Rover’s Rival Review

Rover’s Rival is a 1937 animated short film from the Looney Tunes series. It is a very good entry.

Porky Pig wants to teach his dog some tricks, but the dog is very old and incapable of doing any of them plus there is another younger dog who tries his best to make it even harder for the old dog. What I didn’t like at all here was that ending. Not only was it not great overall, but that asshole of a small dog did not get his proper due and basically went unharmed. I always have a problem with such endings.

But otherwise this is a very good short that, although not as funny, is actually very entertaining and heartwarming. Porky is reliably good and I love his pet-oriented shorts probably the most as evidenced by my love for ‘Porky’s Pet’ too. That little dog did not get punished but was great as a villain. And of course the highlight is the old dog who has an old man voice and both his voice and design are terrific and authentic.

Rover’s Rival is very well animated with good action scenes and great characterization, but a very disappointing finale.