Porky in Wackyland 1938

In a wild, surreal cartoon set in Darkest Africa, Porky Pig is dispatched by a newspaper headline to hunt the last do-do bird, launching him into a place where the laws of reality bend to whimsy: Wackyland.

Upon landing his airplane, he spots a sign declaring he’s in Wackyland, a realm where anything can happen. He tiptoes along the ground as a roaring beast—Roaring Goon—appears, then suddenly shifts into a teasing, effeminate dance and hops away into the forest.

A musical interlude follows, introducing a parade of bizarre residents and impossible landscapes: a one-man band that plays its nose like a flute, a rabbit swinging in midair, a duck caricature of Al Jolson, and a monster with the heads of the Three Stooges. One creature wears a sandwich board advertising information about the do-do, beckoning Porky deeper into a dark passage.

Porky tumbles down a chute and watches the The Do-Do make its grand entrance. The Do-Do introduces itself and then tramples Porky as it scat-sings its way through the scene. The chase begins in earnest as Porky tails the bird, but the do-do continually uses surreal tricks to slip away and twist the pursuit into humiliation for the hunter.

Some time later, the do-do encounters a newspaper hawker loudly announcing that Porky’s hunt has ended in success. The do-do is momentarily puzzled by the news, and when it drops its guard, the hawker—Porky in disguise—snatches the bird. A moment of triumph comes for the hunter, but it is short-lived: the do-do cries out for its fellow birds, summoning a chorus of do-do friends.

In the end, the scene leaves a sense of comic inevitability: in Wackyland, the chase is endless, the tricks are endless, and the last do-do remains a symbol of mischief rather than a prize. The short blends slapstick, musical whimsy, and a fantasy geography where danger and delight coexist at a breakneck pace, inviting viewers to laugh at the impossible and wonder what strange creature will pop up next.