. . . this animated Looney Tunes short released by Warner Bros. in the 1940s could go a long way toward fleshing out that dire Another Dimensional possibility. Sid Squirrel doesn't even merit a name on Wikipedia's Master Compendium spreadsheet of all things Looney Tunes (unlike "Michigan J. Frog," whose lone appearance in ONE FROGGY NIGHT will live forever in cartoon infamy). Perhaps this also is Sid's only Looney Tunes role (though I cannot say for sure, as I have seen just 200 or so of Warner's 1,039 classic shorts). Suffice it to say that Sid hails from Brooklyn, and is a huge Dodgers fan (with no inkling that his team will desert him for greener pastures within a decade). Here, Sid is vacationing high in the Last Tree Standing on a woodlot Porky Pig is clear-cutting (or "pork-chopping," if he's working as a government contractor). Taking offense to Porky's efforts, Sid affects Bugs' accents and clothing styles as he rivets a metal girdle around "his" tree, breaking 11 of Porky's axes, driving the porker to resort to firearms and dynamite. Amid this action, Sid drops a few of Bugs' tag-lines, such as "Bon Vo-Ahhh-Gee" (for "Bon Voyage"). Bugs, however, could have said, "What's up, Doc?" if he had starred in this episode, with Porky clear-cutting something more down-to-earth (such as ginseng or morel mushrooms).

A hip squirrel from New York goes to the woods to relax but his vacation is interrupted by lumberjack Porky, who's trying to cut down his tree. Judging by some of the reviews on here, this one seems to set off some Porky Pig fans. I can kind of see why since Porky is little more than an Elmer Fudd-like villain for the squirrel to defeat. But this didn't really bother me as Porky is not high on my list of favorite Looney Tunes characters. The squirrel is clearly the star of this short with all the best lines and gags. I disagree strongly with another reviewer who said this cartoon was ugly. The animation is quite lovely, with beautiful colors and nicely-drawn characters and backgrounds. Lively, whimsical music from Carl Stalling. Great voice work from Mel Blanc. An enjoyable cartoon if all one is expecting is entertainment. If you're a Porky fan looking for an impressive showcase for his character, you might be disappointed.

Porky Chops (1949) *** (out of 4) A squirrel from Brooklyn goes to the great Northwoods to get some rest but then comes across lumberjack Porky Pig trying to cut down his tree. The two start battling one another but soon a third party is going to enter the picture. This is a pleasant short that manages to have quite a few smiles and it's certainly cute enough. The one problem I have with the short is the actual squirrel who just doesn't sit too well with me. I've seen this film several times over the years and each time I can't help but think it would have been different with a better character. As far as Porky goes he's at the top of his game and the poor guy takes a nice beating like he always does. The third party that shows up only appears for a matter of seconds but he clearly steals the film. I won't ruin the gag as it's one of the best in the film.

I don't understand this cartoon at all. Essentially, Porky is the villain, trying to chop down a tree in which a vaguely Bugs Bunny-esque squirrel makes his home. Our villain is a much-beloved regular character, and our hero is a generic wiseacre squirrel that we've never seen before. It's almost as if they were originally going to use Bugs, but decided he was too big to live in a tree, so they used Porky in the other role just to have a "star" in the picture. Also, most of the gags just plain aren't funny. The cartoon just kind of sits there until it's over, and then you forget about it. How this was chosen for the first Looney Toons DVD set over classics like Book Revue and the Great Piggy Bank Robbery, I'll never know.