Awful Orphan (1949) User Reviews

Ah, The Benefits Of A Dog Over A Bird

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 3 February 2007]

A dog is out on the street advertising the world's greatest thing - himself! However, there are no takers, so he jumps into the "Acme Pet Shop" truck. The next thing we see is Porky Pig answered his door and getting a draped bird cage. He's excited as he ordered a canary, a pet he's been looking forward to receiving. When he pulls down the cover, there's the dog squeezed into the cage!

Porky calls the pet shop to complain but the dog has already severed the phone wires and is pretending to be the pet shop owner, extolling the virtues of a dog and calling Porky a lucky man to have such a pet. Porky grabs the dog and escorts him out of the house. The dog quickly re-enters saying, "You don't have a pet, and I don't have a master. It's inevitable that we should be together." He continues the sales pitch, telling him how much better he is than a canary.

Porky keeps kicking him out , and the dog (a pointer whose idea of pointing is saying, "There it is!") keeps returning.....in a bunch of disguises that are very clever and very humorous. Porky doesn't fall for any of them. This was much funnier than I'm making it sound - a solid animated short.

P.S. The ending is diabolically bizarre.

Aw, shucks

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 8/10 · 19 October 2004]

Honestly, who in their right mind would turn down Charlie Dog? He's so cute and lovable. And his desperation to be loved as much as he loves back just makes him even cuter. I would love to Charlie Dog as my pet. Why does Porky Pig feel such a strong resentment towards him? You guess is as good as mine.

After Charlie stowaways in a bird cage to infiltrate Porky's apartment this get out of control. The usual game of cat and mouse (or dog and pig) follows as Charlie takes to increasingly insane measures to prove to Porky that he's a loyal and trustworthy pet, far better than any bird. Unfortunately it doesn't work out in the end.

But Charlie, I'll have you any time you want.

A funny but somehow unsatisfactory cartoon

[phantom_tollbooth · 6/10 · 18 August 2008]

Chuck Jones's 'The Awful Orphan' features one of the lesser known recurring characters in the Warner Bros. repertoire; Charlie Dog. Unlike the more unusual antics of lesser known characters like Hubie and Bertie or The Goofy Gophers, Charlie's gimmick is heckling in the classic Warner tradition. However, unlike the unprovoked anarchy of early Daffy Duck or the justice-meting of Bugs Bunny, Charlie's heckling is given a bittersweet edge by the fact it is motivated by his homelessness. In 'The Awful Orphan', he attempts to persuade an unusually hot-headed Porky Pig into adopting him. Charlie is a fairly likable character but you also feel for Porky as his home is invaded by the smart-alecky mutt. Still, much of what Charlie puts Porky through is very funny indeed. The jokes in this cartoon, while mostly falling short of riotous, are largely unpredictable and amusing. Only a nonsensical gag involving a stack of mattresses misfires. For all its rib-tickling gags, however, 'The Awful Orphan' leaves me feeling a little unsatisfied, probably due to the fact it is almost entirely set in a bland apartment which means it is less that exciting to look at, unlike many of Jones' sumptuous creations. It's always interesting to see one of these less frequently shown Charlie Dog cartoons and I always enjoy them but when they're over I can't help but conclude that it's easy to see why he never became as big a star as his contemporaries.

not awful at all

[movieman_kev · 24 November 2004]

Porky Pig orders a bird from the local animal shelter, and the deliveryman gives him a birdcage with a blanket over it, but when he lifts up the sheet over the birdcage there's Charlie Dog smooshed in the cage. What follows is an amusing game of cat and mouse that's akin to Tom and Jerry, but in this case Dog and Pig that pushes the put upon pig pass the breaking point. A funny short, if not an exactly memorable one. But I did enjoy it and some of the gags are pretty damn funny, if i do say so myself. This funny cartoon can be found on Disk 3 of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1" (which you should buy NOW, if you still don't own it)

My Grade: B

Porky Pig continues his career as a . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 24 January 2016]

. . . born loser, looking a gift dog in the mouth and not seeing the forest for the teeth as Warner Bros.' animated short THE AWFUL ORPHAN Unspools. Sometimes a person might have a legitimate reason to kill the goose laying golden eggs. Gold is pretty heavy, and goose eggs are fairly large, so if this potentially lucrative goose nest is perched five or ten feet above the only place you or your child can rest their head, offing the dangerous fowl might be more of a case of self-defense than one of poor financial planning. On the other hand, when a talking dog falls into your lap, especially a canine fluent in English, you'd be nuts to shoo him away, right? But that's exactly what Porky Pig does, since Porky lacks any sense of showmanship. Even when this gifted mutt proves himself to be in possession of genii-like qualities, such as conjuring a stack of 650 bed mattresses outside Porky's high-rise window or making a round trip from America to Siberia in less than 10 seconds, Porky tries to reject his Good Fortune. Despite his would-be pet's talent as a song-and-dance dog, Porky just can't wait to get back to his boring bachelor solitude. It all makes you think that if pigs could fly, they'd flock to bookkeeping school.

how to hound someone

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 20 December 2006]

More of wise guy mutt Charlie Dog trying to get Porky Pig to adopt him, with Porky getting progressively more irritated. "Awful Orphan" isn't much that we wouldn't expect, but always great to see. In my opinion, the best scenes in the Charlie Dog cartoons are what happens after Porky sends him to another part of the world, in this case Siberia (it looks like even the Termite Terrace crowd had to jump on the Cold War bandwagon, if only lightly).

Anyway, it's a nice, funny way to pass time. Life will never get old as long as we have these cartoons. It's a good thing that I'm watching this when I'm old enough to get the jokes (as a six-year-old child, I wouldn't have known about Siberia).

The Dog Is Satanic

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 30 July 2019]

Porky's efforts to do the right thing result in his being dismantled by an ungrateful hound. The dog is horrible. He smashes things, eats all the food, just terrorizing the place and disrespecting the guy who has shown him kindness. I always thought the ending was empty. On second viewing, I was right.

Awful Orphan is a really funny Porky Pig-Charlie Dog cartoon

[tavm · 10/10 · 8 January 2008]

This is one of several cartoons starring Porky Pig and directed by Chuck Jones that also stars Charlie Dog who is always trying to get Porky to accept him as a pet with the pig always refusing. Love hearing Mel Blanc give Porky a really evil laugh whenever he tries to get rid of Charlie. Also love many of the disguises of Charlie and one of Porky. But Charlie always comes back, more obnoxious than ever! Plenty of hilarious visual gags and the turnaround at the end was really funny. Writer Michael Maltese really outdid himself this time. This is on disc 3 of The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 1. Well worth seeing for animation fans especially the Warner Bros. kind.

Better than I expected

[archiveguy · 8/10 · 22 October 2000]

I've never been a big fan of the overbearing Charlie, but here the interplay with Porky works very well, with plenty of funny moments and an inventiveness you can always rely on from Jones. "There it is! There it is! There it is!"

Better than a ham sandwich:)

[turkam · 8/10 · 21 January 2003]

I must admit that Porky Pig has not been one of my favorite Looney Tunes character. I always prefered his nemesis (well everyone's nemesis) Daffy Duck, but he has grown on me in recent years. It is odd how like comic books, some of the best Looney Tunes are ones with only one character in the limelight- though that is certainly not always the case. But, I like the simplicity of this toon, and I love how it bears resemblance to the Tom and Jerry toons. Very good one. Thhhhat's All Folks. Sorry, I couldn't resist:)

An excellent pig/dog conflict

[slymusic · 11 January 2006]

Porky Pig asks the Acme Pet Shop to deliver him a canary, and instead he receives an obnoxious, playful dog who causes nothing but misery for him. From here on, all Porky wants to do is get rid of the dog to maintain peace in his apartment, but no matter how hard Porky tries, the dog will not go away. And that is the basic plot for "Awful Orphan," a fun, entertaining cartoon directed by Chuck Jones.

My favorite gags in this short are the following (DO NOT read any further until after you see it): The ubiquitous dog proves himself to be a pointer by actually pointing a finger in certain directions and saying, "Dere it is!" Porky then points to the door, says "Dere it is," and literally kicks the dog out! Later on, Porky quickly wraps the dog up and mails him off to Siberia. Believing that he is finally rid of the pesty dog once and for all, Porky realizes he is mistaken when the dog returns in a Russian military outfit & busby hat and greets Porky in a thick Russian accent. (Of course, no other voice artist could do accents as hilariously as Mel Blanc could.) The dog then dances a lively jig and repeatedly kicks Porky in time to the music. And during the film's opening credits, thanks to the musical genius of Carl Stalling, we hear one of my favorite songs, "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby."

"Awful Orphan" is definitely a cartoon that supplies a great deal of laughter. It might not be too difficult to feel sorry for Porky, but he at least does get his revenge in the end.

Cartoons cartoons cartoons!

[cartoonnewsCP · 10/10 · 25 June 2016]

Charlie starts the cartoon by a gathering of people around him.

The card says: Attention, look! You should have it in your home.

It's colossal! It's stupendous! What is this great boon to mankind? It's me! LOL that's so funny. Some of my SAT vocabulary is in there. Great way to learn SAT vocab is to watch Looney Tunes there's always a few in there.

The angry crowd leaves and Charlie hops into a pet shop truck.

We see Porky at his hotel getting the bird cage but finds out that there is a dog inside. He tries calling the bird store but Charlie broke the cords and is pretending to be the store owner. Porky kicks him out, but he comes back in by opening the door and coming in through the top window.

Charlie then tries to leave and he "commits suicide", Porky sees him on mattresses and gets angry.

Porky then tells Charlie that he can have his own dog cage, then evilly wraps him in the package and mails it to Siberia, Russia. Charlie returns and kicks Porky in the butt. The man from upstairs calls and Charlie threatens him. The man beating Porky as a result, throws him back to Charlie. Porky says he acquiesces to Charlie and he can stay, but Charlie debates on it and decides to go elsewhere.

Porky then has a change in personality and begins to laugh manically and saying "I'm getting to like you".

The last scene concludes with Charlie sitting in the couch and Porky on the floor sleeping. Charlie tries to escape, but Porky sees him and growls. Charlie is very scared now as the cartoon irises out.

It is available on the Golden Collection Disc 3 #5 as a low pitch cartoon with the blue ribbon from 1957-58.

10/10 I like the ending.

One of the better Porky cartoons.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 1 June 2014]

"Awful Orphan" is a very funny cartoon that features a very needy dog who is begging to be adopted. When this doesn't work, he decides to force himself on Porky and MAKE the pig adopt him! But Porky has no interest and he just wants to be left alone. Too bad the dog just won't take a hint and again and again, he tries various schemes to get Porky to take him. How all this ends is pretty clever, as Porky loses his mind and gives the dog a taste of his own medicine.

It's nice to see that after well over a decade of Porky cartoons that they still had some original ideas--and "Awful Orphan" is packed with originality and laughs. Not a great Warner Brothers cartoon, but a very good one.

"You're gonna stay-uh-stay all right. I'm-I'm getting' to like you"

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 12 June 2016]

Having been practically raised on Looney Tunes, several of them still hold up as classics or close. Porky is a good character if not one of my favourites, being more effective when partnered with a stronger character like Daffy.

While not quite one my favourite Looney Tunes cartoons or quite classic Chuck Jones, 'Awful Orphan' is still a wonderful cartoon and one of Porky's best. The only thing for me that didn't work was the stack of mattresses gag, that was very rushed, not very inventive or funny and it was pretty...dumb, actually.

Everything else in 'Awful Orphan' works wonders though. The animation is very good, even though the action is mostly restricted to a room of an apartment it's all beautifully drawn and vibrantly coloured with lavish detailed backgrounds and distinctively Chuck Jones-style character designs. Carl Stalling's music score is outstanding, it's lushly and cleverly orchestrated, very lively rhythmically and full of character and it adds enormously to what's going on and contributes towards the effectiveness actually of some of the gags, the rousing bombastic energy in the Russian Cossack disguise gag in particular.

'Awful Orphan' is incredibly funny and often hilarious. There is the usual sharpness and wit in the dialogue, Charlie has the funniest lines but Porky has the most memorable. The gags, with the sole exception of one, are inventive, brilliantly timed and range from highly amusing to hilarious, the highlights being Charlie's granny and Russian Cossack disguises and the wonderfully bizarre ending. The story is not much new, but with it being so well paced and the chemistry between Porky and Charlie delighting as much as it did that wasn't an issue at all.

Both Porky and Charlie make a great impression here, and their chemistry is a delight. Sure, Porky being nastier than usual (he's quite violent here and quite deranged even at the end) but he's amusing too and it was nice to see him more interesting than usual. Charlie practically steals the show from under him, he's overbearing but that's essential to the two characters' conflict and it works wonderfully well, some of the funniest lines come from him and he relishes it and his physical comedy and disguises are equally great, making one wonder as to why he wasn't more popular. Mel Blanc as always is superb, especially as Charlie.

Overall, wonderful Porky Pig and Charlie Dog cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Merrie Melodies

[Michael_Elliott · 19 April 2009]

Awful Orphan (1949)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Classic Merrie Melodies short has Porky Pig being taken over by an orphan dog looking for a master. No matter what Porky tries the dog keeps coming back and getting on his nerves even more. I think this here is one of the better known shorts from the series and it's certainly hard to resist its charm. Porky gets to do all sorts of great things and you can't help but feel sorry for him as this dog drives him nuts. It's also nice to see Porky flip out at the end and it can't help but remind you of Daffy whenever he goes off the deep end. The vocal work on the dog is priceless and also very fun. One of the best scenes in the movie has Porky packing the dog up and ready to ship him to Siberia.