Percival Pig cartoon!

Historians Rejoice:Percival Pig Cartoon Found

In 1926, Percival Pig was the biggest star since Thelma Talridge, but unlike Talridge, his fame has faded into the mists of time.

I spoke on the phone with animation historian Bud Banks about the discovery of a Percival Pig short called "House Painting".

Me: Hi, Bud.

Bud: Hi.

Me: So, I'm sure you and your staff are excited about finding "House Painting".

Bud: We sure are. This place has been looking dingy as hell- the mailbox out front is peeling and the guy left a flier-

Me: No- I meant the discovery of a Percival Pig cartoon.

Bud: A Pig what?

Me:"House Painting". A short cartoon staring Percival Pig, from 1926.

Bud: Never heard of it.

Me: Oh. Well... there was a cartoon found.

Bud: Yeah, I heard that part. Look, Fred, I got a lot of stuff to-

Me: Frank.

Bud: What?

Me: Frank, actually. My name is Frank.

Bud: Right. Well, anyway, look. Those cartoons got lost for a reason. You ever do Sudoku?

Me: What?

Bud: Soduku- it's like a number crossword puzzle.

Me: No, but I came here to talk about Perciv-

Bud: Addictive as hell.

Me: I want to interview you about the discovery of this new Percival Pig cartoon.

Bud: Look, kid. Those cartoons were godawful. Nobody who worked on them went on to do anything worthwhile anywhere else, so they're an evolutionary dead end.

Me: I like the rubber hose bounciness, and the innocence of-

Bud: Seven.

Me: Seven?

Bud: Several. They made several of those cartoons, and none of them were any good.

Me: I heard "seven". Are you doing Sudoku?

Bud: No, I'm listening. Look, every comedy act has to have one straight man and one patsy. Percival Pig was just a straight man! They made whole cartoons about him doing his laundry for Christ's sake. Nine.

Me: I think an animation historian would have more interest in a major discovery like this.

Bud: Discovery? You want a discovery? Discover how a book can be required reading at at least 4 major animation colleges, yet the stupid pea-brain publisher allows it to go out of print. Discover that. Five.

Me: Well, I think it's important.

Bud: What's important is to have conflict with your characters. If that pig character decides to build a fence, he goes and does it! There's nothing stopping him! It makes for weak story. Now look, you seem like a nice kid, but I really gotta go. I'm sure you like those cartoons, and God bless ya. Have at 'em.

Me: Well, thank you for your time, Bud. This has been-

Bud: Four.


And that's how the Q and A went down! We hope to be able to post this cartoon on this blog soon! I'm sure you are as excited about it as we are!