''You Ought to Be in Pictures'' is a 1940

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

. The cartoon was released on May 18, 1940, and stars

Porky Pig Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created man ...

and

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

. The film combined

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

and

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

, and features live-action appearances by

Leon Schlesinger Leonardo Schlesinger ( ; May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation The gold ...

, writer

Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director ...

, animator

Gerry Chiniquy Germain Adolph Chiniquy (pronounced "chin-a-KEE"; June 23, 1912 – November 22, 1989) was an American animator known for his work with Friz Freleng at both Warner Bros. Cartoons and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Chiniquy joined Freleng's ani ...

and other Schlesinger Productions staff members. The title comes from the popular 1934 song " You Oughta Be in Pictures" by

Dana Suesse Nadine Dana Suesse (; December 3, 1909 – October 16, 1987) was an American musician, composer and lyricist. Biography Dana Suesse was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1909. When she grew too tall for ballet, she began piano lessons with Gertru ...

and

Edward Heyman Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul", " When I Fall in Love", and " For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed to a number of songs for films. Bi ...

, which plays several times throughout the film. In 2016, it was shortlisted for the 1941 Retro-Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.1941 Retro-Hugos
, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 28, 2017

Plot

Daffy wants to be the top star in the studio. To this end, he persuades Porky to resign from the Schlesinger studios to pursue a career in feature films as

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

' leading man. Porky goes to Leon Schlesinger and asks to have his contract torn up. Schlesinger reluctantly agrees, and wishes Porky the best of luck. "He'll be back!" chuckles Schlesinger after Porky is out of earshot. Porky spends the rest of the film trying to get into the lots and sets of an unnamed studio, with little success. After several failures, from convincing the security guard to let him in to dressing up as

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his ...

to gain access, until the guard gives chase, and inadvertently interrupting the shooting of a ballet film, he decides to see if Schlesinger will take him back. He returns to Schlesinger's office after frantically dodging his cartooned car in and out of "actual" Los Angeles traffic, only to see Daffy doing a wild audition to become the new star of Warner Bros. cartoons, openly disparaging Porky. Porky then takes Daffy with him to another room, and proceeds to beat him senseless. After this, he hurriedly runs into Schlesinger's office to beg for his job back. Schlesinger, laughing heartily and saying "I knew you'd be back!", reveals that he didn't really rip up Porky's contract, and happily tells him to get back to work. Porky gladly thanks him and runs back into the animation paper that he was in when the short started. Daffy, still not quite having learned his lesson after being beaten by Porky, again attempts to persuade Porky to resign and work with

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

, only to get splattered with a tomato, irritating him.

Cast

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

(voice) as

, Factory Whistle *

as himself * Fred Jones as the animator *

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

as himself (cameo) *

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, film director, director, film producer, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the te ...

as himself (cameo) *

as security guard (dubbed by Mel Blanc) *

as director (dubbed by Mel Blanc) * Henry Binder and Paul Marin as stagehands (both dubbed by Mel Blanc)

Production

This film marks

's directorial debut with Daffy Duck upon his return to Warner Bros. Studios following a tenure at MGM's cartoon division. Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). '' The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals''.

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

: Turner Publishing. The short features cameos from various studio personnel, including

, Henry Binder, and Paul Marin. Additionally, the film's runtime, spanning nine minutes and 45 seconds, places it among the longest ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons of the Golden Age of Animation, with only ''

Horton Hatches the Egg ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss and published in 1940 by Random House. The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant, who is tricked into sitting on a bird ...

'' surpassing it in length. To manage production costs, the animation team employed minimal special effects, opting instead to integrate live-action footage seamlessly with animation through innovative techniques. Stock footage from the 1936 Western '' California Mail'' was repurposed to depict Porky's journey through the studio backlot.

Reception

Animation historian

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...

writes, "Predating ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'' by several decades — in fact, it's credited with inspiring the 1988 film — ''You Ought to Be in Pictures'' is one of the most memorable of the black-and-white-era Porky Pig cartoons. It's also one of the funniest."

Home media

*Betamax/VHS - ''Warner Bros. Cartoons Golden Jubilee 24-Karat Collection: Porky Pig's Screwball Comedies'' *Laserdisc - ''Ham on Wry: The Porky Pig Laser Collection'' *VHS - ''Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 9 - A Looney Life'' *DVD - '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'', Disc 4 *Blu-Ray/DVD - '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2'', Disc 1 *DVD - '' Porky Pig 101'', Disc 4.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:You Ought to Be in Pictures 1940 films 1940 comedy films 1940s American animated films 1940s children's comedy films 1940s children's animated films 1940s English-language films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films American children's animated comedy films American self-reflexive films American slapstick comedy films American crossover films American animated short films Surreal comedy films Comedy crossover films Metafictional works Animated crossover films Looney Tunes shorts Daffy Duck films Porky Pig films Anthropomorphic animals Films based on real people Animation based on real people Films about films Films about animation Films about actors Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles Films set in Burbank, California Animated films set in Los Angeles Films set in studio lots Films set in 1940 Short films with live action and animation Films with archival recordings Short films directed by Friz Freleng Films produced by Leon Schlesinger Films scored by Carl Stalling Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films English-language short films American animated black-and-white films 1940 animated short films