#fuck everyone that thinks pocahontas is positive representation

[ducktracy]

So I was wondering if you could give some details as to why you like specifically porky and daffy as characters? Like, is there a reason they are your favorite? Just curious.

*cracks knuckles* it’s 1 am so you bet i’m going to go off. i’m so happy you asked! one day i think i’ll do a formal analysis on this, but for now you’ll have to bear with this.

in terms of individual characters, meaning why i like them as individual characters: i grew up my whole life thinking daffy was a greedy, miserable miser, and for that reason i hated him as a kid because he was so grouchy. discovering he used to be this happy go lucky, optimistic, loud, crazy screwball SHOCKED ME to my core. i had NO idea this side of him existed (even though i had watched shorts of this side as a kid--book revue i remember vividly watching as a kid, and he’s pretty… interesting in that to say the least). i checked out more shorts and essentially i love him because he’s my type of character. i LOVE the obnoxious, overly optimistic (i wouldn’t call him overly optimistic, but you get the gist hopefully), energetic, slightly crazy characters. they’re my FAVORITE because i resonate with them the most. i think i love daffy so much because i resonate with him the most, i share his over-enthusiasm and lack of volume control, and he’s just plain FUN TO WATCH. i’ve increasingly warmed up to his greedy, miserly personality as well. i just love him a lot to the point where i get REALLY excited whenever i see him.

as for porky, i NEVER thought he would be one of my favorites. when i first got into this, i was really curious about bob clampett and decided i would watch all of his cartoons chronologically. when i saw i had to wade my way through a bunch of black and white porky pig cartoons i was DREADING it because who the fuck cares about porky pig, the world’s most boring cartoon character. turns out i give many fucks LOL. he’s not nearly as boring as he seems! he has a lot of sides to him. i like watching the 30s cartoons where he’s a cute, optimistic fella who kinda bumbles his way through things. he’s very endearing and his positivity is infectious. so it’s just as funny seeing how much of a raging temper he has, too. i never thought he’d give yosemite sam a run for his money on the most violent character, but here he is wielding axes and guns and what have you, talking about how he’s going to blow multiple people’s heads off LOL. i just have REALLY come to appreciate him a lot, it’s hard to explain. 

as for the two together… as i said, i’ll write a formal analysis on it someday (lord knows i have time on my hands now LOL), but the two have SUCHHHH great chemistry. they’re so interesting because they’re literally the only two looney tunes characters who get along.

the only other friendship i can think of are ralph wolf and sam sheepdog, but that friendship is a gag. the entire point of their friendship is for a laugh, everyone knows “mornin’, ralph.” “mornin’, sam.” it’s a friendship, but nothing more. it’s played for laughs. with porky and daffy, there’s a sense of genuinity to their friendship. there are lots of examples i could use, but the one i think of most is from a 1939 cartoon called scalp trouble (not good aside from the porky/daffy moments, it’s pretty racist). there’s a part where daffy marches out onto this saber that’s planted into the ground. the saber smacks porky in the face and sends him flying, where he’s propelled back and crashes into daffy. daffy’s in his arms and looks at him bashfully and goes “gosh, i didn’t know you cared!” they embrace and it fades out. there’s definitely a sense of sardonism in there, but watching the scene it comes off as very genuine, especially with the fade out instead of just transitioning. 

they work VERY well as a team together. porky pig’s feat is one of my favorite cartoons of all time. in it, porky and daffy stay at a hotel, and their bill is ridiculously expensive. daffy gambles away all their money, so they have to work together to escape from the snobby, persistent hotel manager who inevitably locks them in. the dynamic doesn’t feel strained, there’s a genuine sense of camaraderie, they work together, porky follows daffy’s lead, etc. it’s hard to put into words, and it’s best to watch the cartoon yourself, but there’s no air of sarcasm to it at all, no “hey! these foes are working together, would ya look at that!” it’s a genuine companionship.

furthermore, their personalities are SO different. i love daffy and bugs as much as the next person, but they’re too similar to me. both have very bold personalities, and you ALWAYS know that daffy is going to lose. daffy’s going to get mad at bugs, who plays it cool, daffy gets pissed, fucks up, loses, cartoon’s over. it’s a cycle. with porky and daffy, both are the winner. both are the loser. and there are so many ways to pair them up. porky is the hunter, trying to shoot a duck for dinner. daffy pesters an oblivious porky who falls victim to daffy’s schemes because of his big heart and gullibility. porky and daffy run a business together, and daffy’s lunacy causes chaos. porky and daffy team up to defeat a foe. sometimes daffy wins, heckling porky out of his wits, sometimes porky wins (usually by means of violence), sometimes neither win. there’s such an air of unpredictability.

not to mention, there are a LOTTTTTTTTTT of moments that porky and daffy have together that i feel would be talked about so much more so if it were daffy and bugs instead. daffy calls porky a “cherub” on a few occassions, even asks him out (and implies he wants to marry and have kids with him in the same cartoon… unfortunately that part’s not a great example, seeing as daffy heckles porky pretending to be pocahontas… you can fill in the gaps), porky has been shown to reciprocate the feelings a few rare moments (often a joke though, but that’s kinda something you just already accept in the back of your mind. 1930s-1960s cartoons aren’t going to be your best bet for good representation), kissing gags galore. 

there’s so much more i could say about this but it’s 1:30 AM and proper words escape me… but i hope this gives you an idea! i’ll be happy to infodump on ya if you’re ever curious for more :)