Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas (1938) User Reviews

Egghead as a romantic lead. I must have missed something.

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 8 August 2002]

This is an excellent cartoon, with the incongruous premise that Egghead is a romantic leading man. I can see it now-first, there was Valentino and John Gilbert, then Gable and now Egghead. Oh, well, he's a Tex Avery leading man! This is a typical Avery short-sight gags come so fast and furious that they almost inundate the audience and you usually need three or four viewings to catch everything. Well worth watching. Most recommended.

Probably the only time that racism got clever.

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 2 March 2007]

Obviously, it's harder to laugh at "Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas" now that we realize how it pushes every possible stereotype about American Indians. The cartoon portrays Johnny Smith (played by Elmer Fudd's prototype Egghead) sailing to America - on the Mayflower! - only to get taken prisoner by the Indians; fortunately, Poker Huntas is on hand.

Still, in Tex Avery fashion, they have a gag every couple of seconds. True, it's the sort of stuff that they probably would have understood it all better in the '30s, but some stuff is still quite a hoot.

Sadly, these don't really make up for the obvious racism. Are we ever going to take a serious look at what John Smith's deeds led to?

Is director Tex Avery REALLY trying to offer new insights on the Life and Times of Amonute . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 2 April 2017]

. . . (which is the ACTUAL name of "Pocahontas," the latter term being a pet name meaning "Nympho" in Chief Powhatan's native Tsenacommacah lingo) during this brief cartoon, JOHNNY SMITH AND POKER-HUNTAS? In a word, no. The title character here betrays her people at every turn, hardly a fitting depiction of an ancestor of TWO American First Ladies (Edith Wilson and Nancy Reagan). Warner Bros. signals that it is not REALLY offering a story about native Americans in its conflation of TWO early North American English Colonies, Plymouth (where the Mayflower landed) and the older village of Jamestown (where Amonute dated John Smith but MARRIED her baby daddy, John Rolfe BEFORE being assassinated by jealous Royals at age 21 near London in 1617). Warner further warns viewers that "Poker-Huntas" is NOT meant as an Amonute caricature by stating the number of people who came over on the Mayflower is 7.5 times 10 to the 27th power, an absurd number far higher than the total population of our galaxy in 4949!

Warner's always prophetic Looney Tuners are presenting the traitorous double-agent "Poker-Huntas" as a clear stand-in for Don Juan Rump. Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin's MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE Rump has been associated with bankrupt losers' gambling casinos since the 1900s--hence the name's "Poker" prefix. As a further caution against Rump, an obvious KGB double agent since his 20s, Warner Bros. adds syllables pronounced "Hunt Us" to round out the traitor's moniker. This week's news is full of details on Gen. Benedict Arnold Flynn, who as Rump's first National Security Chief had ALL the sensitive info the KGB has been dying to get since the 1940s, and gave away the store. As detailed on the COAST-TO-COAST late night radio program, Putin's Russia soon will make a Pre-Emptive strike against America, taking down all our grids, blasting away all of our nuclear missiles--even the ones aboard nuclear submarines at formerly secret locations under the sea--and causing the imminent deaths of between 90 and 99% of all U.S. Citizens. If you view JOHNNY SMITH AND POKER-HUNTAS on YouTube or elsewhere BEFORE this comes to pass, you'll be able to tell all your expiring friends and relatives that you saw it here first!

American History With A Spin.

[Dawalk-1 · 10/10 · 19 May 2009]

One of my most favorite Egghead cartoons and WB shorts involving American Indian characters. I think it's one of the funniest too. I like how this based on John Smith and Pocahontas is distorted from what really happened and not quite accurate. Despite the somewhat racial (or racist) overtones, it's still a grand, amusing short, to me it's one of the best and shouldn't be taken too seriously as such, because much of the racial group who are depicted as the bad guys in this could've been anybody else also and exactly the same. My favorite parts are the scenes with the Native American neighborhood, Poker-Huntas coming to Johnny/Egghead's aid, the chase and every time Johnny/Egghead mentions that he sailed to America on the Mayflower. I wish this made its way to DVD release already and can't wait till it finally does make it's way onto that format. I love Poker-Huntas, she's delightful. This is great, especially for those who are into history and notwithstanding the spin on the true story, it would be perfect to use and show in history class. I recommend this for that one good reason.