. . . (without being part of an attacking Yankee military unit) is totally nuts, Warner Bros. warns us with THE WEARING OF THE GRIN, just one in a continuing series of world travel alerts Warner produced in the form of animated shorts. GRIN does for Ireland what MY BUNNY LIES OVER THE SEA did for Scotland. Porky Pig has thrown caution to the wind, and has reached suburban Dublin as GRIN opens. Expecting to enjoy the hospitality of a nearby castle as the Emerald Isle's notoriously rugged weather sets in, the trusting porker is struck down in a booby-trapped fortress entry way. Stunted bearded bozos then try to drown this stunned American tourist. Failing at that, the loony locals terrorize poor Porky out of his wits. (Water boarding may sound a tad harsh, but it pales in comparison to the Horrors of Involuntary Tap Dancing!) If director Eli Roth's GREEN INFERNO and HOSTEL flicks haven't been enough to make your impressionable youngsters swear off "study abroad" programs and other forms of foreign travel forever, show them Warner's THE WEARING OF THE GRIN and the many related Looney Tunes. (And if they're STILL hankering for dangerous adventures, you can suggest that they try to jog through the streets of North Charleston, SC, to find out if they'll be stoned, as I recently was there.)

The Wearing of the Grin is not a favourite by all means, but I liked it a lot. The animation is very good, with beautiful colouring, convincing character features and dream-like visual effects. The music as pretty much always is a delight as well, as are the sight gags(beware of the leprechauns was a good one). I for one enjoyed the climax, it was funny if a tad predictable, and the dialogue comes by thick and fast. The story is effective if slight, and the characters are good too. Porky is suitably timid here, but it is O Pat and O Mike who steal the show, they could be seen as stereotypical but they were funny, that's what mattered to me. And of course Mel Blanc is excellent. Overall, it is visually imaginative and definitely worth a look at least once. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In The Wearing of the Grin, Porky is stuck in a haunted house in Ireland inhabited by a couple of leprechauns. They attempt to banish the pig to wearing green shoes because they think he's going to steal their pot-o-gold. Another very amusing short directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The music here is not by Carl Stalling but Eugene Poddany who would eventually do the scores of Jones' cartoons for MGM. Loved the way Porky dances whenever he's wearing the shoes. Highly whimsical dream sequences also abound near the end. This is on disc 2 of Vol. 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection on DVD. If you're a big animation fan, I highly recommend you check that out.

One stormy night, Porky Pig is hiking through the Irish countryside to Dublin, but it's still twelve miles. Then, he comes across a castle and decides to spend the night there. When he arrives, the owner warns him that no one has lived in this castle for hundreds of years except for...The Leprechauns. Needless to say, Porky doesn't believe this. But, he should have, especially since the Leprechauns are always worried about people coming after their Pot o'Gold which they will do literally anything to protect.Okay, so I admit that associating Ireland with leprechauns is a stereotype that seems a little out of place, especially given the situation in Northern Ireland. But "The Wearing of the Grin" is rather harmless; just a funny amusement for children. A pure four-leaf clover it is, it is.