. . . most of the 30,000 or 40,000 Gun Deaths happening in our American Homeland annually are Mercy Killings\Suicides (though the U.S. Congress, in its willfully belligerent ignorance, has OUTLAWED any scientific study and official quantification of this Balm of Bullets). Suicide-by-Gun is the main focus of a Looney Tune titled THE SOUR PUSS. One of the financial section headlines Porky Pig reads from Page 4 of the June 20, 1940 DAILY BLAST says "Share-holder shoots self." Financial Ruin is always a leading motivator to blow one's brains out in Real Life, especially during a Great Depression such as the one on-going in 1940, when SOUR PUSS was released. Shortly after this headline is shown, Porky's canary remarks, "Now, I've seen everything!" and immediately self-destructs with a bird-sized revolver, reflecting the fact that boredom--like financial ruin--can be taken care of with that personal firearm that half of all Americans keep loaded and ready in their nightstand drawer, next to their sleeping pills. But what about our Poorest Fellow Citizens, among the most likely to suffer chronic pain from an incurable condition, yet lack the resources to afford a dependable six-shooter? Please join Porky Pig in supporting your local chapter of BANGS (Broke Americans Need Gun Stamps) Today!
8 Reviews
A studio treading water
phantom_tollbooth9 January 2009
Bob Clampett's 'The Sour Puss' is at its best when its being surprisingly gentle and leisurely. It takes a good few minutes to build up to the main plot of a fishing trip and Clampett restrains his usual frantic pace for some very nicely executed gags. Porky's impersonation of a fish has to be seen to be believed! In these opening scenes we are introduced to Porky and his fish-loving cat as they decide to go fishing. We then share a partially sleepless night with the characters before finally arriving at the lake. At this point, however, 'The Sour Puss' takes a turn for the worse. The character of a nutty flying fish is introduced and with this comes the recognisably crazy pacing of a Clampett cartoon. Unfortunately, the fish character is an immensely annoying carbon copy of very early Daffy Duck and we get another run through of the formula from Tex Avery's 'Porky's Duck Hunt'. This scenario had already been replayed and perfected with Avery's masterful 'Daffy Duck and Egghead' and 'The Sour Puss' feels like the studio is treading water, recycling scenarios with inevitably diminishing returns. The flying fish is not only annoying and occasionally poorly animated, he also completely takes the focus away from Porky and his cat who had previously been carrying the film very nicely. 'The Sour Puss' ends up being a cartoon that falls apart when its main plot rears its ugly head, the character that was meant to be its trump card proving to be its downfall.
I don't know whether or not cats is duh cwaziest people, but Bob Clampett was sure one of duh cwaziest directors!
lee_eisenberg2 January 2008
Since cartoon characters usually take their dogs hunting, it was at the very least interesting to see Porky Pig take his cat hunting. But not even that idea could have prepared me for what was in store here.
After Porky tells the loopy feline that they're having fish for dinner, the cat sort of flips out to the point where the bird decides that he's seen everything (in case you don't know that gag, you'll find out). But it's once they go fishing that the cartoon takes off. This fish acts as if he's on acid or something. It seems that the Termite Terrace crowd took Daffy from "Porky's Duck Hunt" and applied the characteristics to an aquatic vertebrate.
All in all, "The Sour Puss" is definitely a funny one. You're sure to like it. The last line is a parody of Lew Lehr, who appeared in Movietone newsreels in the 1930s and said things like "Chickens is duh cwaziest people!" The Termite Terrace crowd also parodied him in "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter" and "Scaredy Cat".
After Porky tells the loopy feline that they're having fish for dinner, the cat sort of flips out to the point where the bird decides that he's seen everything (in case you don't know that gag, you'll find out). But it's once they go fishing that the cartoon takes off. This fish acts as if he's on acid or something. It seems that the Termite Terrace crowd took Daffy from "Porky's Duck Hunt" and applied the characteristics to an aquatic vertebrate.
All in all, "The Sour Puss" is definitely a funny one. You're sure to like it. The last line is a parody of Lew Lehr, who appeared in Movietone newsreels in the 1930s and said things like "Chickens is duh cwaziest people!" The Termite Terrace crowd also parodied him in "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter" and "Scaredy Cat".
Have you ever seen a cat get so excited about fish?
slymusic10 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
"The Sour Puss" is a great black-and-white Porky Pig cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. Porky and his pet cat Pussy are thrilled about the opening of fishing season. The one fish that they try to catch, however, might prompt them to reconsider their excitement; this flying fish is such a screwball that he bears almost the exact disposition of a very early Daffy Duck!
My favorite scenes from this cartoon include the following. The musical accompaniment becomes a bright jazzy tempo as Porky gets up from his rocking chair to strap on his fishing gear; when he informs Pussy that fish is on the menu for tomorrow evening's dinner, the cat is absolutely hilarious as he joyfully somersaults all over the house! As Porky amusingly counts sheep while sleeping, he only gives half credit to a tiny sheep. The lunatic flying fish becomes a yo-yo for Porky and plunks away at Pussy's tail like an upright jazz bass.
"The Sour Puss" is a very good example of the energy that director Bob Clampett brought to the Warner Bros. cartoons. Notice especially the flexibility of both Pussy and the fish in their respective moments of wild animation. Also notable is Porky's elasticity as he imitates a fish. Even Porky's rocking chair in the opening scene has a flexibility all its own!
My favorite scenes from this cartoon include the following. The musical accompaniment becomes a bright jazzy tempo as Porky gets up from his rocking chair to strap on his fishing gear; when he informs Pussy that fish is on the menu for tomorrow evening's dinner, the cat is absolutely hilarious as he joyfully somersaults all over the house! As Porky amusingly counts sheep while sleeping, he only gives half credit to a tiny sheep. The lunatic flying fish becomes a yo-yo for Porky and plunks away at Pussy's tail like an upright jazz bass.
"The Sour Puss" is a very good example of the energy that director Bob Clampett brought to the Warner Bros. cartoons. Notice especially the flexibility of both Pussy and the fish in their respective moments of wild animation. Also notable is Porky's elasticity as he imitates a fish. Even Porky's rocking chair in the opening scene has a flexibility all its own!
Now that's a cartoon all wacky and stuff
ragpap9313 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Now that's a cartoon all wacky and stuff. Is this a great cartoon or what? Eh! Could be. A cat goes a hunting instead of a dog. The bird in the cage looks like a canary so is this Tweety's origins. Is Tweety suicidal?
They kept it simple and changed a few cliche's that other cartoons of that era had. The gags were all similar yet somewhat unique. So why only 7 out of 10. I cannot explain it. Maybe it started just a little slow but by the end of the short it made me wish there was more. Overall though really good. I'm watching loony toons in chronological order so I hope that they used this cartoon as a base to measure how the other shorts are.
They kept it simple and changed a few cliche's that other cartoons of that era had. The gags were all similar yet somewhat unique. So why only 7 out of 10. I cannot explain it. Maybe it started just a little slow but by the end of the short it made me wish there was more. Overall though really good. I'm watching loony toons in chronological order so I hope that they used this cartoon as a base to measure how the other shorts are.
Manic short which starts out very well, with an uneven middle and a great ending!
llltdesq17 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is a black and white Porky cartoon where Porky is basically an extra, with the dominant characters being a lazy cat and a demented fish. Because I want to discuss some of the details, this is a spoiler warning:
The first couple of minutes of this is great, with Porky deciding to go fishing and then asking his sleepy and lazy cat to guess what they will be having for dinner. The cat then imitates several animals, including a very funny chicken, only to have Porky top him by pantomiming a fish! Imagine, if you will, a cartoon pig pantomiming a fish. To say that the cat greets this news with enthusiasm would be an understatement. He's bouncing around the room and ends up kissing a mouse, who doesn't take it very well (to say the least). Unfortunately, the next bit kind of stops the momentum by having a "counting fish" gag that isn't all that funny.
Out fishing the next morning, they meet a fish who is the lunatic prince of all fishdom. He basically dominates most of the rest of the short, giving both Porky and Sour Puss no end of heckling and abuse and periodically looking directly at the screen as if addressing the audience and making some hilarious remark, as the more manic versions of Bugs and Daffy would do, early on in their existence.
The ending is very funny and I won't really spoil it except to note that the very end finishes with a parody of Lew Lehr, a comic who would have been very familiar to audiences at the time, but isn't a household name at this point.
This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is well worth watching. Recommended.
The first couple of minutes of this is great, with Porky deciding to go fishing and then asking his sleepy and lazy cat to guess what they will be having for dinner. The cat then imitates several animals, including a very funny chicken, only to have Porky top him by pantomiming a fish! Imagine, if you will, a cartoon pig pantomiming a fish. To say that the cat greets this news with enthusiasm would be an understatement. He's bouncing around the room and ends up kissing a mouse, who doesn't take it very well (to say the least). Unfortunately, the next bit kind of stops the momentum by having a "counting fish" gag that isn't all that funny.
Out fishing the next morning, they meet a fish who is the lunatic prince of all fishdom. He basically dominates most of the rest of the short, giving both Porky and Sour Puss no end of heckling and abuse and periodically looking directly at the screen as if addressing the audience and making some hilarious remark, as the more manic versions of Bugs and Daffy would do, early on in their existence.
The ending is very funny and I won't really spoil it except to note that the very end finishes with a parody of Lew Lehr, a comic who would have been very familiar to audiences at the time, but isn't a household name at this point.
This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is well worth watching. Recommended.
Porky once again not lead material
Horst_In_Translation23 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"The Sour Puss" is an American 7.5-minute cartoon from 1940, so this one is already over 75 years old and it united the legendary Clampett, Foster and Blanc in another Porky Pig work that is in black-and-white like most of the others starring Warner Bros' and Schlesinger Studios' prime time pork. But sadly, this film is once again evidence that Porky just wasn't up to the challenge of being a main protagonist. He is pretty likable (I guess) and harmless and lacks shades compared to Daffy and Bugs and here he loses his main role quickly to his cat. But the gags were too rare and also not good enough to really make me enjoy this one. Plus half the film was over before we actually see them at the lake. And then they aren't really fishing either. Porky is seen once only during the trip and he stands there warning the cat from a shark. Could you imagine that if Donald went fishing with the nephews? OR Mickey with Pluto? Anyway, back to this one here: The cat keeps the film from being really boring. And so does Mel Blanc whose voice acting is once again top-notch and he is always so reliable to deliver, even in mediocre works like this one. It's not a failure for sure, but very mediocre and forgettable in my opinion. I give it a thumbs-down.
"Look at me fellas I'm a yo yo! I'm a yo yo!"
TheLittleSongbird25 August 2013
As with most Looney Tunes cartoons, thoroughly entertaining and definitely recommended. One gag does fall flat though, the counting fish gag is not very funny and feels drawn out, and some of the middle can feel rather rushed and manic. The animation is very fluid and detailed though, with all the characters drawn well, the black and white is beautifully shaded. The music is orchestrated beautifully, especially when the fish is introduced, and is very characterful, matching the facial expressions remarkably. The story doesn't try to do too much nor does it feel too thin, and it is paced very nicely. It's also well-structured generally, the beginning gently sets things up while also providing some good laughs, and the ending is so funny it makes the sides split. The dialogue is fresh and sharp, the fish's lines are a riot, and the gags are cleverly timed and most make their mark, Porky imitating a fish is just hilarious, easily one of the funniest things he's ever done. Porky is a good lead, not as bland as he can be at times, and the cat is a gem of a character in facial expressions and such. The flying fish- the anchor character of The Sour Puss-, aside from a slightly grating giddy laugh, is wonderfully wacky and often steals the show. Occasionally though especially in the middle it can mean that Porky and the cat are a little sidelined in terms of humour, so the character rapport and such can be a little imbalanced. The canary's Now I've seen everything moment doesn't disappoint either. Mel Blanc does a fine job with all the characters, if slightly overdoing it with the fish. In conclusion, very good and entertaining. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox
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