Porky's Phoney Express

Porky's Phoney Express is a 1938 Looney Tunes short directed by Cal Howard and Cal Dalton.
== Title ==
The title is a play on a "pony express."
== Plot ==
At a pony express department, several dogs are depositing their mail, and they're all being delivered by a dog riding on a horse, as a man screams, "There they go!"
The letters are given to a dog inside a mailing center, and he scatters them across different boxes reading, East, North, South and North. The letters fall to the other side of the mailing center, and a man vacuums then up. He then puts them in a bag. They are thrown inside a parachute, falling next to a dog on a horse. The dog picks up a phone and calls his horse asking him if they're ready. The two ride off.
Meanwhile, in another part of the town, Porky is working at a mail depot. He is sweeping the floors, when his boss gives him a call and asks him to lick the letter he had. Porky suggests to his boss that he should be riding the mail, but he laughs at that idea. He responds back with, "No," and this angers Porky, and he pretends to ride a horse while delivering the mail. This makes Porky's boss angry and he tells him to "cut it out."
Outside of the building, the dog and his horse arrive at the Pony Express Office. He comes to tell the boss that he's having a hard time getting past the Indians. The boss tells him that it's important as it supposed to go to Red Gulch, and they haven't had mail in weeks. The boss ponders what to do. He passes some horseshoes, and they give him an idea. He decides that he will send out Porky to use as a stool pigeon in an attempt to get the Indians distracted.
Porky is dusting up, when he hears his boss call him. He walks over furiously, however that changes to excitement when his boss tells him that he's going to be the one to deliver the mail. After Porky leaves, the boss and the other riders laugh themselves silly, to the point where all of the horseshoes in their bag falls out.
Porky goes outside and gets on a horse with the mail in hand. He and the horse take off.
Hiding and watching from rocks are some Indians. The Indians notice porky, and one of them moves between the rocks like a snake. Another one is scratching his back when he notices Porky on the road. He calls for an Indian taxi and asks it to "Follow that horse!"
As Porky is riding, Indian arrows start firing everywhere. Porky and the horse are pursued by Indians. They run, but get stuck in the mud. Eventually a shot from an arrow is able to free Porky and the horse from the mud. Porky fires a gun, but it backfires and sends Porky back and forth.
A cross-eyed Indian with a question mark on his shirt shoots his own horse in the back of its head, and it gives its rider a nasty look. An Indian on a bicycle throws a tomahawk at Porky, but hits the mail bag so the letters fall out. Porky rides back and catches them with a net, but the Indians are still on Porky's tail, so Porky turns around again and heads for town. The same incompetent Indian shoots his own horse again, and it gives its rider an even nastier look. Another Indian takes a shot a Porky, and a baby in a cradleboard gives him another arrow to reload with and after that shot, keeps score.
The same incompetent Indian shoots his own horse a third time, and his horse gives him the most angered look; this time, the horse has had enough of his rider's mistakes and incompetence and stops to throw his rider down and flexes his muscles after doing so. Porky is eventually able to see the town which his horse begins baseball sliding into. The Indians, seeing the town limit line and its "Red Gulch City Limits No Injuns" sign, brake immediately as Porky's horse slides into town, safe from the furious Indians who aren't allowed to enter the town limits as they gripe in defeat on the city limit line and everybody treats Porky like a hero.
The roles are now reversed as Porky is now running the pony express service. He calls his boy, his original boss, over. He asks him to lick the letter and then pushes him aside.
== Availability ==
Porky Pig 101 DVD Cover.png|(2017) DVD Porky Pig 101, Disc 2
== Notes ==
* This short rarely airs on American television today due to Native American stereotyping that would be deemed offensive to modern audiences, having last aired on Nickelodeon.
* This is the first cartoon that was directed by Cal Dalton and Cal Howard, as Friz Freleng had left Warner Bros. at the time to work at MGM. Cal Howard would only direct two more cartoons after this (being "Katnip Kollege" and "A-Lad-In Bagdad") before moving to Fleischer Studios and being replaced by Ben Hardaway, while Cal Dalton would remain as co-director until Freleng returned in 1940.
* This cartoon was shown in theatres with He Couldn't Say No during its original release. 
* This film was copyrighted on 31 December 1937.Catalog of Copyright Entries
* The animation of the Native Americans riding on horses and chasing Porky, who was off-screen during that scene, was reused in "Scalp Trouble."
== Gallery ==
10256798 10154054419225578 4237733018134115452 n.jpg|Lobby card
Screenshot 2021-04-07 at 16.40.32.png
== References ==
Category:Porky Pig Cartoons
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Shorts
Category:Black-and-white cartoons
Category:1938
Category:Cartoons directed by Cal Dalton
Category:Cartoons directed by Cal Howard
Category:Post-1935 Black & White Looney Tunes
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons in the Sunset Productions package