DYN in "Porky's Pooch"

[AndrewGilmore]

In going through the Clampett disc on the new Golden Collection, I was surprised by just how many radio references Clampett featured- he seems to have used radio gags and characters more often than any other director. Bearing that in mind, I was surprised when I watched "Porky's Pooch" today for the first time in years and noticed the resteraunt in the opening scene is entitled Nick Dapopolis' All-American Grill, yet another radio reference, and quite an obscure one!
Nick Depopoulous (the "official" spelling of the name) was a character featured in the early years of "Fibber McGee and Molly"- a Greek resteraunteur who spoke in particularly dense malaprops, voiced by none other than Bill "Droopy" Thompson. The character was introduced in 1936 (the second year of FM&M's run) and was featured in most every show from late 1937 until around early 1942, at which time the show's writer, Don Quinn, must have become tired of the character and consequently made Nick disappear with no explanation. I was surprised to see a reference to him in "Porky's Pooch", as it is the only time I'm aware of that the character was referred to in any other medium. It's especially interesting because, while the character would have certainly been well-known by the time the cartoon was released, he was appearing less frequently on FM&M and seemed to be waning in popularity by 1941.

[Cartman]

Another interesting thing about that cartoon is that the backgrounds were photographs.

[Bugsy-Kun]

The title card of this cartoon make me blind. :p
It's the only cartoon in history to made with real photos.

[Matthew Hunter]

The title card of this cartoon make me blind. :p
It's the only cartoon in history to made with real photos.

not quite..."Eatin' on the Cuff" used photos in a couple scenes as well!

[Fibber Fox]

. The character was introduced in 1936 (the second year of FM&M's run) and was featured in most every show from late 1937 until around early 1942, at which time the show's writer, Don Quinn, must have become tired of the character and consequently made Nick disappear with no explanation.

Was that when Bill Thompson went into the military or before? And did he drop Horatio K. Boomer at the same time?

F. Fox

[AndrewGilmore]

Was that when Bill Thompson went into the military or before? And did he drop Horatio K. Boomer at the same time?

F. Fox

You know your FM&M history, Foxy!

(That's funny..I was listening to FM&M as I'm writing this, and the second I started to write, Nick Depopoulous appeared on the episode I'm listening to!)

Yes, Nick and Boomer were both dropped around the same time, late '41 to early '42, which was close to two years before Thompson went into the Navy (he was in the Navy from September of '43 to January of '46). Interestingly, Boomer made an appearance in February of '42 after a long absence but received a rather meager round of applause, perhaps indicating that Quinn was correct to remove a character who wasn't that popular with the audience. Besides, by that time he had created characters like Wallace Wimple and Mayor LaTrivia to replace them.

[Ray Pointer]

The title card of this cartoon make me blind. :p
It's the only cartoon in history to made with real photos.

Nope. nope, NOPE! :p There were cartoons made before 1940, remember? Several early cartoons of the Silent Era used still photos for backgrounds including THE GROUCH CHASER series, some early FELIX and Bray cartoons. The most famous of these were the first OUT OF THE INKWELL films made there by Max Fleischer as early as 1918. The photos were used to composite the clown with "reality." And since they were 25% animated, this might count as being among the first to do this.

[dandu]

Another interesting thing about that cartoon is that the backgrounds were photographs.

Really...in my COLOR copy the backgrounds look plain to me! :rolleyes: :p

[Tom Stathes]

Nope. nope, NOPE! :p There were cartoons made before 1940, remember? Several early cartoons of the Silent Era used still photos for backgrounds including THE GROUCH CHASER series, some early FELIX and Bray cartoons. The most famous of these were the first OUT OF THE INKWELL films made there by Max Fleischer as early as 1918. The photos were used to composite the clown with "reality." And since they were 25% animated, this might count as being among the first to do this.
Well said, Ray. Other series included Roving Thomas [Cat] and in terms of Bray, pretty much most of the Lantz output from 1923-1927 utilized live-action and still photography in conjunction with the animated characters and segments.

[Nick]

The title card of this cartoon make me blind. :p
It's the only cartoon in history to made with real photos. Don't forget "You Ought To Be In Pictures", in the scenes where the characters aren't interacting with live action humans.

[larriva9/11]

Hey, and don't forget Senor Droopy...