''Swooner Crooner'' is a 1944

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

Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator and filmmaker. He was best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' ...

. The short was released on May 6, 1944, 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 ...

. The cartoon was nominated for the 1944 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), but lost to the ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

'' cartoon ''

Mouse Trouble ''Mouse Trouble'' is a 1944 American one-reel animated cartoon short and is the 17th ''Tom and Jerry'' short produced by Fred Quimby. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music direction by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was ...

''.

Plot

Porky Pig is the supervisor of the Flockheed Eggcraft Factory, where dozens of hens lay eggs for the war effort (in this case,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

). The hens suddenly get distracted from their egg laying when a handsome rooster (who resembles and sings like

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

) is heard singing outside. Frankie's renditions of "It Can't Be Wrong" by

Dick Haymes Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentine singer, songwriter and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, televi ...

and " As Time Goes By" (from ''

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

'', 1942) causes all the hens to refuse to lay eggs because they are too busy swooning. When egg production comes to a halt, Porky rushes to investigate and finds all the roosts empty; all the hens have gone to listen to Frankie. Soon, he is auditioning for a crooner of his own to start production up again; showing up are rooster caricatures of

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording and another f ...

Shortnin' Bread "Shortnin' Bread" (also spelled "Shortenin' Bread", "Short'nin' Bread", or "Sho'tnin' Bread") is an American folk song dating back at least to 1900, when James Whitcomb Riley published it as a poem. While there is speculation that Riley may hav ...

"),

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

September in the Rain "September in the Rain" is a popular song about nostalgia by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, published in 1937. The song was introduced by James Melton in the film ''Melody for Two''. It has become a standard, having been recorded by many artists sin ...

"),

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 ...

(" Lullaby of Broadway") and

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

Blues in the Night "Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun wi ...

"), none of whom apparently work out. Porky is on the point of despair when a

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

rooster (who introduces himself as "The Old Groaner") shows up and provokes a competition with Frankie ("When My Dream Boat Comes Home", "I'll Pray for You", "Trade Winds", "Always in My Heart", "

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" is a popular song with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, written in 1938 for the Warner Brothers movie '' Hard to Get,'' released November 1938, in which it was sung by Dick Powell. The bigg ...

").IMDb soundtrack listing
/ref> Between the two of them, the overexcited hens' egg production shoots to a level beyond what Porky can handle, including a just-hatched hen chick laying an egg many times her own size. Surveying literal hills and mountains of eggs all over his farm, Porky is impressed and asks the two roosters, "How did you ever m-m-make 'em lay all those eggs?" The roosters demonstrate their technique, crooning at Porky who, as a result lays a mountain of eggs.

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 ...

Richard Bickenbach Richard Frederick Bickenbach (August 9, 1907 – June 28, 1994) was an American animator who worked for Warner Bros. Cartoons and as a layout artist and character designer for MGM and Hanna-Barbera Productions. He worked on animation for many ca ...

- Frankie,

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

* Sam Glasser -

rooster,

rooster *

Sara Berner Sara Berner (born Lillian Ann Herdan; January 12, 1912 – December 19, 1969) was an American actress. Known for her expertise in dialect and characterization, she began her career as a performer in vaudeville before becoming a voice actress for ...

and

Bea Benaderet Beatrice Benaderet ( ; April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that s ...

- Hens

Home media

*VHS - '' Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons'' *VHS - ''Cartoon Festival Featuring "Nothing But The Tooth"'' *VHS - ''

The Golden Age of Looney Tunes ''The Golden Age of Looney Tunes'' is a collection of LaserDiscs released by MGM/UA Home Video in the 1990s. There were five sets made, featuring a number of discs, and each disc side represented a different theme, being made up of seven cartoon ...

'', Volume 9 *LaserDisc - ''The Golden Age of Looney Tunes'', Volume 1, Side 9 *DVD - '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3'', Disc 2 *DVD - '' Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection'', Disc 2 *DVD/Blu-ray - '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3'', Disc 2

Production notes

*"Swooner Crooner" is the first ''

'' entry to be re-released into the ''

Blue Ribbon Blue ribbons are typically a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Order of the Holy Spirit#Cordon Bleu, Cord ...

'' program. It was re-released on February 12, 1949 with the original opening, credits, and closing titles replaced. *This is the only ''Blue Ribbon'' re-release as a ''Looney Tunes'' short to keep the original Porky Pig drum ending music. The original ending music was later replaced with the 1995 Turner print, which changed it to the 1941-55 rendition of '' Merrily We Roll Along'', which the DVD sets use as the source of the soundtrack. Later ''Looney Tunes'' re-releases that originally had the Porky Pig drum ending would have their ending music changed to the 1941-55 rendition of ''Merrily We Roll Along'' by default. *This is also the only ''Blue Ribbon'' ''Looney Tunes'' short that was re-released with the byline "IN TECHNICOLOR". The rest of the ''Looney Tunes'' re-released were re-released with the byline "Color by TECHNICOLOR".

References

External links