I Haven't Got a Hat
| I Haven't Got a Hat | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Beans the Cat/Porky Pig) series | |
| Directed by | Isadore Freleng |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Voices by |
Joe Dougherty Billy Bletcher Bernice Hansen Elvia Allman |
| Music by |
Bernard Brown Norman Spencer |
| Animation by |
Charles Jones Jack King |
| Studio | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | March 9, 1935 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor (two-color) |
| Running time | 7 minutes |
| Language | English |
I Haven't Got a Hat is a 1935 animated short film, directed by Isadore Freleng for Leon Schlesinger Productions as part of Warner Bros.' Merrie Melodies series. Released by Warner Bros. on March 9, 1935, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of several Warner Bros. cartoon characters, most notably future cartoon star Porky Pig. I Haven't Got a Hat was one of the earliest Technicolor Merrie Melodies, and (because of Walt Disney's exclusive deal with Technicolor at the time) was produced using Technicolor's two-strip process (red and green) instead of its more expensive three-strip process.
This Merrie Melodies cartoon, explicitly modeled after Hal Roach's Our Gang live-action shorts, introduces several new characters as grade school students in the hope that some would catch on. At the time, the only star for the more character-driven Looney Tunes series was Buddy, a meager replacement for the feistier Bosko who left Schlesinger's studio with his creators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.
The short introduces the following characters:
Though the gags in this short are still fairly indicative of early 1930s cartoons, this short is significant for launching the career of Porky Pig. In addition, the short bears the faintest hint of the developing comic style that was to come in later Warner Bros. cartoons (Porky's and Kitty's recitals).
The short opens with introductions of Miss Cud (a cow who is the school teacher), Beans (who is caught defiantly eating from a jar of jam), Porky, Oliver Owl (who are both shown at once), and Ham and Ex (twin puppies). Little Kitty is absent from this sequence. A poster is shown explaining that the school children are sponsoring a musical and recital for the benefit of teachers and parents.
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