Fans of Who Framed Roger Rabbit will LOVE this 1940 Warner Bros. live-action/animation hybrid featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. Like Roger Rabbit, You Ought to Be in Pictures revolves around classic cartoon characters and their (mis)adventures in Hollywood. Only, where Roger Rabbit kicks off with a murder, You Ought to Be in Pictures begins with an act of career suicide!
The plot: Daffy wants to be the top star at the Schlesinger studios, so he persuades Porky to quit cartoons to pursue a career in feature films — as Bette Davis’ leading man! Poor Porky then spends the rest of the film trying to sneak himself onto the sets of various Warner Bros. films, failing miserably every time.
The scenes involving Porky sneaking around the studio lot will no doubt feel familiar to movie fans, as they were the inspiration behind similar scenes in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles and Tim Burton’s Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
Another fun thing to look listen out for? With the exception Leon Schlesinger and a few other Looney Tunes luminaries, most of the humans’ voices were dubbed in by Bugs Bunny himself, Mel Blanc!
You Ought to Be in Pictures is not only a hilarious cartoon, it’s a beautifully shot film. Fans of old-timey Los Angeles will delight in all of the location shooting. The shot of Porky racing down the street in his little cartoon car is a moment of true cinematic magic; it’s a seamless blend of live-action and animation, a nail-biting thrill-ride, a postcard from the past and a testament to the timelessness of L.A. traffic gags.
And now, without further ado, Friz Freleng’s You Ought to Be in Pictures. Enjoy!
Video not loading? Try watching it here or here.
Colorized GIFs by veryaverygifs. If you ain’t following them, you’re lost!
