Porky question

[Rob]

I'm thinking I really ought to know this, but...

What was the first Porky cartoon that featured Mel Blanc as Porky's Voice? I know that Blanc's first ever cartoon was PICADOR PORKY for Avery, but not as Porky himself.

Also, what was the first use of Porky in the drum at the end?

[Nelson]

I believe the first time Mel Blanc provided the voice of Porky was in the 1937 cartoon, "Porky's Duck Hunt"

[J Lee]

Nelson's right about the first question. The answer to the second one is, the Porky "drum" ending (and Stalling's introduction of "The Merry Go Round Broke Down" as the title theme) debuted in 1937's "Rover's Rival."

The strange part about it is that while the cartoon was done by Bob Clampett, the animation of Porky looks like it came from the Avery unit -- Clampett and Jones were already using a rounder-faced Porky with less prominent ears when the cartoon was made, while the Porky animation on the end titles looks closer to Avery's design for the previous LT cartoon, "Porky's Garden." And it definitely isn't from Tashlin's unit, since he continued to use the squat, obese Porky through his first two cartoons featuring the new opening and closing titles.

Too bad the answer to which unit came up with the idea has never turned up in any of the books on WB animation I've seen.