Hollywood Capers (1935)
Article 5864 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-18-2020
Directed by Jack King
Featuring the voices of Tommy Bond and Bernice Hansen
Country: USA
What it is: Early Looney Tunes

Beans the Cat tries to break into the Warmer Brothers studio, but finds himself rejected. But can anyone save them when the Frankenstein monster appears?

Porky Pig first appeared with several other characters in a cartoon called I HAVEN”T GOT A HAT, but wasn’t immediately chosen as the most promising from that group. I can understand why they may have tried Beans the Cat first; he was the character who bore the greatest resemblance to a certain mouse name Mickey. However, you’d think they’d have given him something in the way of an interesting character; as it is, all they give him is a lame joke based on his name that’s not all that funny the first time and less so on each repetition. They certainly don’t give him much of a story here; the first half of the cartoon has him breaking into the studio (there are some fun Hollywood caricatures here), the second half has him battling the Frankenstein monster (here portrayed as a robot). Once the monster goes on the march, the rest of the plot goes out the window. Outside of the caricatures, the most interesting thing here is catching some of the pamphlets in the background; there are some references to the staff at Termite Terrace, and I caught at least one referring to Tedd Pierce.