Often an Orphan

The next two cartoons I'm going to post are going to focus on one of my favorite Looney Tune characters, Charlie dog. An early version of Charlie appeared in the 1941 short "Porkys Pooch". The dog in that cartoon was named Rover and Mel Blanc provided the Brooklyn like voice and accent which would later become Charlie's standard voice.

In 1947 Chuck Jones renamed the dog Charlie and transformed him into something new. Jones first used Charlie in Little Orphan Airedale.  The film was a success, and Jones would create two more Charlie Dog/Porky Pig cartoons in 1949: Awful Orphan and Often an Orphan. Jones also starred Charlie without Porky in a couple of shorts: Dog Gone South and A Hound for Trouble which sends Charlie to Italy where he searches for a master who speaks English.

In these cartoons, Charlie Dog is defined by one desire: to find himself a master. To this end, Charlie is willing to pull out all the stops, from pulling "the big soulful eyes routine" to boasting of his pedigree ("Fifty percent Collie! Fifty percent setter, Irish Setter! Fifty Percent Boxer! Fifty percent Doberman Pincher! Fifty percent pointer—there it is! There it is! There it is! But, mostly, I'm all Labrador Retriever!") when reminded by others that he is not a Labrador retriever, his response would be, "If you'll find me a Labrador, I'll retrieve it for you." —though in reality, he is just a slick-talking mutt who rarely realizes that his own aggressive obnoxiousness is sabotaging his appeal to any potential guardian.

Often an Orphan was the last cartoon Porky Pig starred in with Charlie. The cartoon deals with Charlie trying to get Porky to adopt him after his old owner dumps him at Porky's farm on a trip disguised as a picnic. Charlie instead irritates Porky and the short deals with him trying to get rid of the dog in various ways, but failing each time.