pleading for his life (animated by Melendez). Deciding Bluebeard needs to be disposed of, the mouse decides to flip a coin to make a decision. Seeing it presumably land on tails, the mouse gives a bold “Let’s do this!” expression in the direction leading out into the open (animated by Hawkins).

Just as Bluebeard is about to execute Porky, the mouse comes through dressed in a chef’s outfit and ringing a triangle for dinner time. The mouse serves an eager Bluebeard dinner on a platter and leaves. Bluebeard lifts the platter, where it’s revealed to be a tray full of bombs. Bluebeard mistakes them for popovers (“Mmmmm. Popovers!”) and noisily consumes them all. Realizing what he just ate upon seeing smoke emit from his mouth, Bluebeard hastily runs (animated by Williams up to here) to the bathroom and mixes together every drug in the medicine cabinet (which include “Lydia Hokum”, “Uinine”, “Alky Haul”, “Little Liver Pills”, “Aspirin”, “Castor Erl”, and “Hair Tonic”) to put out the inevitable explosion. But before he can quaff the resulting concoction, the bombs going off cause him to hilariously inflate before they explode, killing him and saving Porky’s life (animated by Davidovich).

In the end, Porky resumes his meal in tune to the exercise program, and is now sharing it with the mouse as gratitude, having made peace with him (animated by Melendez). The mouse lifts his miniature tablecloth to reveal his now enormous stomach (animated by Hawkins).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕