''Baby Bottleneck'' is a 1946

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 ...

'' cartoon directed by

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 ...

and written by

Warren Foster Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer, cartoonist and composer. He was best known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons, contributing prominently (mostly stories) towards the Looney Tunes, ''Looney ...

. The cartoon was released on March 16, 1946, and stars Daffy Duck and

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 ...

. Tweety makes a cameo appearance in the film.

Plot

As the baby boom of 1946 escalates, a disgruntled stork (patterned after

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

) laments his workload at the Stork's Club. Inexperienced animals have attempted, unsuccessfully, to mitigate the increased workload, resulting in numerous baby animals being delivered to parents of the wrong species. Porky Pig takes charge of Storks Inc. and appoints Daffy Duck to answer the phones. An

assembly line An assembly line, often called ''progressive assembly'', is a manufacturing process where the unfinished product moves in a direct line from workstation to workstation, with parts added in sequence until the final product is completed. By mechan ...

powders, diapers, feeds and burps each baby before it is sent to its parents. Trouble arises when Porky discovers an egg without an address; Porky decides that hatching it will reveal its species and assigns Daffy to the task. Daffy refuses, leading to a chase around the factory and an eventual mishap where both go through the assembly line together and are sent to Africa, where a mother gorilla awaits her child. Daffy cries upon realizing where he is, and the gorilla begins nursing him until Porky emerges from the diaper. The gorilla, terrified, calls Mr. Anthony (a popular radio advice commentator of the era).

Censorship

When the alligator is trying to get milk from Mrs. Pig, she starts to say something before it abruptly cuts. According to Bob Clampett, she says “Don’t touch that dial” (a common

cliché A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...

when radio or television shows cut to commercial). It was cut out because the Hays Office deemed it too risqué. No footage has surfaced of the original uncut scene.

Reception

Michael Barrier writes, "''Baby Bottleneck'', like '' Book Revue'' (1946), reveals just how great Bob Clampett's impact was on the Warner Bros. cartoons in the early 1940s... As so often in Clampett's best cartoons, there is a prevailing air of hysteria and madness: The stork is drunk, inexperienced help is delivering babies to the wrong mothers, everything is a mess — and all is bliss."

Home media

*DVD: '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'' *Blu-ray and DVD: '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1''

References

External links