TheLittleSongbird This was a brilliant cartoon, mixing animation with live action. The result is one of my all time favourite Looney Tunes cartoons. Leon Schlesinger is great as himself, and Daffy is enormous fun as he tricks Porky into entering the movie business. But really it is Porky's picture, I particularly loved the part when he smuggled himself in disguised as Oliver Hardy. The animation is excellent and doesn't jar with the live action sequences. The music is lovely, and there is a wonderful script that the toons and the actors do a great job with. While it is a tad predictable, the story works wonderfully as a Hollywood satire, and the references to Greta Garbo and Errol Flynn, all to name a few, were well done. As well as voicing Daffy and Porky, Mel Blanc plays a stagehand and a security guard, and these are roles he excels in.My favourite bit? I don't know. Daffy murdering Largo Al Factotum in an attempt to gain Porky's former position with Schlesinger growing visibly irritated was one, and the part with Porky's confrontation with Schlesinger was quite poignant. All in all, as a cartoon You Ought To Be in Pictures is hilarious and unique. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Mightyzebra I realized before I watched this cartoon it would have a live action appearance of Fred Schlesinger, but I did not realize there were other filmed characters and that the very new art of live action and cartoon together would be done so well in this episode! I was expecting to see quite a lot of Daffy Duck in this episode, but Porky Pig is definitely the main character here. In the Warner Brothers studio, Daffy, who wants to be as high as Porky is right now, does his best to convince his cartoon companion to rid himself of his cartoon contract and go to the "features". Well, if you know Porky, you know he'll do pretty much the persuasive Daffy will tell him to and he goes off to ask Fred Schlesinger if he could leave the cartoon studio. Porky feels very nervous, but is pushed by Daffy and Fred seems to accept Porky is going...I really enjoyed the characters of Daffy and Porky in this cartoon (even though Daffy was a meanie), the plot, the premise of the cartoon and the way the cartoon was funny even though there were no real jokes. The whole thing was very entertaining and very well done, with good moments from the three main characters. :-) If there was anything I felt even slightly iffy about the cartoon it was the fact that everyone was unnecessarily mean to Porky, but it is a "film thing", the way it happened.I recommend this to people who love old Looney Tunes and to people who just enjoy and entertaining cartoon. Enjoy "You Ought to Be in Pictures"! :-) P.S Both LeeEisenberg and ccthemovieman said in their reviews that they thought it was amazing how they managed this cartoon with live action while Roger Rabbit was nearly 50 years away. That is what I was thinking as well!!

slymusic Directed by Friz Freleng and starring Porky Pig & Daffy Duck, "You Ought to Be in Pictures" is quite an exceptional Warner Bros. cartoon. Amidst real-life settings and flesh-and-blood people, the selfish Daffy persuades the shy Porky to get out of cartoons and enter into big-budget features. The Porky that we see in this live-action cartoon is the Porky that I really like; he is sweet, shy, honest, kindhearted, friendly, hard-working, and earnest. In other words, he has all the human characteristics that I admire.Highlights: At the opening of this short, we hear a wonderfully orchestrated version of the popular song "You Oughta Be in Pictures" as all of the cartoon staff at Warner Bros. arrive for "work." Porky has a run-in with a studio guard (played by writer Michael Maltese, with Mel Blanc's voice dubbed in) and later disguises himself as Oliver Hardy in order to try to get past the guard. Daffy tries to prove to producer Leon Schlesinger that he is a much better performer than Porky is; he sings and dances up a storm while Leon pays no attention. And Porky demonstrates his earnestness most effectively when he persuades Leon to let him out of his cartoon contract so that he may try his hand at features.To summarize, "You Ought to Be in Pictures" is quite superb for a Warner Bros. cartoon. Lovable Porky and obnoxious Daffy get to interact humorously with live-action people, and as a result, this black-and-white cartoon is simply a gem. Don't miss it!

wmorrow59 I remember discovering this cartoon on TV when I was a kid, back when they still showed black & white Looney Tunes regularly, and even as a youngster I recognized it as something special. In the '80s I managed to get a copy on VHS and practically wore it out with re-plays; it's one of those miraculous little films you can go back to again and again, one that retains its charm and its ability to make you laugh no matter how many times you've seen it. If anything, I enjoy it even more as a grown-up, having come to appreciate the inside jokes about Hollywood, cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger, and the legendary "Termite Terrace" facility, seen here at the height of its glory days.It's clear from the opening shot that this is no ordinary cartoon; in fact, it's primarily a live action short filmed on the Warner Brothers lot, featuring actors playing studio personnel. (Amusingly, almost every person we see aside from Schlesinger has his voice dubbed by Mel Blanc, which is not only a great inside joke but makes the humans come off like cartoon characters themselves.) After the animators have gone to lunch Porky Pig comes to life on his drawing board, just like Max Fleischer's Koko the Clown did in the '20s, and so does Daffy Duck, who initially addresses Porky from a portrait on the wall. Daffy urges his colleague to quit cartoons and go for a job in features playing opposite Bette Davis. Pushed by Daffy, Porky quits, and his confrontation with the boss makes for a memorable and oddly poignant scene. Schlesinger, an affable-seeming guy who looks a little uncomfortable playing himself, agrees to release him from his contract. After Porky's gone, however, the producer turns to the camera and addresses us with hard-bitten wisdom: "He'll be back!"Predictably enough, Porky's venture into the real world of studio system film-making is a disaster. He is belittled and chased by a hostile security guard, sneaks onto a sound stage but ruins a take, and when he tries to flee he blunders into a Western set and is pursued by stampeding horses (a great effect, and a comic high point). Daffy, meanwhile, has been trying to hassle a visibly irritated Schlesinger into giving him Porky's former position. Porky returns to Termite Terrace in the nick of time, gets his old job back, and rewards Daffy with a vigorous beating. Thus, order is restored.As a kid I didn't catch all the references to Errol Flynn, Frank McHugh, or Greta Garbo, although I certainly got the joke when Porky tries to sneak into the studio disguised as Oliver Hardy. Still, viewers don't have to be hardcore film buffs to appreciate the comedy. The animated elements in You Ought To Be in Pictures have a fascinating look, achieved by laying down cell artwork (representing Daffy, Porky, and Porky's car) on still photographs of the office, the studio, and other "real world" locations. This is inter-cut with live action scenes, but on several occasions the cartoon characters interact with the human ones, as when Porky shakes hands with Schlesinger, or, later, drives like a maniac through midtown traffic. There's an especially startling bit when the studio guard hoists Porky and his car into the air and flings them off the lot These effects may look rudimentary by today's standards, but they pack more humor and pizazz into each frame than a lot of the technically adept but soulless CGI work produced nowadays.This is a great piece of work, and if you're a movie buff with a fondness for old time Hollywood it's guaranteed to make you happy.