Watch I Haven't Got a Hat For Free

Fantastic!

Admirable film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

. . . as America's Early Warning System for impending disasters, approaching cataclysms, looming catastrophes, and ultimate apocalypses (or is it "Apocalypti"?). This was especially true during Warner Bros. Looney Tunes Golden Age. I HAVEN'T GOT A HAT is one of many Warner Bros. warnings which speak as much to Citizens of Our 21st Century as to the Dead People of the 1900s who saw them first (if not more so). HAT amplifies what U.S. President-Elect Trump and his Rich People's Party have been yapping about for years: America does not need and should not have a public school system for general education. As these out-dated "educational" institutions fritter away the Prime Working Years of American Youth on such Fiddle Faddle as cursive writing, civics, critical thinking, and current events, Asia's young folks are running circles around our kids, who will never catch up. As Leader Trump has noted, McDonalds had it right when it opened its University of Hamburgology. Why clog kids' heads with reading, writing, Chaucer, and Shakespeare if they're going to spend their working lives pushing buttons with picture symbols while ringing up orders at Mickey D's? Let Asia train all the STEM grads the world needs on their own dime to build our Roads, Bridges, and future Trump Towers--and then give them U.S. visas IF they can withstand the Extreme Vetting Process. You cannot watch HAT without agreeing with our Donald-in-Chief.

Friz Freleng's 'I Haven't Got a Hat' is sort of an audition piece for new characters. With neither Bosko nor Buddy proving particularly inspiring, Warner cartoons needed a new star player and they hedged their bets by introducing a host of new creations based on the 'Our Gang' series. A range of young animals and their school teacher Miss Cud are introduced with captions at the beginning of 'I Haven't Got a Hat'. Not unreasonably, the studio assumed that the real winner was Beans the naughty little cat and they went on to make a handful of cartoons in which he was the lead. However, the character the audience found most interesting was Porky Pig who would go on to be the studio's first real star. In 'I Haven't Got a Hat', Porky performs a recital of 'The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere' but he is so nervous that he sweats profusely and stutters in the extreme. This stutter would ultimately become the character's defining feature, although it would later be portrayed as merely a speech impediment and not the result of extreme nerves. Porky's age was also altered from cartoon to cartoon at this stage. Often he would maintain the characteristics of a child while at other times he would assume the adult role which finally became the constant. As early as his second appearance in Tex Avery's 'Gold Diggers of '49', Porky was already playing a grown-up, the father of one of his classmates in this cartoon, no-less! All of which tells you very little about 'I Haven't Got a Hat', for which I apologise! A very early colour Merrie Melody, 'I Haven't Got a Hat' is cutesy but enjoyable. Set at a school talent show, we get to watch various acts starting with Porky's jumbled poetry. We hear Little Kitty (the most self-consciously cute character who is noticeably absent from the opening introductions) recite 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' with a little help from Miss Cud, then the twin dogs Ham and Ex (the weakest creations of this batch of new characters) perform the jaunty song that gives the cartoon its title. All of this is fairly enjoyable but the best antics come courtesy of Oliver Owl and Beans, who are engaged in an off-stage war over sweets which spills over into Oliver's act. I always enjoy 'I Haven't Got a Hat' despite its absence of big laughs. It's interesting to see Porky's debut but this amounts to barely a cameo really. What makes 'I Haven't Got a Hat' so enjoyable is its gentle warmth and bright, colourful animation. While my ribs remain largely untickled during these seven minutes, my lips remain in a upturned position and, every now and then, my foot taps to the tunes on offer. A small treat for cartoon enthusiasts.

It's an earlier version of Porky though. He still stutters, but not the way he stuttered when Mel Blanc started doing his voice later. In this cartoon, he still manages to get his words out after a few tries, unlike when Blanc did the voice, and Porky would choose different words in mid sentence that were easier for him to say.I liked the teacher. She even had her own bell.The poem by Little Kitty was cute. "Corn Flakes".The song, "I Haven't Got A Hat" by the twin dogs, Ham and Ex was done well with some good bass lines.The highlight of the cartoon was the piano recital by Oliver Owl. A brilliant bit of musicianship, thanks to assistance from Beans and a fighting cat and dog.

Mr. Freling comes up with the ultimate classroom stutterer in this Merrie Melodies cartoon. It begins with an elementary age Porky reciting "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" in front of an audience. Other characters strut their stuff too, but I only recognise Porky.