Meet John Doughboy

Meet John Doughboy is a 1941 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert Clampett.

Title[]

The title is a play on the 1941 movie Meet John Doe.

Plot[]

Draftee Porky shows America's Defense Effort, a war newsreel full of military secrets, to rally American public support for the war's production of tanks, planes, and big guns. It promotes the draft while slamming anti-draft politics. It mentions British Spitfire aircraft but also the importance of American design improvements to it. A driver in blackface speaks in a stereotyped manner. The United States mainland is threatened with direct attack. Several 1941 newspaper headlines include one about a strike at the Ford Motor Company's plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

Caricatures[]

• Jack Benny
• Eddie "Rochester" Anderson

Television[]

• Sunset Productions (1955–1968)
• Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (1988–1989)
• The Bugs and Daffy Show [Cartoon Network] (1997–1999)^{[citation needed]}
• The Bob Clampett Show [Cartoon Network] (2000–2005, colorized)

Availability[]

(2006) DVD
The Maltese Falcon

(2008) DVD
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc Two (restored)

(2010) Blu-ray
The Maltese Falcon (as part of Warner Night at the Movies in unrestored SD)

(2017) DVD
Porky Pig 101, Disc 5 (restored)

Censorship[]

• While this short rarely aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to the wartime themes and ethnic stereotypes, it did air uncut in The Bob Clampett Show Season 2, Episode 22. On the rare times it aired in other Looney Tunes installment shows like Bugs 'n' Daffy, The Acme Hour, or Late Night Black and White, the scene of Rochester driving Jack Benny on a military jeep was cut. It has since been removed from rotation, and the cartoon itself now seldom airs on television.

Notes[]

• This short fell into the public domain in 1969 when Warner Bros.-Seven Arts failed to renew the copyright in time.

References[]