Baby Bottleneck Breakdowns (part 1)

Baby Bottleneck is tied with The Great Piggy Bank Robbery for my favorite cartoon of all time—I just can’t choose. Both are rich with personality and character, beautiful animation, great staging... I could go on and on (and I will, too!). For now, I decided to compile together a breakdown of animators in Baby Bottleneck, primarily for the scenes involving Daffy and Porky. You’d be surprised at how much you miss when the cartoon is in motion. These frames are all fantastic! But because there are SO many great frames, I’ll be splicing up the posts in parts. There’s just so much to look at!

So, without further ado...

Rod Scribner

Unmistakably Scribner. The wild expressions, the snappy movements, the giant teeth and gums, floppy tongue. What a joy this scene is to watch! Pausing to ogle at the frames is even more fun. Compare this scene with other Scribner animated scenes of Daffy yakking frenetically on the phone in Draftee Daffy and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery. This is my personal favorite.

“Mr. Dionne, puh-LEASE!”

“QUIET!!!”

Manny Gould

Probably one of Clampett’s tamer animators in his later years, but not at all a bad thing! This animation in A Gruesome Twosome is some of my favorite. 

Bill Melendez

“Listen, Jackson! I got a great invention! It’ll speed up deliveries one billion percent!”

A great scene by Bill Melendez, another great Clampett animator. He was Rod Scribner’s assistant for awhile, so his drawings certainly read as Scribner-esque. Easily identifiable by pointy tongues, huge eyes and tiny pupils. This dog’s confidence and unflappable optimism is infectious.

“It’s a LOOOOOOO LOO!”

“Watch!”

“Oh well, back to the drawing board!”

Izzy Ellis

“FUUUUUULL SPEED AHEAD!”

Kind of hard to tell, but the close-together eyes and skinny beak give it away. Ellis was very dynamic with his drawings, almost to the level of Frank Tashlin as we’ll see soon.

Manny Gould

This one’s hard to say for sure. This Porky matches up with the previous Gould Porky, same general shape and face. It’s a really brief scene.

I’m not so confident on the conveyer belt scenes, which is why I’m focusing primarily on Daffy and Porky. They’re easier to identify and reference.

Manny Gould

Man, is this scene good! I love how playful this cartoon is with its typography. Fun smears and lovely dynamic angle of Porky throwing his face so close to the camera. 

Part 2 is on its way, so keep a look out!