Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.A WWII zoo travelogue cartoon featuring Porky Pig and directed by Norm McCabe, 'Who's Who in the Zoo' is an example of a very well-made, hugely enjoyable and sometimes educational cartoon that falls short of being a classic. The story is best forgotten, it's basically a collection of spot the animal sight gags. Porky is underused and his personality has been stronger in other cartoons before and since. However, the animal gags are pitched beautifully and they range from very funny to hilarious. It is agreed that the ending with the lion is the best and funniest.Mel Blanc is outstanding as always however. He always was the infinitely more preferable voice for Porky, Joe Dougherty never clicked with me, and he proves it here. Blanc shows an unequalled versatility and ability to bring an individual personality to every one of his multiple characters in a vast majority of his work, there is no wonder why he was in such high demand as a voice actor. Robert C. Bruce was famous for providing narration that entertained and educated, not the telling-the-story kind that Sterling Holloway for Disney was famous for, without being over-explanatory or distracting. This is especially true in the "How To" Goofy series for Disney. He does the narration here, and it has all the qualities that he brought to that series of cartoons with aplomb and better than anyone.The animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. There is a lot of energy, the zoo setting is used to full potential and McCabe directs very capably, even if prominent competition like Bob Clampett, Tex Avery and Chuck Jones were more inspired and more inventive with more distinctive styles. Sorry if this sounds unfair, and it is, but it is hard to not make them and somewhat inevitable.Ever the master, Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.Overall, very solid well done cartoon if more for the support than Porky. 8/10 Bethany Cox

. . . is the story Warner Bros. chooses to tell in the prophetic animated short, WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO. In this parable, Warner's crack team of prognosticators (aka, the Looney Tuners) place the anarchist doing the zapping inside the "Azusa Zoo" (get Warner's clever twist?). He's presented here as a pacing lion, biding his time as the focus shifts back to him again and again throughout this brief cartoon. This Fat Cat One Per Center King of the Job-Killing Corrupt Corporate Jungle waiting to move in for his kill shares the goofy diction and large regal glare of alleged U.S. President #45, the newest addition to Washington, DC's National Zoo, Donald Duck. This Lame Duck Dandy Lion goes all Crazy Town, drooling like a Pavlovian Canine when he hears the approaching bells of the Ice Cream Man (representing the naive American voter). Little Leo slyly orders an Eskimo Bar, but gobbles down the Good Humor Guy instead, as soon as the latter is within reach of his diminutive paws. Unfortunately, Hillary ignored this ominous prediction of WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO until it was too late for America.

Annoying narrator otherwise it is alright. The usual play on words is to be expected like many looney toons from this era. Good to see that not too many cartoons are dedicated to WW II unlike Disney as this was released during that time. Priceless and timeless. Innocent and sweet. Looney toons just started getting better around this point. Superman cartoons were made in 1941-42 by Fleischer so cartoons in general were getting better. Disney was already there with feature length cartoons and still dominating but the shorts were slightly affected by WW II. Post war Disney increased cartoon shorts in quantity and hence they diminished in quality. However it may also just be overwhelming for an adult to go through but perhaps just fine for kids. No complains for the feature length animation as they were top notch.

This Norman McCabe Looney Tunes cartoon was an extra of the Warner Night at the Movies link of the In This Our Life DVD. It's a spot-gag cartoon narrated by Robert C. Bruce who'd do this for the studio for a couple of decades, so familiar was his voice when I first saw these cartoons as a kid of the '70s though the ones I remember were in Technicolor and this one's in black-and-white. Porky Pig is the zookeeper of the Azusa Zoo though he only appears in spots. Many of the gags are related to the World War II period this was filmed in. The one about the lion who appears in spots before the end is perhaps the most hysterical of them all! So on that note, Who's Who at the Zoo is highly recommended.