5 Fun Facts About ‘Looney Tunes’ Star Porky Pig to Celebrate His New Movie ‘The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie’
Porky Pig was created by director Friz Freleng and developed and animated by Bob Clampett. The head of Warner Bros. Studios, Leon Schlesinger, suggested to Freleng that he create a cartoon version of Our Gang films and that’s where the inspiration for Porky first began. He was introduced in the 100th Looney Tunes short called I Haven’t Got a Hat on March 2, 1935. While Porky had a minor role, he quickly became a fan favorite and was put in other shorts and films. In honor of our favorite little pig, let’s learn some other interesting facts about him.
1 The origin of Porky Pig
Everett Collection
While his name might seem quite obvious, it was actually inspired by classmates of Looney Tunes director Friz Freleng. He recalled knowing two brothers when he was a kid who had nicknames of “Porky” and “Piggy” respectively. The nicknames must have stuck into Freleng’s brain for quite some time and became the inspiration for the name of the new pig character.
2 The original voice actor had a stutter too
Everett Collection
Porky Pig is known for his stuttering voice and his catchphrase, “Th-th-th-th that’s all folks.” Turns out that they wanted the little pig to have a stutter, so they hired original voice actor Joe Dougherty, who already had a stutter. Unfortunately, it became more and more difficult for Dougherty to speak over the years and for the studio to do so many takes that Mel Blanc eventually took over Porky’s voice.
3 Blooper with curse words
Ketchup Entertainment/Everett Collection
In 1939, a short black-and-white blooper was made that was eventually shown on the Warner Bros. 50th Anniversary TV show. In the clip, Porky is pounding nails and doing carpentry work when he accidentally gets his thumb with the hammer. He says, “Oh, son of a bi-bi-, son of a bi-bi-, son of a bi-bi-bi-… gun!” He turns to the camera and asks the audience if they actually thought he would say “son of a bitch,” accidentally saying the words in the process.
4 There have been 12 voice actors playing Porky the Pig over the years
Everett Collection
While Dougherty was the original voice actor, with Blanc taking over before his death in 1989, there were several others who voiced the role too, including Count Cutelli, Jeff Bergman, Noel Blanc, Rob Paulsen, Bob Bergen, Joe Alaskey, Greg Burson, Eric Goldberg, Billy West and most recently Bauza. Do you have a favorite?
5 What’s his full name?
Warner Bros./Everett Collection
In the 1936 short called Plane Dippy, Porky says that his full name is Porky Cornelius Washington Otis Lincoln Abner Aloysius Casper Jefferson Philbert Horatius Narcissus Pig. That’s a mouthful! However, in a Looney Tunes Cartoons short called A Skate of Confusion!, he says his name is Bartholomew J. Pig. Which do you believe?
Porky Pig can now be seen in his first full-length movie now too!
Remind 
Kid Stuff
June 2018
Unleash your inner child by reliving your favorite kids TV shows, cartoons, toys and more!
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