Looney Tunes Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Old Glory is a 1939 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot[]

Porky Pig is a child forced to learn the Pledge of Allegiance. He becomes quickly bored and falls asleep. In his dream, Uncle Sam comes to life and teaches Porky about history, from Colonial America through the American Revolutionary War to the expansion of the American Old West, briefly alluding to Abraham Lincoln. Upon awakening, Porky snaps into a salute and recites the pledge as the flag of the United States waves overhead and the words "The End" pan over the waving flag.

Caricatures[]

Television[]

  • A.A.P. (1957-mid 1990s)
  • Bugs Bunny and Friends [TBS] (1979-late 1980s)
  • Tom and Jerry's Funhouse [TBS] (1986-1997)
  • Bugs Bunny and Friends [TNT] (1988-1998)
  • The Bugs Bunny Show [TBS] (early 1990s-1997)
  • Bugs and Daffy Tonight [Cartoon Network] (1992-1994)
  • The Bugs and Daffy Show [Cartoon Network] (1995-2004)
  • Acme Hour [Cartoon Network] (1998-2003)
  • The Porky Pig Show [Boomerang] (2000-2002)
  • The Chuck Jones Show [Cartoon Network] (2001-2004)
  • The Looney Tunes Show [Cartoon Network] (2001-2004)
  • Looney Tunes on Boomerang (2003-2005; 2019-present Streaming)
  • TCM (2004-2007)
  • Toon In with Me [MeTV] (2021-present)

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

  • The flag of the United States has only 48 stars, as this short was made before Hawaii and Alaska were admitted to the Union (both in 1959). Also, this Pledge of Allegiance as recited by Porky does not yet include the phrase "under God" as that phrase was not added until 1954.
  • The original ending title card was cut from the original negative when the cartoon was re-released into the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies program 25 August 1945 during the 1944-45 season (evident from the style opening Color Rings used: orange rings with a black background) and again 12 September 1953 during the 1953-54 season (evident from the style opening rings used: orange rings with a blue background).
  • Since the cartoon was reissued in 1945 after Schlesinger sold the studio and retired, the second reissue retains the first reissue's ending card after the flag fades out. The version with the 1945 closing card can also be found on Volume 2 of the LaserDisc set The Golden Age of Looney Tunes.[4]
    • In 2004, the short was remastered for DVD on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2. While this copy retains the 1953-54 Blue Ribbon opening, it does, however, restore the original "The End" card fading in on the flag instead of a fade to black, with credit to Leon Schlesinger as producer. There are no Merrie Melodies rings at the end, or the words "That's All, Folks!", as in other shorts.
  • "Old Glory" is Jones's first short to feature Porky Pig. It is also Porky's first appearance in a color Merrie Melodie since his debut in 1935's "I Haven't Got a Hat". This was also his first short in three-color Technicolor, as the former was in two-color Technicolor.
  • During the late 1960s, "Old Glory" was regularly screened on the walls of rock clubs like the Fillmore East in New York City. Most patrons drew great amusement from a pig (or "cop" in 60s slang) saluting the American flag.[5]
  • "Old Glory" premiered at the famed Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles on 1 July 1939 - three days before Independence Day.
    • Ironically, while this short is very patriotic and American in nature, 1 July is traditionally Canada Day.
  • The animation in "Old Glory" is realistic and heavily rotoscoped, which is different from the usual Warner Bros. style. Director Chuck Jones was known for his Disney-like style during this period, and Schlesinger assigned him to make this cartoon for that reason. The scene with Patrick Henry saying his "Give Me Liberty" speech was rotoscoped from the Warner Bros. color 2-reel historical short, "Give Me Liberty", which won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject in 1936.
    • Some later cartoons, such as "Cross Country Detours" for example, also contain rotoscoped animation, albeit not as frequent as this short, and is used for brief visual gags only.
  • Unlike other Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, this is also the first Warner Bros. cartoon short that is not classified as comedy. In fact, it is focused on being educational. A few more were like this later on, such as "Yankee Doodle Bugs" (1954), "Daffy Duck for President" (2004), and cartoons produced for the Sloan Foundation such as "By Word of Mouse" (1954), "Heir-Conditioned" (1955) and "Yankee Dood It" (1956), although, unlike these later educational shorts where they had traces of humor here and there, Old Glory is an outright serious educational short with no elements of humor included at all.
  • The Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals tape print (which axes out the cartoon's opening rings) for some reason airs on the Polish TV channels TV Puls and Puls 2 as well as the Italian TV station Mediaset Italia 1,[6] which means that this is one of the very rare non-dubbed pre-1948 Looney Tunes cartoon airings on European networks after 1995, even though a European 1995 dubbed print does exist.
    • This cartoon's Cartoon Festivals tape print (which axes out the cartoon's opening rings) also airs on Cartoon Network/Boomerang Latin America and Tooncast,[7][dead link] alternately with the cartoon's USA 1995 dubbed version print.
  • This cartoon was shown in theatres with Naughty but Nice during its original release.
  • Vitaphone release number: 9239

Gallery[]

References[]

← Scalp Trouble Porky Pig Cartoons Porky's Picnic →
Porky Pig Cartoons
1935 I Haven't Got a HatGold Diggers of '49
1936 Plane DippyAlpine AnticsThe Phantom ShipBoom BoomThe Blow OutWestward WhoaFish TalesShanghaied ShipmatesPorky's PetPorky the Rain-MakerPorky's Poultry PlantPorky's Moving DayMilk and MoneyLittle Beau PorkyThe Village SmithyPorky in the North WoodsBoulevardier from the Bronx
1937 Porky the WrestlerPorky's Road RacePicador PorkyPorky's RomancePorky's Duck HuntPorky and GabbyPorky's BuildingPorky's Super ServicePorky's Badtime StoryPorky's RailroadGet Rich Quick PorkyPorky's GardenRover's RivalThe Case of the Stuttering PigPorky's Double TroublePorky's Hero Agency
1938 Porky's PoppaPorky at the CrocaderoWhat Price PorkyPorky's Phoney ExpressPorky's Five & TenPorky's Hare HuntInjun TroublePorky the FiremanPorky's PartyPorky's Spring PlantingPorky & DaffyWholly SmokePorky in WackylandPorky's Naughty NephewPorky in EgyptThe Daffy DocPorky the Gob
1939 The Lone Stranger and PorkyIt's an Ill WindPorky's Tire TroublePorky's Movie MysteryChicken JittersPorky and TeabiscuitKristopher Kolumbus Jr.Polar PalsScalp TroubleOld GloryPorky's PicnicWise QuacksPorky's HotelJeepers CreepersNaughty NeighborsPied Piper PorkyPorky the Giant KillerThe Film Fan
1940 Porky's Last StandAfrica SqueaksAli-Baba BoundPilgrim PorkySlap Happy PappyPorky's Poor FishYou Ought to Be in PicturesThe Chewin' BruinPorky's Baseball BroadcastPatient PorkyCalling Dr. PorkyPrehistoric PorkyThe Sour PussPorky's Hired HandThe Timid Toreador
1941 Porky's Snooze ReelPorky's Bear FactsPorky's PreviewPorky's AntA Coy DecoyPorky's Prize PonyMeet John DoughboyWe, the Animals - Squeak!The Henpecked DuckNotes to YouRobinson Crusoe Jr.Porky's Midnight MatineePorky's Pooch
1942 Porky's Pastry PiratesWho's Who in the ZooPorky's CafeAny Bonds Today?My Favorite Duck
1943 Confusions of a Nutzy SpyYankee Doodle DaffyPorky Pig's FeatA Corny Concerto
1944 Tom Turk and DaffyTick Tock TuckeredSwooner CroonerDuck Soup to NutsSlightly DaffyBrother Brat
1945 Trap Happy PorkyWagon Heels
1946 Baby BottleneckDaffy DoodlesKitty KorneredThe Great Piggy Bank RobberyMouse Menace
1947 One Meat BrawlLittle Orphan Airedale
1948 Daffy Duck Slept HereNothing but the ToothThe Pest That Came to DinnerRiff Raffy DaffyScaredy Cat
1949 Awful OrphanPorky ChopsPaying the PiperDaffy Duck HuntCurtain RazorOften an OrphanDough for the Do-DoBye, Bye Bluebeard
1950 Boobs in the WoodsThe Scarlet PumpernickelAn Egg ScrambleGolden YeggsThe DuckstersDog Collared
1951 The Wearing of the GrinDrip-Along DaffyThe Prize Pest
1952 Thumb FunCracked QuackFool Coverage
1953 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
1954 Claws for AlarmMy Little Duckaroo
1955 Jumpin' JupiterDime to Retire
1956 Rocket SquadDeduce, You Say
1957 Boston Quackie
1958 Robin Hood Daffy
1959 China Jones
1961 Daffy's Inn Trouble
1965 Corn on the Cop
1966 Mucho Locos
1980 Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
1996 Superior Duck
2004 My Generation G...G... Gap
Advertisement