This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

. . . William Randolph "CITIZEN KANE" Hearst foisted REEFER MADNESS upon gullible Rich People Party puppets such as Nancy "Just Say No" Reagan, Warner Bros. courageously confronted America's REAL corporate smoke culprit, Big Tobacco, with this Looney Tune animated short, WHOLLY SMOKE. As Porky Pig learns here, international health experts have documented 1,418.7 American Murders at the hands of the Bright Leaf Boys for every ONE fatality somehow attributed in part to pot (usually a hiking backpacker or bird watcher stepping on a land mine near a marijuana factory farm run by illegal foreigners in one of America's National Forests). Warner's child Porky Pig is victimized by every trick in Big Tobacco's Book, from the Cartoonish enticements of Joe Camel to the peer pressure applied by hired shills. Warner's "Nick O'Teen" character epitomizes the slick youth outreach that the Coffin Nail Corporations still are allowed to practice Today, with their peppermint and bubble gum-flavored E-cigarettes. But as the Trumpsters will say while they eliminate Affordable Health Care, Medicare, and Medicaid, "You can't live Forever!"

Just watched this Looney Tune Porky Pig cartoon on YouTube as linked from the Saturday Morning Blog. It has the child-pig going to church but on the way he encounters a bully his size who challenges him on his toughness by smoking on his cigar. Needless to say, some nightmares result..."Supervised" by Frank Tashlin, Wholly Smoke is quite entertaining when it goes on a delirium as Porky dreams of various smoking products singing and dancing about the dangers of smoke. Quite a bit of caricatures of famous celebrities like The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, Curly), Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, and Cab Calloway abound and while some might be offended by the blackface matches, you might not notice right away since no stereotypical dialect comes out of them. Almost like a Max Fleischer cartoon yet with the Warner Bros. attitude that was just emerging from these Termite Terrace products. So on that note, Wholly Smoke is well worth seeing.

Directed by Frank Tashlin, "Wholly Smoke" is a very good black-and-white Porky Pig cartoon dealing with the avoidance of smoking. On his way to Sunday school, Porky is diverted by a cigar-chomping gangster. This leads him directly into a smoke shop, where many horrors await Porky.My favorite moments from "Wholly Smoke": The gangster does various flashy tricks with his cigar, but when Porky tries the same tricks, he fails. (Helping this scene along is, of course, Carl Stalling's music score.) At the smoke shop, I recognize caricatures of the Three Stooges (Larry, Curly, and Moe), Cab Calloway, Bing Crosby, and Rudy Vallee."Wholly Smoke" features a very early version of Porky Pig that I especially admire - an adorable little child, determined to do what is right. Indeed, by the end of this cartoon, Porky learns his lesson - NO SMOKING.

just a reminder that this was made back when smoking was still a common thing for the public. And didn't know that smoking was not healthy to do.Porky was given 5 cents to give at church and was told not to spend it.On his way to the chapel, he find a kid smoking a cigar. He tells him little kids shouldn't smoke. The kid doesn't think Porky is man enough to smoke. So Porky bet on his nickel that he can smoke.After getting dizzy and coughing a lot he winds up at a smoke shop. And is greeted by Nick O'Teen the smoke cloud dude. He was pleased to see that Porky is interested in smoking so Nick tests if Porky really does like to smoke. But getting his pipe, cigar, cigarette and tobacco friends to sing and remind that little kids shouldn't smoke.For a cartoon this old it does have a good message in letting kids know that you shouldn't smoke at a young age.But if this was made decades later it be "Smoking is bad for you". But can't blame the way people thought of smoking back in the olden days.Sad thing is this is one of the many Looney Tunes that's been censored a few times. I never seen an uncut version or uncensored version of this fine cartoon.I hope one day it'll be part of a collection of uncut Looney Tunes DVD.