Pigs in a Polka (1943)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Friz Freleng

Release Date:

2 February 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Musical | Family | Comedy

Plot:

The story of the three little pigs and the big bad wulf, this time performed as pantomime to the Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms.

Plot Keywords:

Pig | Wolf | House | Dance | Three Little Pigs

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bea Benaderet	...	Second Little Pig (voice) (uncredited)
Sara Berner	...	First Little Pig (voice) (uncredited)
Mel Blanc	...	Big Bad Wolf / Third Little Pig (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Friz Freleng		(as I. Freleng)

Produced by
Leon Schlesinger	....	producer

Non-Original Music by
Johannes Brahms		(from "Hungarian Dance Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 17")

Film Editing by
Treg Brown		(uncredited)

Sound Department
Treg Brown	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Charles David Forrest	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Animation Department
Ken Champin	....	animator
Richard Bickenbach	....	animator (uncredited)
Jack Bradbury	....	animator (uncredited)
Gerry Chiniquy	....	animator (uncredited)
Manuel Perez	....	animator (uncredited)
Gil Turner	....	animator (uncredited)

Music Department
Carl W. Stalling	....	musical director
Milt Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Runtime:

8 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | UK:U | Canada:G (Nova Scotia)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Movie Connections:

Featured in Ransom (1996)

Soundtrack:

Hungarian Dance No. 6

Nice try – doesn't work

Set to classical music, this is a retelling of the story of three little pigs who each go off and build their houses out of different types of material, only to each be set upon by a wolf who wants to `eat them all up'.

The film opens with a different and amusing little pre-story introduction by the wolf, but the rest of the film fails totally to live up to any early promise. The plot is, of course, the three little pigs but set in time to a piece of well known classical music. The film could be seen as a brave attempt to bring classic music to the masses, but it doesn't really work because the cartoon isn't good enough to reach `the masses'.

The immediate lack of good characters is a problem. The pigs are overly cute and speak with a horrid little squeaky voice. The wolf is OK but doesn't really say very much and doesn't impose his character onto the film – a shame, he is the most interesting one of the bunch.

A bigger problem is that the film isn't funny. Instead of coming up with jokes, the makers seem to have put all their energy into making the action match the music, than making the action funny in it's own right. The end result is the film constantly altering it's pace in time with the music, occasionally it's amusing but it is never consistent.

Overall this is a good attempt to bring classic music into a popular medium but it doesn't really work at all. The characters are no good and the action is more tailored to fit the music rather than generate laughs.