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The Timid Toreador is a 1940 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert Clampett and Norman McCabe.

Plot[]

In a Mexican town, there are happy townspeople all around. Inside the bar, there are three Mexican singers. An old lady is washing some underwear at a nearby fountain. She beats it up, but the underwear beats her back and dives into the water.

Then along comes Porky with a box of hot tamales. He's making his rounds and took a brief break. While taking a break, a chicken who was pecking nearby, eyes the box of tamales, opens it up and partakes in one. The chicken swallows it up whole. Unfortunately, the tamale is so hot, that it turns her into a roast chicken. Naturally, Porky is not pleased with what happened, so he takes back the box, and continues on his way.

Later, a bull fight is starting. A spectator is angry over a sombrero of an upfront spectator abstracting his view. So he takes a pin, pokes the sombrero, and it deflates, allowing the angry spectator to enjoy the bull fight. It begins with the introduction of a matador named Ponchi Pancho, and a bull named Slapsie Maxie Rosenbull. When the bell sounds, the matador flaps his cape and Slapsie charges into the matador. At first, he admires Ponchi's cape, but then he takes it from him. Ponchi screams and runs away with Slapsie giving chase. As the bull fight announcer announces whats going on, Ponchi makes it to a bullseye fence and Slapsie hits it. He hits it so hard, that a spectator in the ring laughs and laughs and laughs. Naturally, Slapsie is not happy with the spectator sense of humor, so he chalks up his horn and charges into him. The spectator had since become a centaur.

Later, Porky accidentally arrives in the ring. Slapsie is still chasing Ponchi, but somehow stops chasing him and guns for Porky instead. Porky at first thought the mad bull is his next customer, but has quickly got the message and runs to a nearby sword. But the sword droops and Porky runs for his life. They chase around the ring. Porky reaches the middle and when he sees the bull, Porky digs into the ground, out of harm's way. Porky emerges out of the hole and tries to escape, but Slapsie blocks his exit. Slapsie is about to do Porky harm, when he sniffs the tamales. So he takes the box away from Porky, admires them, and eats nearly the whole box. But the tamales are so hot that Slapsie holds his mouth, coughs and runs like heck. He charges himself out of the ring, possibly never to be seen again. Meanwhile, Porky is worshiped for defeating the bull. The spectators lavish Porky with hats, and when a small derby lands on his head, he imitates Oliver Hardy.

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

  • This was the first cartoon to be directed by Norman McCabe, although it was also directed by Bob Clampett.
  • This was the one of the only two cartoons that were directed by both Bob Clampett and Norman McCabe, the other one being "Porky's Snooze Reel" a year after.
    • Since Bob Clampett was briefly sick, leaving two Porky Pig cartoons, "The Timid Toreador" and "Porky's Snooze Reel", unfinished, Leon Schlesinger told Norman McCabe to complete the directorial duties, hence the co-director credit under their main titles.
  • This is the second cartoon in which Porky bullfights, the first being "Picador Porky".
  • The shot of the crowd throwing their sombreros in the air is recycled from "Little Pancho Vanilla". In addition, Porky's Oliver Hardy impression is recycled from footage of an unrelated character in "The CooCoo Nut Grove".
  • The hat-shaped “The Brown Sombrero” cantina is a reference to the original Brown Derby restaurant, also hat-shaped, located on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, CA.
  • The “Contented Cows” cheering section is a reference to the ad slogan “from contented cows”, used by Carnation Evaporated Milk.
  • This cartoon entered the public domain in 1968 as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts did not renew the copyright.
  • In the Kit Parker Films print of the hand drawn colorized version, the cartoon opens with the a.a.p. titles and the 1944 Looney Tunes opening from "Tom Turk and Daffy", then splices to the second half of the 1968 W7 Looney Tunes opening sequence. It ends with the 1959-1964 Looney Tunes end title card.[1]
  • Some prints of the cartoon, including the version aired on MeTV, use the 1937-38 variant of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" instead of the correct 1938-41 version.
  • MeTV aired a previously unreleased restored print of this cartoon on Saturday Morning Cartoons and Toon In With Me. However, this restored version has a botched opening sequence, with the "Warner Bros. Present" being present at the start of the opening sequence instead of fading in, and the Looney Tunes title card appearing too early.

Gallery[]

External Links[]

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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