Release Date:

August 24, 1940

Main Character(s):

Porky Pig

Summary:

Porky Pig goes to the hospital with a really bad stomachache from overeating where a crazy cat wants to operate on him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon bears some similarity to “The Daffy Doc” as both cartoons are set in a hospital, someone wants to operate on Porky, and Clampett directed both cartoons.

This is the last cartoon to use the 1939-1940 Looney Tunes intro.

This is the shortest cartoon from 1940, clocking in at only 6 minutes and 9 seconds.

For some unknown reason, the Porky Pig 101 DVD set from 2017 used an older, unrestored transfer for this cartoon despite the fact that this cartoon had already been remastered for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5 DVD set in 2007.

This was the last time “We’re Working Our Way Through College” was used in a Warner Bros. cartoon until (shockingly) the second to last Warner cartoon in the Golden Age, “Bugged by a Bee” (1969) with Cool Cat.

What I Like About This One:

The opening title card: “Adapted from the famous book, ‘The Pains Came’” (a pun for “The Rains Came”).

The operator calling for “Sir Gerry” (pun for surgery), Dr. Ehrlich (from “Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet”), and Dr. Cyclops (from the film of the same name).

An elevator operator who talks like Rochester stopping on every floor to announce floor locations for conditions that begin with a certain letter.

A zany rabbit (resembling one of the Bugs Bunny prototypes) correcting the birth announcements of rabbits from 490 to 750.

When Dr. Chris Chun, an owl, checks on his patients, one of them, Oiley Owl, has lost his voice (“Symptom: He just don’t give a hoot”). When Dr. Chris Chun can’t hear Oiley when asking him about his sore throat, Oiley becomes annoyed and says, “I said-” before suddenly yelling, “I CAN’T TALK ABOVE A WHISPER!”

The bones of a dog with a broken leg are shown to be literally knitting themselves.

The cat playing Herbie Hippo’s stomach like a piano due to Herbie having swallowed said piano.

When Porky asks for a doctor, the cat pretends to be the young “Dr. Chilled Air” (pun on Dr. Kildare).

The cat looking through the X-ray after Porky explains that he made a “pig” of himself at his birthday party (swallowing most of a birthday cake). The X-ray also shows Porky’s heart ticking back and forth like the pendulum of a grandfather clock.

The cat wheeling Porky around the hospital into the operating room very fast while singing “I Want to be a Surgeon” to the tune of “We’re Working Our Way Through College”.

The cat chasing Porky all the way back to his house and finds him lying in his bed waiting. He lifts up Porky’s clothes to find that there is a “Do Not Open ‘Till Xmas” sticker on his stomach. The cat gets in the bed and decides to wait until then!

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕 ½