''Old Glory'' is a 1939

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

cartoon directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

. The short was released on July 1, 1939, and stars

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created ma ...

. The cartoon was commissioned by Warner Bros. as a counterpart for a series of live-action films about American patriotism.

Plot

(voiced by

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

) attempts to learn the

Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

but becomes bored and falls asleep. In his dream,

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...

(voiced by John Deering) comes to life and teaches Porky about history from

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

through the midnight ride of

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to ale ...

(voiced by

Tedd Pierce Edward Stacey "Tedd" Pierce III (August 12, 1906 – February 19, 1972) was an American screenwriter and voice actor of animated cartoons, principally from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s. Biography Pierce was the son of a stockbroker, Samue ...

) and the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

to the expansion of the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, briefly alluding to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. Upon awakening, Porky snaps into a salute and recites the pledge as the

Flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rect ...

waves overhead.

Production

The animation in ''Old Glory'' is realistic and heavily

rotoscope Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced o ...

d, different from the usual Warner Bros. style. Director Chuck Jones was known for his

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

-like style during this period, and Schlesinger assigned him to make this cartoon for that reason. The scene with

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

(voiced by

John Litel John Beach Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. Early life Litel was born in Albany, Wisconsin. During World War I, he enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Ba ...

) saying his "

Give Me Liberty ''Give Me Liberty'' is an American four-issue comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics in 1990. It was created and written by Frank Miller and drawn by Dave Gibbons. The title of the series comes from a famous quotation by American ...

" speech was rotoscoped from the Warner Bros. color 2-reel historical short, ''

''. That short won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Short Subject - Color of 1936. Also rotoscoped were scenes from the live-action short ''

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

'' (1938). There were many different tones of colored inks used on the film. Uncle Sam has different tones on his hat, beard, face, and clothes. All the other characters were treated in a similar manner. There were many cels depicting the

in its stars and stripes. The film was produced during a heat wave in Los Angeles. Due to the lack of air conditioning at the studio, the production staff initially relied on two large fans to keep cool. They had to be pointed at the ceiling so that they did not blow cels and drawings across the room. Eventually production moved to night time, since the temperature dropped at night. ''Old Glory'' is Jones's first short to feature Porky Pig. It is also Porky's first appearance in a color ''Merrie Melodies'' entry since his debut in 1935's ''

I Haven't Got a Hat ''I Haven't Got a Hat'' is a 1935 animated short film, directed by Isadore Freleng for Leon Schlesinger Productions as part of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series. Released on March 2, 1935, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of sev ...

'', and his first short in three-strip Technicolor. Most Leon Schlesinger animated shorts were first screened at the Warner Bros. Theater at the

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

. This film was instead screened at the more prestigious

Carthay Circle Theatre The Carthay Circle Theatre was one of the most famous movie palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age. Located on San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, it opened in 1926 and was demolished in 1969. The auditorium itself was shaped in the f ...

. All animation studio employees were invited to attend. The film was screened alongside the live-action ''

Dark Victory ''Dark Victory'' is a 1939 American melodrama film directed by Edmund Goulding, starring Bette Davis, and featuring George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan, Henry Travers, and Cora Witherspoon. The screenplay by Casey ...

''.

Legacy

The original ending was cut when the cartoon was reissued as a Blue Ribbon ''Merrie Melodies'' short, in 1945 and 1953. A version with a restored ending can be found on the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'', '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1'' and ''Porky Pig 101''. This copy retains the ''Blue Ribbon'' opening, as well as the original opening shot of the flag and its music cue. During the late 1960s, ''Old Glory'' was regularly screened between

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

acts at

The Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Many of the Fillmore's patrons drew great amusement from a pig saluting the American flag, as "pig" in 1960s slang was, and remains, a derogatory term for a police officer and his saluting the flag was a symbol of the kind of America most people were against at the time.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Glory (1939 Film) 1939 films 1939 animated films Merrie Melodies short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones American Revolutionary War films Porky Pig films Films scored by Carl Stalling Rotoscoped films Cultural depictions of George Washington Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln Cultural depictions of Patrick Henry Cultural depictions of Paul Revere Animated films about animals Films about pigs 1930s educational films 1939 short films 1939 documentary films 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1930s English-language films American educational films