Milk and Money Review

Milk and Money is a 1936 animated short film from the Looney Tunes series. It is a very good, funny entry.

Tex Avery really made this thing work so well. This film is a textbook example of how to do a tired story right and make it anew in a way. Yes, the story where son and father have to get money or else their farm will be sold out is so cliched and the horse race part was also very typical, but still the gags are so great and the film flows really well that I mostly didn’t mind.

Porky is excellent here, very memorable. Mr. Viper the Snake is a very good villain with a hilarious name and I loved that snake walk gag. Hank Horsefly is the highlight here as he is the mix of a horse and fly and him hitting the horse in the butt to power him up and him following traffic regulations were both hilarious gags perfectly executed. I also adored the animation here, very high quality and the visual where Porky’s dad loses his hope and everything suddenly darkens is an incredibly authentic moment in the film. And the addition of the instrumental version of We’re in the Money is highly appreciated

Milk and Money is cliched in concept, but superb in execution with an exceptionally strong characterization, competent animation and many hilarious gags.