The Worst Film Ever

A Brilliant Conflict

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

. . . a billboard in the American Wastelands near the beginning of WAGON HEELS. When you stop and think about it, maybe it wasn't. A map shown just before the billboard pops up suggests that the United States consisted of the 13 Original Colonies in 1849, plus newcomers Florida and Maine. Hostile Native Americans controlled the remainder of the land, stretching from the Appalachian Range to the Pacific Ocean, WAGON WHEELS teaches us. Talk about a sweet set-up! Just think, the entire country was on EASTERN Standard Time. Sports results ALWAYS made the morning editions (since Thomas Edison had yet to install lights at Yankee Stadium, and football, basketball, and ice hockey had yet to be invented). Eastern ball clubs had no grueling West Coast trips to dread; even Chicago was in the Forbidden Zone, and the only Cubs there nursed on mama bear. If WAGON HEELS has it right, Tinsel Town could have been a Miami suburb, rather that a foothills slum. This is the sort of picture that could entice even Porky's friends into ordering BLT's!

"Wagon Heels" is a jolly Warner Bros. Western cartoon starring Porky Pig and directed by the wacky Bob Clampett. Plenty of great gags abound in this midforites caper, in which Porky, always the reliable hero, protects a wagon "train" (whose "engineer" has a voice similar to that of Sylvester the cat) from the clutches of the highly-stereotyped Injun Joe, the Superchief.My favorite scenes from "Wagon Heels" are: the closing ticklish gag, made even funnier by Carl Stalling's music score; the presence of Injun Joe splitting apart a mountain, putting a growling bear in its place, and taking care of a snare trap; and Injun Joe saying "Him screwball" in regards to the daffy Sloppy Moe, who is enthusiastic about a secret he won't tell.Don't forget to enjoy Carl Stalling's musical accompaniment for "Wagon Heels", particularly his version of the Stephen Foster classic "Oh, Susannah".

One of the many simultaneously racist and clever Warner Bros. cartoons, Bob Clampett's "Wagon Heels" lets everything all out. I seem to recall that there was an earlier cartoon with almost the exact same plot (it may have been "Injun Trouble"). Anyway, the plot has Porky Pig leading a wagon train through the Old West, called Injun Joe Territory. Injun Joe is probably the nastiest dude out there, but a silly pioneer knows a secret about Joe. Yep, it's all part of our cultural myth of manifest destiny...as an excuse for some crazy gags! So, more than anything, these cartoons serve to represent stereotypes about different people. On the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs (this one appears on Volume 5), there's a disclaimer explaining that some of the cartoons contain racist images. And the depictions of American Indians were very likely the most negative. But even so, you can't deny that Bob Clampett had some truly ideas when it came to cartoons. I recommend it as a look at previously acceptable stereotypes. And of course for the clever tricks.

This was a pretty weird cartoon, but very interesting. The sight gags made this a winner. There were some very bizarre sights, believe me.The "cast of characters" were Porky Pig, his horse, Sloppy Moe and Injun Joe (rhyme not intended). I enjoyed everyone except "Sloppy Moe," some blue, ghost-like cowboy figure with a dumb voice who was too stupid for laughs. However, the rest were very entertaining. Who doesn't like Porky Pig? His horse in this Western tale was just as funny, if not more so. Injun Joe, The Super Chief, also was good, a combination Paul Bunyan and Superman, until his weakness was revealed!Even better than the characters was the art in here. This is nice-looking cartoon and Warner Brothers did a nice job restoring it for their Golden Collection Volume Five. Those great colors and art made the sight gags work even more.In addition, one gets a history lesson. I never knew Injun Joe owned almost all of America according to the map we see at the beginning! Porky is a lookout-scout for the wagon train which is heading west from New York City. Along the way, we see corny signs in the road and on the different wagons, but they are fun to read. That's subtle to the wild things that happen after they reach Injun Joe's territory.