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Porky's Phoney Express is a 1938 Looney Tunes short directed by Cal Howard and Cal Dalton.

Title[]

The title is a play on a "pony express."

Plot[]

At a pony express department, several dogs are depositing their mail, and they're all being delivered by a dog riding on a horse, as a man screams, "There they go!"

The letters are given to a dog inside a mailing center, and he scatters them across different boxes reading, East, North, South and North. The letters fall to the other side of the mailing center, and a man vacuums then up. He then puts them in a bag. They are thrown inside a parachute, falling next to a dog on a horse. The dog picks up a phone and calls his horse asking him if they're ready. The two ride off.

Meanwhile in another part of the town, Porky is working at a mail depot. He is sweeping the floors, when his boss gives him a call and asks him to lick the letter he had. Porky suggests to his boss that he should be riding the mail, but he laughs at that idea. He responds back with, "No," and this angers Porky, and he pretends to ride a horse while delivering the mail. This makes Porky's boss angry and he tells him to "cut it out."

Outside of the building, the dog and his horse arrive at the Pony Express Office. He comes to tell the boss that he's having a hard time getting past the Indians. The boss tells him that it's important as it supposed to go to Red Gulch, and they haven't had mail in weeks. The boss ponders what to do. He passes some horseshoes, and they give him an idea. He decides that he will send out Porky to use as a stool pigeon in an attempt to get the Indians distracted.

Porky is dusting up, when he hears his boss call him. He walks over furiously, however that changes to excitement when his boss tells him that he's going to be the one to deliver the mail. After Porky leaves, the boss and the other riders laugh themselves silly, to the point where all of the horseshoes in their bag falls out.

Porky goes outside and gets on a horse with the mail in hand. He and the horse take off.

Hiding and watching from rocks are some Indians. The Indians notice porky, and one of them moves between the rocks like a snake. Another one is scratching his back when he notices Porky on the road. He calls for an Indian taxi and asks it to "Follow that horse!"

As Porky is riding, Indian arrows start firing everywhere. Porky and the horse are pursued by Indians. They run, but get stuck in the mud. Eventually a shot from an arrow is able to free Porky and the horse from the mud. Porky fires a gun, but it backfires and sends Porky back and forth.

A cross-eyed Indian with a question mark on his shirt shoots his own horse in the back of its head, and it gives its rider a nasty look. An Indian on a bicycle throws a tomahawk at Porky, but hits the mail bag so the letters fall out. Porky rides back and catches them with a net, but the Indians are still on Porky's tail, so Porky turns around again and heads for town. The same incompetent Indian shoots his own horse again, and it gives its rider an even nastier look. Another Indian takes a shot a Porky, and a baby in a cradleboard gives him another arrow to reload with and after that shot, keeps score.

The same incompetent Indian shoots his own horse a third time, and his horse gives him the most angered look; this time, the horse has had enough of his rider's mistakes and incompetence and stops to throw his rider down and flexes his muscles after doing so. Porky is eventually able to see the town which his horse begins baseball sliding into. The Indians, seeing the town limit line and its "Red Gulch City Limits No Injuns" sign, brake immediately as Porky's horse slides into town, safe from the furious Indians who aren't allowed to enter the town limits as they gripe in defeat on the city limit line and everybody treats Porky like a hero.

The roles are now reversed as Porky is now running the pony express service. He calls his boy, his original boss, over. He asks him to lick the letter and then pushes him aside.

Availability[]

Notes[]

  • Because the plot deals with Native Americans in its second half prominently, this short rarely airs on American television today.
  • This is the first cartoon that was directed by Cal Dalton and Cal Howard, as Friz Freleng has left Warner Bros. at the time to work at MGM. Cal Howard would only direct two more cartoons after this before being replaced by Ben Hardaway (being "Katnip Kollege" and "A-Lad-In Bagdad"), while Cal Dalton would remain as co-director until Freleng returned in 1940.
  • This cartoon was shown in theatres with He Couldn't Say No during its original release.
  • This film was copyrighted on 31 December 1937.[2]
  • The animation of the Native Americans riding on horses and chasing Porky, who was off-screen during that scene, was reused in "Scalp Trouble."

Gallery[]

References[]


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
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