Porky’s Road Race: A chaotic mess of early animation

Is it worth your time?

If you are a fan of early Looney Tunes and have a high tolerance for repetitive gags, you’ll probably find this entertaining enough for a quick watch. However, if you prefer narrative structure or modern pacing, you might find yourself checking your watch before the first lap is over.

It’s essentially a 1930s fever dream of celebrity caricatures. Watching Porky Pig compete against a rubbery version of Charlie Chaplin feels like something I shouldn't be seeing in a cartoon.

The whole premise is just a loose excuse to have these characters crash into each other repeatedly. It’s funny for the first two minutes. By the fifth minute, the novelty wears off.

Oddly Specific Moments

• The tax deduction joke at the start is honestly the smartest thing in the entire short.
• The way Laurel and Hardy’s car moves is genuinely impressive for the era, even if it makes no sense physics-wise.
• I spent way too long staring at the background art; it’s surprisingly detailed compared to the actual character movement.

The villain, Borax Karoff, is basically just a mean-spirited caricature. He spends most of the race just being a jerk for the sake of being a jerk. It’s effective, I guess, but it’s not exactly Shakespeare.

Comparing this to something like Circus Life, you can see how the studio was really trying to find its footing with these slapstick-heavy formats. It’s not quite as polished as later work, but it has that frantic energy that makes old animation feel alive.

There’s a specific bit where a car turns into a pretzel, and the sound design just leans into the squelching noise. It’s a bit gross. I kind of loved it.

The ending is exactly what you expect. No surprises, no grand thematic reveal. Just Porky Pig doing his thing. Sometimes, that’s all a cartoon needs to be.

It’s definitely not a masterpiece, but it’s a weird little time capsule. If you want to see what people found funny back in 1937, this is it. 🏎️💨