You Ought To Be in Pictures - Production

Production

• In a real-life parallel of the storyline, the short was directed by Friz Freleng, who had just returned to Schlesinger after a stint as a director at MGM's cartoon division.
• As noted, many staff members have cameos in this short:
  • Leon Schlesinger — appears as himself
  • Chuck Jones — one of the crowd rushing out during the lunch break
  • Bob Clampett — another one of the Termite Terrace employees rushing frantically off to lunch
  • Michael Maltese — the studio security guard (also voiced by Blanc)
  • Gerry Chiniquy — studio director calling for quiet
  • Henry Binder, Paul Marin — stagehands also calling for quiet. Binder is also the stagehand throwing Porky off the set
• Because the animation unit did not have access to location sound recording equipment, all of the live-action footage was shot silent. The voices had to be dubbed in later (which is why most of them were dubbed by Mel Blanc except Leon Schlesinger).
• To keep the short on-budget, relatively few special effects were used to marry the animation and live action. Where possible, the crew simply took still pictures of the office background and had them enlarged and placed directly on the animation stand.
• Despite being in black and white, this short was shown regularly on Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon, particularly during the Nick at Nite version.
• In 1995, the film was computer colorized and became a regular part of the Cartoon Network rotation. The film could also be seen in its original black and white form on the short-lived "Golden Jubilee" video collection of the mid-1980s, Cartoon Network's installment show Late Night Black and White, and Nick at Nite's version of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon.