A Cob Blampett Cartoon

In a way, there are two sets of credits in Prehistoric Porky (1940). There are the ones at the beginning of the cartoon.



Then, as an inside gag, members of Bob Clampett’s unit are spoonerised on a drawing in “Expire” magazine.



Someone will know the answer to this. I don’t know who “Ray Blouse” is supposed to be, other than Ray Katz. The names below are Dick Thomas, Dave Hoffman, John Carey, Vive Risto, Bob Clampett, Warren Foster, Tubby Millar and then a surprising one: is that supposed to be George Gordon? Wasn’t he at MGM at the time? Or did the studio have a George Jordan?

Porky’s hand covers the next names, but I suspect they are Norm McCabe, Sid Farron, unknown (Rollie Hamilton?), Herman Cohen and Mary Tebb.

According to the May 13, 1940 edition of the Exposure Sheet, the studio newsletter, Clampett’s unit also included Lu Guarnier, Seymour Slosburg, Izzy Ellis, John H. (Jock) MacLachlan, Bill Oberlin and Pete Alvarado, along with Selma Fleishman. There are other names in other issues. Whether Tolly Kirsanoff was in the unit around this time, I don’t know. He was in mid-1939.

There are some very good visuals and layouts in this cartoon, and I like Thomas’ background work.

Being a Clampett cartoon, there are radio references (a vulture turns into Jerry Colonna, another is hit with rocks making noises reminiscent of the NBC chimes) and a movie star reference (the second vulture sounds like Ned Sparks; both are voiced by Mel Blanc).

The ending is a cliché Jewish line and gesture, but Blanc uses a regular voice, avoiding sounding like he came from the Garment District.