Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
Scotty Burke
It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Tad Pole
. . . for its treacherous Rape of Nanking, PORKY'S PARTY STORYBOARD REEL reveals. This 13-minute "Bonus Feature" on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 3, Disc 3 (2005) shows BOTH the Pre-Rape and Post-Rape versions of Uncle Pincus Pig's birthday gift note to nephew Porky, which the elder Missionary Pig has dispatched from Hotel Tapioca, Hong Kong. Though the Pre-Rape storyboard gift note refers to a miracle-working "Japanese Silkworm," the Post-Rape note actually shown in this cartoon's 1938 theatrical release deprives Japan of any credit for this Wonder Worm, simply referring to it as an "Oriental Silkworm." As America tries to retrieve all of its Gold Medal Swimmers and Rowers from the Sewage Troughs of Rio, one can only anticipate the next Summer Olympics--the 2020 Games of the 32nd Olympiad--in Tokyo, Japan, with total trepidation. Everyone knows that U.S. Pachyderm Party Congressman and World Record Miler Jim Ryun saw his Metric Mile Gold Medal dreams vanish when he caught diarrhea from the unsanitary conditions there back in 1964. Now that even more of the World War Two American Occupation Force has been withdrawn, things have gotten worse during the past five decades in terms of Japan back-sliding on the Basic Principles of Sanitation. I've heard recently that some public toilets in Japan do not even feature a reliable stock of bathroom tissue! Maybe Warner Bros. needs to do an animated short explaining WHY U.S. Olympians must always BYOTP to these Games!
phantom_tollbooth
Bob Clampett's 'Porky's Party' is a classic piece of inspired lunacy which was one of the director's earliest cartoons. Based on the innocent premise of Porky Pig having a party for his birthday, 'Porky's Party' goes off the rails the moment the guests arrive. As was often the case in these early cartoons, Porky is given star billing but does very little compared to the bonkers antics of a drunken dog, a goofy goose and a gluttonous penguin. Essentially plot less, 'Porky's Party' relies on great set pieces and the wild energy that is so unmistakably Clampett. There's a really strange and inspired bit in which the penguin tries to rid himself of a top hat that keeps popping up inside his body! The whole thing culminates in a wild chase and a hilarious climax in which Clampett stuffs tons of gags into literally a couple of seconds. An unforgettable cartoon that helped push forward the increasingly loony agenda of the Warner studio, 'Porky's Party' is one of the greatest of the early Porky Pig shorts and a personal favourite of my own which deserves a wider audience.
Lee Eisenberg
If you've seen Porky Pig's cartoons during the first few years after he debuted, you may have noticed that they mostly cast him in various roles and situations: bullfighter, pilgrim, blacksmith. As far as I can tell, his only three cartoons during this era that had truly lasting significance were 1935's "I Haven't Got a Hat" (his debut), 1937's "Porky's Duck Hunt" (Daffy Duck's debut) and 1938's "Porky in Wackyland" (the ultimate exercise in zany surrealism). "Porky's Party" was one of the shorts where the Termite Terrace crowd came up with a routine situation and milked it, with rather childish results.There certainly are some funny scenes. I couldn't have predicted the stuff with the hat in the guy's body. But seriously, the whole thing looks better on the storyboard (the DVD includes the original designs as an special feature). If they'd continued casting Porky in these kinds of roles, that would have quickly been all for him, folks. Fortunately, when we entered WWII, his really clever roles took off. During and immediately after the war, there were "My Favorite Duck", "Porky Pig's Feat", "Brother Brat", "Baby Bottleneck", "Kitty Kornered" and "Little Orphan Airedale". In the post-war years, he often was the foil to Daffy Duck's craziness.
davew-5
There's not much logic or plot in this gem of a cartoon, but it is side-splittingly funny from start to finish. Bob Clampett was on top form here, squeezing the most absurd slapstick comedy out of every tiny detail. Porky Pig has a birthday party with his dog, a penguin and a goose (reminding me of the Dodo from "Porky in Wackyland") as the guests. He gets a silkworm as a gift from his uncle in Hong Kong. The greedy penguin accidentally swallows the silkworm, so top hats keep popping up inside the penguin, which the goose then tries to flatten with a mallet. Meanwhile the dog gets drunk on hair tonic. My favorite moment comes near the end where the penguin, running away from the dog, disguises himself as a hat-stand. It cracks me up every time I see it! Despite all the cartoon violence, all the guests keep smiling and have a great time -- with the exception of poor old Porky, of course.This cartoon is included in The Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume 3.
