Release Date:

January 9, 1937

Main Character(s):

Porky Pig

Summary:

On his way to a wrestling match, Porky Pig gets a ride with the challenger, but when they arrive, the challenger falls into a trap door, and Porky is mistaken for the challenger. He goes up against the champ, Man Mountain.

That’s Not All, Folks:

This is one of two cartoons in which animator Elmer Wait got screen credit. He died later in 1937 (way too young at the age of 23), and Elmer Fudd would be named in honor of him.

When the cartoon was released on the Porky Pig 101 DVD set in 2017, it incorrectly used the ending audio from “Little Beau Porky”. At the 6:32 mark of this video, the correct ending audio is intact.

Tex Avery himself voiced Man Mountain.

What I Like About This One:

The hitchhiking gags at the start of the cartoon.

Someone stopping his vehicle to ask Porky where he’s going. When Porky answers that he’s going to the big fight, the guy in the car says, “So am I” and drives off.

Porky asking the challenger his name and the challenger’s name is revealed to be a hard-to-pronounce (and spell) name.

The bell being rung by a guy slapping his knee (reflexes).

Man Mountain proves to be ridiculous when he uses Porky for his brutal and childish activities. These include compressing him into a ball and bouncing him while singing a nonsensical song, accidentally swallowing a customer’s pipe and imitating a train while getting the ref and Porky to couple up behind him (as seen in the screenshot), and using a move called the “Airplane Spin”.

During the train imitation scene, someone in the audience looks out the window and sees a moving background as if he were on a real train!

“So you don’t wanna play ‘choo-choo’, huh?”

Man Mountain causing Porky to rebound and hit him on the head, knocking him out. When Porky is declared the winner, the ref gets his hand flattened by Man Mountain’s head.

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½