Editing Porky Pig (section)

==Early films==
The character was introduced in the 100th short, ''[[I Haven't Got a Hat]]'' (released on March 2, 1935), directed by [[Friz Freleng]]. Studio head [[Leon Schlesinger]] suggested that Freleng do a cartoon version of the popular ''[[Our Gang]]'' films. Porky only has a minor role in the film, but the fat little [[stuttering]] pig quickly became popular. Porky's name came from two brothers who were childhood classmates of Freleng, nicknamed "Porky" and "Piggy".<ref>[[Jerry Beck|Beck, Jerry]]. [[Audio commentary]] for ''I Haven't Got a Hat'' on the Warner Brothers DVD set ''[[Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3]]''. (2005) citing Freleng's autobiography.</ref>

Since [[Harman and Ising|Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising]] had left the studio in 1933, taking the studio's star character [[Bosko]] with them, ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' had been kept afloat by cartoons featuring the bland [[Buddy (Looney Tunes)|Buddy]]. Porky's introduction ushered Buddy out the door and pointed to things to come. [[Tex Avery]] was hired by the studio in 1935, and his film ''[[Gold Diggers of '49]]'' reused much of the cast from ''I Haven't Got a Hat'', albeit in wildly different roles. Porky transitioned from a shy little boy to an immensely fat adult. Though he was still in a supporting role, Porky got most of the laughs. The directors realized they had a star on their hands.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Porky shared his stutter with the [[voice actor]] who originally played him, [[Joe Dougherty]], who was actually a person who stuttered. Because Dougherty could not control his stutter, however, production costs became too high as his recording sessions took hours, and Porky's additional lines were done by [[Count Cutelli]].<ref name="Count Cutelli">{{cite web|title=Who Was Count Cutelli?|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/who-was-count-cutelli/|website=cartoonresearch.com|quote=Cutelli claimed he did some work on the early version of Porky Pig, which would have had to have been augmenting some of the original work done by Joe Dougherty, who had an actual stuttering problem but couldn’t control it. As a result, some recording sessions took hours and added to the costs, so Cutelli could have been brought in for some additional lines. Dougherty only voiced the character for two years from March 1935 to March 1937. He was replaced by Mel Blanc, who could provide a more consistent stutter. Cutelli, of course, claimed that he was the one who voiced the original "That’s All Folks" tag at the end of Looney Tunes cartoons.|postscript=Count Cutelli did additional lines for Porky Pig.|access-date=8 November 2019|archive-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904202227/http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/who-was-count-cutelli/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Mel Blanc]] replaced Dougherty in 1937. Blanc continued the stutter; however, it was harnessed for a more precise comedic effect (such as stumbling over a simple word only to substitute a longer word without difficulty, or vice versa).<ref>{{cite book|last= Barrier|first= Michael|author-link= Michael Barrier (historian)|year= 1999|title= Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age|url= https://archive.org/details/hollywoodcartoon00barr|url-access= registration|location= Oxford|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-516729-0}}</ref> This is parodied in ''A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court'', where [[Bugs Bunny]] struggles to pronounce the word "porcupine", which Porky pronounces with no trouble.

''[[Porky's Duck Hunt]]'' was released in 1937, and Blanc officially became the permanent voice of Porky until his death in 1989. In later interviews, Blanc often said that he intended Porky's stutter to be suggestive of the grunting of actual pigs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tweety And Sylvester Bring Mel Blanc Back To Life|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=142553353|publisher=NPR|access-date=May 1, 2017|date=November 20, 2011|quote=And, you know, it's not a stutter. That's a grunt. Porky is a (makes sound) grunt.|archive-date=August 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803051058/http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=142553353|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Porky's Duck Hunt'' was also the first film of another Looney Tunes star, [[Daffy Duck]]. Porky Pig is currently voiced by [[Bob Bergen]] and [[Eric Bauza]].