The Practical Pig

"The Practical Pig " is a Silly Symphonies cartoon. Released on February 24th, 1939, and directed by Dick Rickard. It was the second-to-last Silly Symphony made, and the fourth and final cartoon starring the Three Little Pigs (film).

Plot Summary

While Practical Pig is hard at work building a new anti-Wolf contraption, this time a lie detector, his two brothers Fiddler and Fifer Pig go swimming despite their brother's warning not to ("Don't go swimming, do ya hear? The pond ain't safe; the Wolf is near!"). Oblivious to the danger around them, they are soon captured by the Big Bad Wolf, who disguises himself as a voluptious mermaid to entice the two hapless porkers and then catching them in a net. While the Wolf plans to entrap Practical Pig as well using a fake letter requesting help by his brothers, his three sons lie to their father that they'll wait until he returns. But as soon as he leaves, they prepare to make Fiddler & Fifer into a pork pie.

Practical sees right through the Wolf's messenger boy disguise and sees an excellent chance to try out his new invention. The welcome mat drops in beneath the Wolf's feet, and he falls, screaming, into the pit below. He is next seen strapped into a chair in Practical's house, helpless against the technology of the resourceful. When interrogated by Practical about the whereabouts of his brothers, the Wolf lies ("Your brothers? Never heard of 'em!"), and the machine goes into action. The Wolf's words are played back on a phonograph, and bulbs light up while an alarm bell sounds. Steam is pumped out, chemicals bubble and churn, electricity sizzles, and finally an indicator on the wall with a needle points to "LIE" and two whistles blow. The Wolf gets his mouth washed out with soap by a scrubbing brush. The second time he lies ("I ain't seen 'em!"), the chair he is sitting in spins around, his pants are pulled down by a hook and he is given a spanking. The third time, the Wolf tries to fool the machine into thinking he and Practical are "pals" ("I ain't... Now listen, buddy, you got me wrong. Why, I'm your pal."), but the lie detector sees through the ruse and the Wolf ends up getting his mouth washed out and a spanking, as well as having his knuckles whacked with rulers.

The machine punishes the Wolf harder and harder until he gives in and tells the truth. He is then shot right out of the house with a rocket stuck up his shirt. Practical prepares to go save his brothers (he mistakenly picks up a broom as he heads to the door, then he realises this and goes back to pick up his blunderbuss), but Fiddler and Fifer have since managed to escape from the Three Little Wolves, and return home safe and sound. When scolded by their brother against defying his orders, the two pigs play innocent and tell him they didn't go swimming. But the lie detector springs into action, and the two storytellers are soundly spanked. When Practical warns them "This hurts me worse than it does you!", he gets picked up by the machine and is also given a spanking.

Trivia

*The song the Wolf sings is "Frankie and Johnny"
*In later years, Walt Disney would remark "You can't top pigs with pigs", referring to the lukewarm reaction to the Three Little Pigs sequels.