You Ought to Be in Pictures

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For the song, see You Oughta Be in Pictures.
You Ought to Be in Pictures
You Ought to Be in Pictures title card.png
Directed byI. Freleng
Story byJack Miller
Produced byLeon Schlesinger
StarringMel Blanc
Leon Schlesinger
Fred Jones
Chuck Jones
Bob Clampett
Michael Maltese
Gerry Chiniquy
Henry Binder
Paul Marin
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation byHerman Cohen
Color processBlack and white (computer colorized in 1995)
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
May 18, 1940
Running time
9:44
LanguageEnglish

You Ought to Be in Pictures is a 1940 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short film directed by Friz Freleng.[1] The cartoon was released on May 18, 1940, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck.[2]

The film combined live-action and animation, and features live-action appearances by Leon Schlesinger, writer Michael Maltese, animator Gerry Chiniquy and other Schlesinger Productions staff members.[3] The title comes from the popular 1934 song "You Oughta Be in Pictures" by Dana Suesse and Edward Heyman, which plays in the beginning of the film.

In 2016, it was shortlisted for the 1941 Retro-Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.[4]

Plot[]

Daffy tries to convince Leon Schlesinger that he should become the new star of Warner Bros. cartoons

Daffy wants to be the top star in the studio. To this end, he persuades Porky to resign from the Schlesinger studios to pursue a career in feature films as Bette Davis' co-star {"Three grand a week!"}. Porky goes to Leon Schlesinger and asks to have his contract torn up. Schlesinger reluctantly agrees, and wishes Porky the best of luck. Once Porky is out of earshot, Schlesinger assures the audience that Porky will be back.

Porky spends the rest of the film trying to get into the lots and sets of an unnamed studio, with little success. After several failures from convincing the security guard (played by Michael Maltese, voiced by Mel Blanc) to let him in, dressing up as Oliver Hardy to gain access, (until the guard realizes the real Hardy already entered the studio) and inadvertently interrupting the shooting of a dance film, he decides to see if Schlesinger will take him back.

He returns to Schlesinger's office after frantically dodging his cartoon car in and out of live-action Los Angeles traffic, only to see Daffy doing a wild audition to become the new star of Warner Bros. cartoons, openly disparaging Porky. Porky then takes Daffy with him to another room, where he beats Daffy up. After this, he hurriedly runs into Schlesinger's office to beg for his job back. Schlesinger, laughing heartily and saying he knew he would return, reveals that he did not really rip up Porky's contract, and happily tells him to get back to work. Porky gladly thanks him and runs back into the animation paper that he was in when the short started. Daffy, wrapped in bandages after being beaten up by Porky but still not quite having learned his lesson, again attempts to persuade Porky to resign and work with Greta Garbo, only to get splattered with a tomato, which irritates him.

Cast[]

Production[]

On this occasion, Daffy Duck is seen as a much more self-centered individual who shows willingness to do anything to get what he wants, whether it was money or fame, instead of being seen as a trouble inducing screwball. This, in turn, is indirectly a foreshadowing of the character he would later become, particularly in Rabbit Fire, and onward. It was also Friz Freleng's first film back at the studio after being at MGM for two years. The film has become one of the better known shorts made by Warner Bros, and in 1994 was voted #34 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.[5]

  • First Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.
  • In a real-life parallel of the storyline, the short was directed by Friz Freleng, who had just returned to Schlesinger after a stint as a director at MGM's cartoon division.
  • As noted, many staff members have cameos in this short:
    • Leon Schlesinger — appears as himself
    • Chuck Jones — one of the crowd rushing out during the lunch break
    • Bob Clampett — another one of the Termite Terrace employees rushing frantically off to lunch
    • Michael Maltese — the studio security guard
    • Gerry Chiniquy — studio director calling for quiet
    • Henry Binder, Paul Marin — stagehands also calling for quiet. Binder is also the stagehand throwing Porky off the set
  • This is the second longest Looney Tunes cartoon ever made in the Golden Age of Animation, running for nine minutes and 45 seconds. The longest Looney Tunes cartoon of all is the 1942 Bob Clampett (coincidentally seen in this picture in a cameo) cartoon Horton Hatches the Egg, beating You Ought to be in Pictures by three seconds.
  • Because the animation unit did not have access to location sound recording equipment, all of the live-action footage was shot silent. The voices had to be dubbed in later (which is why most of them were dubbed by Mel Blanc, except for Leon Schlesinger).
  • To keep the short on-budget, relatively few special effects were used to marry the animation and live action. Where possible, the crew simply took still pictures of the office background and had them enlarged and placed directly on the animation stand.
  • Stock footage from the 1936 Western California Mail was used in the sequences of Porky driving through the backlot.[6]
  • Despite being in black and white, this short was shown regularly on Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon, particularly during the Nick at Nite version.
  • In 1995, the film was computer colorized and became a regular part of the Cartoon Network rotation. The film could also be seen in its original black and white form on the network's installment show Late Night Black and White.

Reception[]

Animation historian Jerry Beck writes, "Predating Who Framed Roger Rabbit by several decades — in fact, it's credited with inspiring the 1988 film — You Ought to Be in Pictures is one of the most memorable of the black-and-white-era Porky Pig cartoons. It's also one of the funniest."[6]

Home media[]

You Ought to Be in Pictures is available on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2, on Disc 4, on Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, on Disc 1 and also on Porky Pig 101, Disc 4. Prior to that, it had been included as part of the 1985 VHS release Warner Bros. Cartoons Golden Jubilee 24-Karat Collection: Porky Pig's Screwball Comedies.

References[]

  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 103. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.
  4. ^ 1941 Retro-Hugos, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 28, 2017
  5. ^ Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Atlanta: Turner Publishing.
  6. ^ a b Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.

External links[]

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