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.
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.