Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

People are voting emotionally.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

As all the animators at Warner Brothers run off for lunch, Porky Pig has just been drawn on an artist's pad. He comes to life, only to hear the voice of Daffy Duck, who is in a picture on the wall. Daffy begins to coerce Porky into demanding to be in legitimate pictures. Porky goes to the boss's office and makes demands and ends up quitting. The boss wishes him well and off he goes to a different movie studio. Things don't go so smoothly. First of all, he's supposed to be a leading man, opposite stars like Rita Hayworth. Let's not forget he is a pig with a severe stuttering problem. He has an encounter with a security guard, who chases him across the lot. Anyway, the joining of actual film and animation is pretty interesting. Of course, once Porky is out the door, Daffy is in the boss's office trying to move up in the business. Nicely done little cartoon.

Directed by Friz Freleng and starring Porky Pig & Daffy Duck, "You Ought to Be in Pictures" is quite an exceptional Warner Bros. cartoon. Amidst real-life settings and flesh-and-blood people, the selfish Daffy persuades the shy Porky to get out of cartoons and enter into big-budget features. The Porky that we see in this live-action cartoon is the Porky that I really like; he is sweet, shy, honest, kindhearted, friendly, hard-working, and earnest. In other words, he has all the human characteristics that I admire.Highlights: At the opening of this short, we hear a wonderfully orchestrated version of the popular song "You Oughta Be in Pictures" as all of the cartoon staff at Warner Bros. arrive for "work." Porky has a run-in with a studio guard (played by writer Michael Maltese, with Mel Blanc's voice dubbed in) and later disguises himself as Oliver Hardy in order to try to get past the guard. Daffy tries to prove to producer Leon Schlesinger that he is a much better performer than Porky is; he sings and dances up a storm while Leon pays no attention. And Porky demonstrates his earnestness most effectively when he persuades Leon to let him out of his cartoon contract so that he may try his hand at features.To summarize, "You Ought to Be in Pictures" is quite superb for a Warner Bros. cartoon. Lovable Porky and obnoxious Daffy get to interact humorously with live-action people, and as a result, this black-and-white cartoon is simply a gem. Don't miss it!

On the urging of Daffy Duck (who has ulterior motives), Porky Pig decides to quit the business of making animated shorts to pursue live action movie roles in this curiosity of a short from 1940 that blends animation and live action. Only worth seeing for the sheer novelty of the experimental blending, this short isn't that humorous and the acting of the guard in particular is way too over the top. But as it is, t's still better than the awful "Space Jam" that did the same thing, but WAY worse in every way. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional commentary by Jerry Beck.My Grade: C+

I remember discovering this cartoon on TV when I was a kid, back when they still showed black & white Looney Tunes regularly, and even as a youngster I recognized it as something special. In the '80s I managed to get a copy on VHS and practically wore it out with re-plays; it's one of those miraculous little films you can go back to again and again, one that retains its charm and its ability to make you laugh no matter how many times you've seen it. If anything, I enjoy it even more as a grown-up, having come to appreciate the inside jokes about Hollywood, cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger, and the legendary "Termite Terrace" facility, seen here at the height of its glory days.It's clear from the opening shot that this is no ordinary cartoon; in fact, it's primarily a live action short filmed on the Warner Brothers lot, featuring actors playing studio personnel. (Amusingly, almost every person we see aside from Schlesinger has his voice dubbed by Mel Blanc, which is not only a great inside joke but makes the humans come off like cartoon characters themselves.) After the animators have gone to lunch Porky Pig comes to life on his drawing board, just like Max Fleischer's Koko the Clown did in the '20s, and so does Daffy Duck, who initially addresses Porky from a portrait on the wall. Daffy urges his colleague to quit cartoons and go for a job in features playing opposite Bette Davis. Pushed by Daffy, Porky quits, and his confrontation with the boss makes for a memorable and oddly poignant scene. Schlesinger, an affable-seeming guy who looks a little uncomfortable playing himself, agrees to release him from his contract. After Porky's gone, however, the producer turns to the camera and addresses us with hard-bitten wisdom: "He'll be back!"Predictably enough, Porky's venture into the real world of studio system film-making is a disaster. He is belittled and chased by a hostile security guard, sneaks onto a sound stage but ruins a take, and when he tries to flee he blunders into a Western set and is pursued by stampeding horses (a great effect, and a comic high point). Daffy, meanwhile, has been trying to hassle a visibly irritated Schlesinger into giving him Porky's former position. Porky returns to Termite Terrace in the nick of time, gets his old job back, and rewards Daffy with a vigorous beating. Thus, order is restored.As a kid I didn't catch all the references to Errol Flynn, Frank McHugh, or Greta Garbo, although I certainly got the joke when Porky tries to sneak into the studio disguised as Oliver Hardy. Still, viewers don't have to be hardcore film buffs to appreciate the comedy. The animated elements in You Ought To Be in Pictures have a fascinating look, achieved by laying down cell artwork (representing Daffy, Porky, and Porky's car) on still photographs of the office, the studio, and other "real world" locations. This is inter-cut with live action scenes, but on several occasions the cartoon characters interact with the human ones, as when Porky shakes hands with Schlesinger, or, later, drives like a maniac through midtown traffic. There's an especially startling bit when the studio guard hoists Porky and his car into the air and flings them off the lot These effects may look rudimentary by today's standards, but they pack more humor and pizazz into each frame than a lot of the technically adept but soulless CGI work produced nowadays.This is a great piece of work, and if you're a movie buff with a fondness for old time Hollywood it's guaranteed to make you happy.