third Looney Tunes film starring Beans. Beans was also featured in the film's title card, signifying that he was the intended protagonist. The film had a Western setting and cast Beans as a gold miner. Also featured in the film was a redesigned Porky Pig, making his second appearance. Beans began appearing with characters from the cast of I Haven't Got a Hat, most frequently Porky Pig. However, after a number of Porky and Beans outings, it became clear that the character audiences were talking about was Beans' stuttering sidekick, Porky Pig, and after Westward Whoa, Beans was phased out and Porky replaced him as the star of Looney Tunes. According to Barrier, Beans made one last appearance in Shanghaied Shipmates (1936), a short film directed by Jack King. It was to be the last animated short featuring either Beans or the rest of the cast of I Haven't Got a Hat, with the exception of Porky Pig. Barrier suggests that Leon Schlesinger may have been giving Avery a vote of confidence, when deciding to keep only Porky as a continuing character and to drop Beans. Porky had already been the main star in Avery's films, while Beans had continued to serve as the main star of King's films. After losing use of Beans, Jack King directed only three films starring Porky Pig. By April 1936, King was hired again by the Disney studio. He would go on to serve as a director in films starring Donald Duck. In 1937 and 1938, Schlesinger's studio began creating various potential replacements for Beans, producing characters such as Gabby Goat, Petunia Pig, Daffy Duck and a little white hare. Daffy would become Porky's most enduring comic partner, while Gabby and Petunia both disappeared after a few shorts; the white hare would rarely ever appear with Porky again but would, over the course of a few years, evolve into Warner Bros.'s biggest star, Bugs Bunny. Filmography References Sources Looney Tunes characters Anthropomorphic cats Film characters introduced in 1935