''Wholly Smoke'' is a 1938

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 August 27, 1938, 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 ...

Plot

Porky Pig is preparing for church after his mother gives him money for the collection plate. On his way, he encounters a bully practicing smoking tricks. Porky bets his nickel for the bully's cigar to prove he is not a wimp, but fails miserably when he tries the tricks. Later, Porky hallucinates and encounters Nick O'Teen, who tempts him with smoking. In a nightmare sequence, tobacco products force-feed Porky. He quickly wakes up, rushes to church, and narrowly avoids giving in to temptation. Determined to never smoke again, Porky returns the bully's cigar, causing it to explode, and makes his offering at church.

Reception

Animation historian

David Gerstein David Gerstein (born February 6, 1974) is an American comics author and editor as well as an animation historian. Gerstein has five books and countless comic book credits to his name. He has written many Disney comics stories, usually featuring ...

writes that ''Wholly Smoke'' represents "Warner Bros.' most successful effort to capture what it's like to be a child. ''Wholly Smoke'' isn't just a morality tale or just another wacky Warner flight into dreamland. It's also the surprisingly real story of a little boy—our Porky—and his struggle with a larger world."

Edited versions

The

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, syndicated ''Merrie Melodies Show'', and

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

versions of this cartoon were colorized or redrawn, with edits from the original black-and-white version. *On Nickelodeon and the syndicated ''Merrie Melodies Show'', the beginning of the "Little Boys Shouldn't Smoke" song featuring matchsticks forming blackface while singing in the style of The Mills Brothers was cut. Cartoon Network left the scene intact but changed the blackface to red during colorization. *On the syndicated ''Merrie Melodies Show'' and Cartoon Network, the part where a pipe cleaner resembles

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 ...

was cut. Nickelodeon initially left this scene uncut in the early 1990s but later edited it out. *The brief shot of Porky tied to a post while a tribe of Indian pipes dance around him was cut on Cartoon Network but left in on the syndicated ''Merrie Melodies Show'' and Nickelodeon.

Home media

DVD: *'' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5'' *'' Porky Pig 101'' DVD/Blu-ray: *'' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3''

References

External links

* {{Porky Pig in animation, state=collapsed 1938 films Looney Tunes shorts 1938 animated short films Short films directed by Frank Tashlin American social guidance and drug education films Tobacco control 1930s American animated films Porky Pig films Films scored by Carl Stalling American animated black-and-white films Cultural depictions of Bing Crosby Cultural depictions of Cab Calloway Cultural depictions of The Three Stooges