Directed by Frank Tashlin, "Swooner Crooner" is an excellent Warner Bros. cartoon that takes place at a chicken farm/factory. The proprietor is Porky Pig, but he's not really the star of the picture. All of his hens are defense workers doing their part for the war effort; they show up to work every morning with their badges & lunch pails and punch in their time cards. Their job is simple: to lay eggs while being transported on a conveyor belt. But when a debonair popular-singing chicken arrives, the "young ladies" all leave their posts in order to become entranced by this one-of-a-kind hypnotist ("It's Frankie!!!"). The hens' "absenteeism" stops the whole operation, and Porky panics...until another vocalizing chicken named Bing shows up.
My favorite moments from "Swooner Crooner" include the following. Aside from the excellent caricature of the Bing Crosby chicken (Hawaiian shirt, hat, pipe, & voice), there are several well-made caricatures of other chickens that Porky auditions before he meets Bing: Nelson Eddy (singing "Mommy's Little Baby Loves Shortening Bread"), Al Jolson (singing "September in the Rain"), Jimmy Durante (singing "Lullaby of Broadway"), and Cab Calloway (singing "Blues in the Night"). Frankie's emaciated body disappears behind the microphone stand as the hens all scream in ecstasy, and the popular standard "As Time Goes By" causes all the hens to happily faint. Upon hearing Bing's vocalizations, one hen lays such a gigantic mountain of eggs that her henhouse actually rises upward on top of the egg structure!
"Swooner Crooner" may not exactly be the quintessential Hollywood caricature cartoon, but no matter; the chicken caricatures are quite good, and the songs are memorable. This cartoon is on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3, and for an added bonus, treat yourself to a very interesting audio commentary by music historian Daniel Goldmark.
My favorite moments from "Swooner Crooner" include the following. Aside from the excellent caricature of the Bing Crosby chicken (Hawaiian shirt, hat, pipe, & voice), there are several well-made caricatures of other chickens that Porky auditions before he meets Bing: Nelson Eddy (singing "Mommy's Little Baby Loves Shortening Bread"), Al Jolson (singing "September in the Rain"), Jimmy Durante (singing "Lullaby of Broadway"), and Cab Calloway (singing "Blues in the Night"). Frankie's emaciated body disappears behind the microphone stand as the hens all scream in ecstasy, and the popular standard "As Time Goes By" causes all the hens to happily faint. Upon hearing Bing's vocalizations, one hen lays such a gigantic mountain of eggs that her henhouse actually rises upward on top of the egg structure!
"Swooner Crooner" may not exactly be the quintessential Hollywood caricature cartoon, but no matter; the chicken caricatures are quite good, and the songs are memorable. This cartoon is on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3, and for an added bonus, treat yourself to a very interesting audio commentary by music historian Daniel Goldmark.