Director: | Frank Tashlin |
Story: | Geo. Manuell |
Animator: | Robt Bentley Volney White Joe D'Igalo Robert McKimson Rod Scribner Ken Harris[1] A.C. Gamer[2] |
Starring: | Mel Blanc Tedd Pierce Cliff Nazarro[3] |
Music: | Carl W. Stalling |
Producer: | Leon Schlesinger |
Studio: | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
Distributor: | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Color Process: | Black-and-white |
Language: | English |
Wholly Smoke is a 1938 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin.[4] The short was released on August 27, 1938, and stars Porky Pig.[5]
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.
Animation historian David Gerstein 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."[6]
The Nickelodeon, syndicated Merrie Melodies Show, and Cartoon Network versions of this cartoon were colorized or redrawn, with edits from the original black-and-white version.
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