Confusions of a Nutzy Spy (1943) User Reviews

Porky is upstaged by a bloodhound and a lynx

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 7 September 2006]

This short is one of the milder propaganda shorts done by Warner Brothers during World War II. I intend to discuss specifics, so consider this a spoiler warning:

Porky is barely in this short-a fairly long introduction is composed of first a series of sight gags and then the awakening of a bloodhound. Porky is essentially an extra in this short. He and the bloodhound have to find a spy-a lynx with a German accent straight out of central casting. As Porky is telling the bloodhound about their assignment, the running gag is introduced-the bloodhound starts to sneeze, is stopped and then sneezes with tremendous force.

They locate the lynx-called "Missing Lynx" and he proceeds to run circles around Porky, who shows the intelligence of a tree stump in this one. It's up to the bloodhound to win this one for the home team. Well, to be accurate, it's up to "Missing Lynx" to lose this one for the bad guys-his bomb was no doubt obtained from the German subsidiary of Acme! The short irises out on the "V for Victory" symbol in the end and the way it comes about is one of the most interesting aspects to this short.

Norman McCabe didn't direct all that many shorts at Warner Brothers, but this is one of the more entertaining ones to come out of his unit. Worth seeing. Quite dated, but worth seeing and I hope it sees release on a Looney Tunes Golden Collection at some point. Recommended.

Suitably nuts and not confusing at all

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 14 January 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Porky Pig has always been an endearing character, if more in support playing it straight than a lead (always worth watching but has been known to be misused and overshadowed by the supporting characters). Norm McCabe was overshadowed by very stiff competition when he was active, ones with more distinctive and imaginative styles, but he was a very competent director who never made it bigger (some of his work even relatively obscure), due to mainly never making colour cartoons (though this does have a vastly inferior colour version) and being responsible for some with racial stereotyping but also .

'Confusions of a Nuzy Spy' is one of McCabe's better and more entertaining cartoons on the whole. It's far from perfect, with a slow and very corny start, with a few of the corniest jokes falling flat and Porky being underused and bland (being barely in it and being overshadowed by the bloodhound and the lynx). The story is very slight but have come to expect that by now.

McCabe does direct very capably though and the cartoon very quickly gains energy and contains some very funny, well-timed and clever gags and fast-paced action. The bloodhound is an amusing character, even livelier and more entertaining is the lynx.

As to be expected, Mel Blanc is outstanding as always. He always was the infinitely more preferable voice for Porky, Joe Dougherty never clicked with me, and he proves it here. Blanc shows an unequalled versatility and ability to bring an individual personality to every one of his multiple characters in a vast majority of his work, there is no wonder why he was in such high demand as a voice actor.

When it comes to the animation, 'Confusions of a Nutzy Spy' is very good. Much of it is fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. Ever the master, Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

So summing up, nice and fun as long as a classic isn't expected. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Porky in a milder role

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 5 July 2007]

In one of the many WWII-themed Warner Bros. cartoons, Porky Pig is a cop working for Ye Towne Cooler (where the Long Arm of the Law is just that, and the "Wanted" photos include a pin-up girl). On this particular day, Porky and his dog have to look for a lynx - named Missing Lynx - spying for Germany and ready to plant a bomb (titled "Hallelujah, I'm a Bomb").

Like in many of their cartoons from this era, much of the action in "Confusions of a Nutzy Spy" centers on sight gags. But when Porky realizes that the spy has planted the bomb is when the action really takes off. Actually, the dog does more than Porky, but the stuttering swine has his share.

All in all, not a great cartoon, but worth seeing. Available on YouTube.

Mildly entertaining....but that's about all.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 3 March 2011]

First, I should point out that this cartoon was done in black & white and I assume that means that it was made to be shown to soldiers serving during WWII and not the general public. I know that black and white shorts DEFINITELY were made for the soldiers--such as the Private Snafu shorts. Because it was made for soldiers, the humor in the Snafu films (and the acronym itself is pretty off-color) can be adult. However, nothing I noticed in "Confessions of a Nutzy Spy" seemed off-color in the least and it's a pretty standard propaganda cartoon. However, the problem is that aside from Porky Pig, the other characters in the cartoon art pretty bland.

The film starts with some EXTREMELY corny jokes about law enforcement--the less said about them the better! Then you are introduced to the world's laziest bloodhound who Porky needs to help track down the evil Nazi spy, "Missing Lynx". I did enjoy the scene where Porky literally was shoving the dog on the trail because the dog was THAT lazy. However, otherwise Lynx is a very dull and uninteresting character--and you can see why he was soon dropped by Looney Tunes. An interesting curio but not a whole lot more.

If Porky solves your crime, it's a miracle.

[slymusic · 2 June 2009]

"Confusions of a Nutzy Spy", directed by Norman McCabe, is a pretty good Porky Pig cartoon. Porky is a constable, and along with his allergic bloodhound Eggbert, he searches for a Nazi spy named Missing Lynx, a fox who is a master of disguises.

Speaking of disguises, my two favorite moments from this cartoon are: 1.) Eggbert finds a Hitler mask in Lynx's satchel and thumbs his nose at it; and 2.) Lynx disguises himself as Porky and does a hilarious vocal imitation of him (as only Mel Blanc could do so well).

In addition to what I've described above, "Confusions of a Nutzy Spy" boasts plenty of sign jokes and a few great "scaredy-cat" close-ups of Porky. Find this cartoon on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 Disc 2.

This El Cheapo bare-bones exercise in minimalist animation . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 6 October 2016]

. . . begins with a minute and a half of still images, and includes a long black-screen "cave" sequence in which only three pairs of eyeballs are visible. It's hard to take Porky Pig's bumbling Axis spy quarry (aka, The Missing Lynx) seriously at a time when Hitler's ACTUAL formidable U.S. Fifth Column included such notable names as Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Prescott Bush, Father Charles Edward Coughlin, and most of the Rich People Party's Congressmen and Senators. Rather than looking at CONFUSIONS OF A NUTZY SPY, Circa the 1940s, it seems more feasible to regard it as another one of the Looney Tuners' uncannily on-target prophecies concerning the 2016 American Presidential Election. One candidate has declared himself to be a pawn working in cahoots with Russian Strongman Vladimir "Mad Dog" Putin. (That California earthquake recorded when Dumpty Trumpty was nominated signified President Reagan turning over in His Grave.) A Sunday editorial in an RRP Rag Oct. 2, 2016, speculated that Hillary's Clinton Foundation is paying this buffoon $1 billion to LOSE the election, destroying the Elephant Bunch in the process. This sentiment is echoed by this cartoon's grand finale, in which the NUTZY SPY blows himself up to Kingdom Come.

Confusions of a Nutzy Spy was a funny Porky Pig cartoon from the World War II era

[tavm · 8/10 · 20 March 2010]

Just watched this Leon Schlesinger cartoon on the This is the Army DVD. It has Porky as a detective with a sneezing dog helping find a spy called Missing Lynx, a fox. Plenty of hilarious literal sight gags abound in the beginning and director Norman McCabe keeps it funny throughout. I especially liked the way the fox keeps disguising himself and fooling Porky. There's also a funny Hitler mask in the bag. There was a disclaimer at the beginning that explains why the cartoon was the way it was but really, it didn't really seem that necessary to me. So on that note, I highly recommend Confusions of a Nutzy Spy. P.S. It was nice to watch this in the original black-and-white print and not the inferior colorized versions I remember watching in the late '70s.

Fun World War II Short

[Michael_Elliott · 29 March 2016]

Confusions of a Nutzy Spy (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Porky wants to hunt down some evil German spies but he's bloodhound is more than lazy. Porky finally gets the dog up and eventually they run into a nutzy spy.

This Warner short is obviously a take-off on their CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY and for the most part it's entertaining. I'm really not a fan of this era of Porky shorts but I thought this one here managed to be entertaining because of the faster-paced action, which includes the spy taking quite a few beatings. This was obviously produced during World War II so it has that patriotic feel to it and of course everyone back in 1943 would get a kick out of seeing the spy badly abused.