Bye, Bye Bluebeard

Always a scary cartoon for kids, and For adults it's a joy to watch. In my quest to Review every Arthur Davis cartoon (the most underrated Looney tunes director of all time) My next short to review is Bye, Bye, Bluebeard, another Cartoon I know quite well, because Bluebeard I feel like should have appeared in more shorts in my opinion, with being so menacing and so funny at the same time. The Mouse Character was Okay, but I wish Porky starred a little more in this cartoon, He's so underutilized, since his last solo cartoon without daffy was in 1951, and he's my 4th favorite looney tunes Character, behind Bugs, Sam, and Daffy. This cartoons animation is done quite well, and the Jokes and Gags and such are sure to give you a chuckle, and is a perfect pairing with other Looney tunes Cartoons to watch during the Scary Season of Halloween.

9/10.

This is one of those cartoons which is much funnier seen than described. It's the little things, the sight gags of the little mouse's face and grin, Porky's reaction to bad things, and a bunch of other details that would make this review too long to describe.

Suffice to say it begins with Porky Pig against "that unsanitary rodent, that lowdown thief" - the mouse - who tries to steal food off of Porky's table in the opening scene, but winds up with Porky up against a 6-feet, 11-inch, 350-pound giant.

While the pig is muttering to himself, the radio says, "Stop! We interrupt this program with a special news bulletin. Bluebeard the killer is at large. Use every precaution to protect yourself."

Back before television, many people had their radios on all day to entertain them with music, humor, sports and all the news bulletins of the day.

Anyway, Porky is petrified. Suddenly he hears a nasty laugh and sees a shadow on the wall of a pirate and big knife. It's only the mouse dressed up as a pirate! Nonetheless, Porky is so dumb he thinks it is the pirate so he feeds him anything he wants....until the radio comes back with a height and weight description of the real Bluebeard, who happens to be under Porky's table. Mayhem ensues!

The best of the three characters is the little mouse, who is one clever little dude. He winds up coming to Porky's rescue in a neat twist. He, and the whole cartoon, can be seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Three.

Radio reports of a killer on the loose named Bluebeard have Porky scared out of his wits. A mouse in Porky's home decides to use this to his advantage, donning a disguise and convincing Porky he's Bluebeard in order to get food. It works for a second but Porky quickly discovers the ruse. Then the real Bluebeard shows up...

Fun short from Arthur Davis with many amusing gags. Great voice work from Mel Blanc. The music is lively with a nice nod to the standard "Bye Bye Blackbird." Excellent animation with well-drawn characters, objects, and backgrounds. Lovely Technicolor is always a plus. There's a Tom & Jerry feeling to this one, perhaps because of the house setting and all the food, etc. Not to mention the mouse playing such a big part in the plot, which isn't common for a Porky short.

'Bye, Bye Bluebeard (1949)' starts with Porky Pig attempting to rid himself of a mouse who wants to eat some of the plentiful banquet he's tucking into, but soon morphs into something of a fight for survival as a radio announcement brings the news of a vicious serial killer on the loose. It's weird to see Porky's life genuinely in danger, especially since the short is clear that all the cartoon logic in the world won't save him if the baddie gets his hands on him, and it's also strange to have a murderer as a villain in one of these films. It feels quite nasty, in a way. That's not to imply that the piece itself is particularly scary or, even, unnerving, but its out-of-place concept certainly carries with it a strange feeling that's hard to shake. At any rate, this is still primarily concerned with being fun. It features some enjoyable moments and is told with lively animation. One of its jokes seems to have served as direct inspiration for an excellent gag in 'Barry (2018 - 2023)', unless parallel thought was at play (the two were created over fifty years apart, after all). It's an enjoyable experience overall.

To me, the line in "Bye, Bye Bluebeard" that stands out the most is the part about everyone having a conscience. As we've all seen, not everybody has one. To be certain, John Dean has written a book about this.* OK, so it makes no sense to talk about people's conscience when reviewing a Porky Pig cartoon. I just like looking for weird connections between things. Overall, I thought that it was an OK cartoon, but I don't find it particularly entertaining when they make Eastern Europeans the antagonists. Still, you gotta admit, that mouse was pretty cool.

*In case you don't know who John Dean is, he testified before the senate in 1973 and exposed that responsibility for the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover-up went all the way to the Oval Office. Nowadays, he frequently appears on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann".