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The Practical Pig is a Silly Symphony that debuted on February 24, 1939. It was the only Silly Symphony to be billed as a "Three Little Pigs" cartoon. It's also the final Silly Symphony to feature the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Three Little Wolves.

Synopsis[]

Practical Pig is hard at work building a new anti-wolf contraption, this time a lie detector. His two brothers, Fiddler and Fifer Pig, express their amusement at this before deciding to go swimming, but Practical warns them: "Don't go swimming, do ya hear? The pond ain't safe, the Wolf is near!" Ignoring this warning, Fiddler tells Fifer "Last one in is a pork sausage!" and they rush off to the pond. After changing into their swimming trunks and diving in, they start calling each other a pork sausage. Sure enough, the Big Bad Wolf is nearby and decides that he should cook Fiddler and Fifer into a pork pie for dinner. So he disguises himself as a mermaid to lure Fiddler and Fifer and captures them, bringing them to an old windmill where his sons the Three Little Wolves are waiting for their dinner. When his sons run towards the pigs, the Wolf swats them aside, telling them "Take your time! Take your time! We don't eat until I get that third pig, see?" The Wolf, thinking that Practical isn't as smart as he thinks, plans to entrap him using a fake letter requesting help by his brothers on the belief he would fall for that sort of trick. As he writes the letter however, the Three Little Wolves attempt to eat one of the pigs' legs between a baguette (complete with smothering the leg with mustard), but the Wolf sees what they're doing and blows them down. Afterwards, the Wolf sets off to capture Practical, reminding his sons "Remember, no eats 'til Pop gets back!". The Three Little Wolves seem to agree with him, telling him "Uh, okay, Pop.", but once he takes his leave, they start early and put the two pigs into a pan to prepare to bake them into the pork pie; Fifer and Fiddler, out of concern more for the wolves' lying to their father than being eaten, ask them "Why don't you mind your papa?"

Back at Practical's house, Practical is putting the finishing touches on his lie detector when he hears a knock at the door. It's the Wolf, disguised as a messenger boy, which Practical only realizes when the Wolf forgetfully blows the fake letter under Practical's door. The Wolf's bad penmanship regarding his letter (the letter reads "DEAR BRUTHER. WE ARE IN TRUBBLE CUM WITH ME BEARER. LUVINGLY YUR BRUTHERS") also makes Practical realize that "he's got 'em!". Unaware he's blown his cover, the Wolf -with a bag at the ready- asks Practical if he's coming with him; Practical claims he'll be right with him, before quietly setting his new invention in motion. Just as the Wolf thinks Practical fell for it, the welcome mat drops from under the Wolf's feet, and the surprised Wolf falls into the pit below. He is next seen strapped in a chair in Practical's basement, as Practical begins to interrogate the Wolf, demanding to know his brothers' whereabouts. The Wolf claims "Your brothers? Never heard of 'em!" and the lie detector goes into action; a phonograph plays back his words, electricity crackles, alarm bells ring, chemicals mix and eventually, a needle on the machine's main indicator points to "LIE" as two steam whistles blow in a wolf-whistle. The result: a scrub brush washes the Wolf's mouth out with soap. When Practical repeats his demand to know of where his brothers are, the Wolf then claims "I ain't seen 'em!"; the chair he's in flips over and he ends up getting a spanking with another scrub brush. The third time Practical demands for information, the Wolf -in an attempt to avoid further punishment- tries to fool the machine by calmly claiming "Now listen, buddy, you've got me wrong. Why, I'm your pal." But the lie detector sees through this instantly and promptly gives him the works (a spanking and a mouth washing, along with his knuckles being whacked with rulers, all at once).

Meanwhile, the Three Little Wolves are about to put Fifer and Fiddler in the finished pork pie into the oven. The two pigs warn them they'll be sorry when their father comes home and finds them gone, but the wolves simply sarcastically concur with their warning. Before they put the pork pie (along with the Fiddler and Fifer) into the oven, one of the wolves suddenly remembers they forgot to add pepper. As they add the pepper onto the pie crust however, the lid of the pepper shaker suddenly comes off and the larger than intended amount poured onto Fifer and Fiddler causes the two pigs to sneeze so strongly, the pie crust is duffed off and into the wolves, which sticks and traps them against a far wall. With the Three Little Wolves trapped, Fiddler and Fifer quickly make their escape and rush back to Practical's house.

Back at Practical's house, the lie detector punishes the Wolf harder and harder until he finally gives in; the machine's indicator points to "TRUTH" as a mechanical bird tweets and plays a harp. The exhausted Wolf tells Practical, "They're in the old... the old mill". He is then shot out of the house with a firecracker and seemingly explodes in the sky. Practical prepares to go save his brothers when Fiddler and Fifer burst in. When Practical scolds them for defying his warning, they promptly claim that they didn't go swimming, but the lie detector springs into action and gives them a serious spanking. Practical then tells them "Remember, this hurts me worse than it does you!", but the lie detector interprets this as a lie and gives him a spanking too.

Voice Cast[]

Releases[]

Television[]

VHS

  • Dumbo (UK VHS; 1985 - 1997)

DVD[]

Gallery[]


v - e - d
Sillysymphonylogo
1929
The Skeleton DanceEl Terrible ToreadorSpringtimeHell's BellsThe Merry Dwarfs
1930
SummerAutumnCannibal CapersFrolicking FishArctic AnticsMidnight in a Toy ShopNightMonkey MelodiesWinterPlayful Pan
1931
Birds of a FeatherMother Goose MelodiesThe China PlateThe Busy BeaversThe Cat's OutEgyptian MelodiesThe Clock StoreThe Spider and the FlyThe Fox Hunt (1931 short)The Ugly Duckling (1931)
1932
The Bird StoreThe Bears and BeesJust DogsFlowers and TreesKing NeptuneBugs in LoveBabes in the WoodsSanta's Workshop
1933
Birds in the SpringFather Noah's ArkThree Little PigsOld King ColeLullaby LandThe Pied PiperThe Night Before Christmas
1934
The China ShopThe Grasshopper and the AntsFunny Little BunniesThe Big Bad WolfThe Wise Little HenThe Flying MousePeculiar PenguinsThe Goddess of Spring
1935
The Tortoise and the HareThe Golden TouchThe Robber KittenWater BabiesThe Cookie CarnivalWho Killed Cock Robin?Music LandThree Orphan KittensCock o' the WalkBroken Toys
1936
Elmer ElephantThree Little WolvesToby Tortoise ReturnsThree Blind MouseketeersThe Country CousinMother PlutoMore Kittens
1937
Woodland CaféLittle HiawathaThe Old Mill
1938
The Moth and the FlameWynken, Blynken and NodFarmyard SymphonyMerbabiesMother Goose Goes Hollywood
1939
The Practical PigThe Ugly Duckling
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