Horst in Translation ([email protected])
Warner Bros' "You Ought to Be in Pictures" is what Daffy tells porky in this mix of live action and animation we have here. But of course, Daffy wants Porky's place and Porky, naive as he is, believes him right away. This film runs a couple seconds under 10 minutes, so it is 3 minutes longer than these films usually are. It is in black-and-white and the most interesting thing here for me was not really the slapstick comedy, but how they mixed live action and animation. As a result of this we have the only acting credit for the influential Leon Schlesinger, who plays himself in here. And the funniest thing about it is how it actually turned out so true. Poor Porky. His star was fading quickly, even if he stayed somewhat relevant for a long time still. But the stardom of (Bugs and) Daffy is something he never managed to achieve. I feel kinda sorry for him. This film has its good and bad moments, but overall it's a really interesting take in terms of film on film. I recommend it. Oh yeah the voice acting is strong too of course, but that's a given with Mel Blanc on board I guess.
MartinHafer
This is a really cool cartoon. It begins with Daffy trying to convince Porky that he's too good to remain with Looney Tunes and he should try for bigger things! So, Porky walks out of the cartoon and into real life--similar to what you later saw in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. Porky first goes to Looney Tunes chief, Leon Schlessinger, and asks if he can have his contract. Mr. Schlessinger agrees and Porky is now a free agent. However, he finds that life outside of cartoons is a lot tougher than he thought and he finally returns to Mr. Schlessinger to beg for his job back! This cartoon is so inventive and shows so much behind the scenes material that it is a must for old movie buffs. A delightful film and way ahead of its time.
movieman_kev
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+
Lee Eisenberg
"You Ought to Be in Pictures" was made when the Looney Tunes were still in their infancy, but it's just about as good as their most famous cartoons. While the animators are out to lunch, Daffy Duck convinces Porky Pig that cartoons aren't for him and that he should work in feature films. But when Porky tries to enter a studio, the security guard (played by writer Michael Maltese) throws him out. After a few more mishaps, Porky finally decides to get revenge on Daffy.Man, they pulled no punches when making these cartoons. And even though mixing live action with animation was a new thing, they really accomplished something cool.