Poe's Saturday Cartoon: THE WEARING OF THE GRIN (1951)

In honor of St. Patrick's Day next week, today on Poe's Saturday Cartoon we will be featuring a Chuck Jone's Porky Pig cartoon from 1951 titled THE WEARING OF THE GRIN. Made when Chuck Jones was at his creative peek, the short is one of his odder cartoons with its Gothic trappings and a surreal dream sequence that seems more fitting for a Bob Clampett entry. Porky's run in with a couple of leprechauns is actually quiet spooky and Jones and long time collaborator, writer Michael Maltese, do a good job of blending the surreal with the looney.

Interesting enough, this was one of the last solo cartoons Porky Pig was featured in during animation's golden era. From this point on, the fussy, stuttering pig would be featured primarily as a sidekick to Daffy Duck. Not that the move hurt his career, as he is at his funniest when playing a Greek chorus of sorts, commenting on the idiocies of the crazy mallard.

So raise your drinking glasses a few days early and keep your eyes out for that pot of gold as you enjoy this little gem.

Zevk,
Poe