Chuck Jones' Porky Pig & Sylvester Trilogy of Horror
Chuck Jones had a habit of creating a trilogy of themed stories connected together with the same central characters appearing in each one. From the late 1940’s to the 1950’s he made three cartoons teaming up Porky Pig with Sylvester the Cat which I believe at the time was never done with those two characters. The stories all revolved around the theme that the duo visited a spooky house in the country only for crazy shit to happen to them…or should I say only to poor Sylvester. He is the one that sees the strange stuff happening around him in the haunted house while Porky has no clue to what’s going on.
Jones does a very fun take on the two characters’ personalities. Porky, who is usually on the mark in Jones’ other cartoons when paired with someone like Daffy Duck, is actually pretty stupid in these stories. Stupid not in the Elmer Fudd sense of hunting for rabbits, but in the context that he is completely ignorant of the stuff happening toward him. Sylvester, who is normally the antagonist to Tweety Bird, is now the silent protagonist who is trying to ring the alarm that death is around the corner only to get punished by Porky. When you think about it this is a Porky and Daffy Duck cartoon only with the roles reversed. Now it’s Porky who is in the Daffy role while Sylvester is in the Porky role of stating the obvious to the audience. I always rooted for Sylvester in these cartoons because he gets owned repeatedly for doing nothing wrong. Sylvester's reactions to the traps are priceless in their extreme poses and sharp timing which is a trademark of Jones. If Porky had it his way he would have had his bacon cooked easily that's for sure. Those conniving mice always pissed me off because of all the shit they put Sylvester through for no apparent reason other than to screw with his mind. And they were scary at the same time with their macabre death traps and ghoulish plans. To me that’s what makes these shorts so funny and enjoyable to watch. "Scaredy Cat" (1948)
