"Porky's Naughty Nephew" is a 1938 Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Bob Clampett and starring Porky Pig.
The cartoon is set at a swimming hole, with a group of cartoon animals getting ready to enjoy the day and prepare for a race later on. Among them is Porky Pig, who has brought his nephew Pinky along for the occasion. Porky tries to enjoy himself throughout the cartoon, but his nephew and a couple of beach patrons give him no shortage of trouble before he decides to take part in the swimming race.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Biology: In the end, a shark is revealed to be living in the waters of the swimming hole. Sharks do not live in and can't survive in freshwater lakes. Of course, Rule of Funny is purely in effect here.
- Bait-and-Switch: The sequence involving Porky, Pinky and the shovel relies on this kind of gag. First Pinky swats the sleeping Porky once, almost gets caught doing it again, and the third time makes it seem like he's been caught—but reveals Porky believes the prankster is an (offscreen) kid with a shovel sitting right in front of him. Porky tells off the kid and confiscates his toy shovel, but the kid pulls out two more shovels and smacks Porky with another one. Pinky shows up and is seemingly about to smack the kid with the giant shovel in retaliation—only to swing it around and strike Porky with it, sending him flying. Its strongly implied that Pinky did it on purpose, since he's pleased with the outcome.
- "Bang!" Flag Gun: Played with. A mouse uses what looks like a Starting Pistol to begin the race, but instead of firing a blank, it spawns a Traffic Light that gives a GO signal.
- Barely-There Swimwear: Played for laughs when an obese local is wearing a swimsuit that is several times too small for him, so he uses a Bathing Suit Fitter (a shower which had just shrunk the suit of another swimmer) to shrink his body to fit into the suit.
- Beach Bury:
- Porky pitches his umbrella on what turns out to be a bulldog buried in the sand, who is none too pleased.
- Pinky asks his uncle if he wants to be buried in sand. Porky agrees, and a dump truck comes out of nowhere and buries him in tons of sand.
- Beach Episode: The cartoon is set at a swimming hole with a beach near it.
- Black Comedy: Some of the comedy in the cartoon comes from this, mainly because of how Pinky enjoys messing with his uncle and Porky just being rather unlucky.
- Bratty Half-Pint:
- Porky's nephew. He constantly messes with his uncle for kicks, such as swatting him with a toy shovel (and eventually smacking him with a real shovel), pretending to drown in shallow water and then laughing at Porky when he falls for his trick, and then dumping a truckload of sand on top of him. That said, he does help his uncle win a swimming race by tricking him into thinking his toy sailboat is a shark fin and then reveals his charade after he won—or rather, tries to, as it turns out to the horror of both of them that there really was a shark in the water.
- Theres also the little brat who smacks Porky with a big shovel, but he doesn't act until Porky incorrectly blames him for Pinky's pranks and unwittingly confiscated two of his toy shovels.
- Bully Bulldog: Porky unwittingly provokes the wrath of one that was buried under some sand by trying to pitch his umbrella on.
- Butt-Monkey: Porky, once again. He is basically a walking punching bag for both beach patrons and his own nephew in the entire cartoon. While he does win the swimming race in the end, he presumably doesn't get to enjoy his victory due to being scared off by a real shark.
- Chaste Toons: True to cartoon tradition, Porky is an uncle for this one cartoon.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Averted; Porky is dead last until his nephew cheats by tricking Porky into thinking there's a shark behind him, which gives him a second wind and allows him to win the race.
- Clown-Car Base: Used as a throwaway gag early in the cartoon. The Bath House is barely any bigger than the cartoon animals, yet they march in and out in barely a second per person with their swimsuits on without even missing a beat.
- Exact Words: After apologizing to Porky, Pinky asks if he can bury Porky in the sand. Porky allows it, and Pinky, given an inch, takes a mile and dumps an entire truck worth of sand on his uncle.
- Hammerspace:
- When Porky confiscates a toy shovel from a kid he thinks is smacking him with it, the kid just pulls out a bigger shovel. Porky grabs that one, and the brat responds by immediately whacking Porky with an even bigger shovel out of nowhere.
- Pinky likewise conveniently pulls up a truck full of sand out of nowhere when he needs it.
- Irony: The bulk of the contestants blatantly cheat at the swim race by using other means to go faster (i.e. rows, paddles), while Porky, who is the only one swimming properly, wins because his nephew cheats by tricking Porky into swimming faster because he thinks his toy sailboat is a shark behind him.
- Kids Are Cruel: The cartoon isn't called Porky's Naughty Nephew for nothing. Pinky is a brat who gives Porky no shortage of grief and clearly enjoys doing it (or is at least too young to comprehend just how sadistic his actions are). Oddly enough, he helps his uncle win a swimming contest, but via a very unorthodox prank.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After all the pranks he pulled on Porky throughout the cartoon, Pinky winds up being the butt of his own prank when he realizes (by pulling it up by its own fin, no less) there really was a shark in the water next to him and his uncle.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The opening signpost outright calls the cast "Cartoon Animals".
- Mind Screw: During the swimming race, one of the contestants is a horse jockey who runs through the deep water as if it was dry land—they immediately start sinking just seconds later. As the horse sinks, it lampshades this by telling his jockey "This can't be Santa Anita!"
- Misplaced Wildlife: Along with the shark in the final gag, Porky also gets a starfish stuck to his face. Neither species would survive long in fresh water.
- Motor Mouth: Pinky is quite a chatterbox to his uncle at the start of the cartoon.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Eddie Cantor appears as one of the contestants in the swimming race for a gag. He bangs his head into a buoy and, after recovering, remarks "At last, a buoy"! and cradles it like a baby (this is a reference to the fact that Eddie had five children who were all daughters, which was a longtime Running Gag in his real life act).
- Offscreen Teleportation: Pinky is somehow able to get inside of a buoy ahead of all the other racers so he can help his uncle out.
- Oh, Crap!: Porky understandably panics when he thinks there's a shark behind him. Pinky follows suit when he realizes there actually is a shark in the waters.
- Old-Timey Bathing Suit: Many of the characters wear these. This cartoon was made in the late 1930's, after all.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Pinky can swing a large shovel with enough force to send his uncle flying through the air, and can effortlessly lift a full grown shark out of water by just grabbing its upper fin.
- Shark Fin of Doom: Pinky uses the sail of a submerged toy sailboat to imitate a shark fin and scare his uncle into winning the race.
- Shout-Out: When the horse and jockey are sinking, the horse quips "This can't be Santa Anita!", referring to Santa Anita Park, which is famous for hosting horse races.
- Shrunk in the Wash: The Bathing Suit Fitter is a shower that pours water on the bathers, causing their swimsuits to shrink to fit. (A bit of
Fridge Logic, as it doesn't seem practical to make a bathing suit out of fabric that shrinks when wet.) Parodied when a fat guy in a too-small swimsuit gets on the fitter and his body shrinks until it fits the suit. - Standard Snippet:
- "You're in the Army Now" plays as the animals march into a tiny bathhouse to change into their swimsuits.
- Pinky ends up whacking Porky with his toy shovel to the tune of Shave And A Haircut.
- Stock Footage: Parts of the swim race repurpose animation and gags from a 1934 Merrie Melodies short, Pettin in the Park.
- Threatening Shark: Porky's nephew tricks Porky into thinking one is attacking him, and this scares him into swimming really fast and thus allows him to win the swimming race. When his nephew tries to reveal its all a gag, he unwittingly pulls out a real shark from the nearby water.
- Twist Ending: Despite it just being a gag at first, the cartoons punchline reveals that there actually was a shark in the waters with Porky.
- Visual Pun: The signpost early in the cartoon has a warning that "Elephants must wear trunks while swimming!"
- Vocal Dissonance: The tiny mouse who starts the swimming race has a very gruff and raspy voice.
