Who's Who in the Zoo is one of the cartoons that Warner would occasionally produce, particularly in the World War II era, that featured a series of loosely related gags, usually based on outrageous stereotypes and plays on words, as a narrator (in this case Robert C. Bruce) describes the action. The plot is substantially similar to that of 1939's A Day at the Zoo, except that Porky Pig (voiced by Mel Blanc as usual) appears as the zookeeper of the "Azusa Zoo," and that the now-discontinued Elmer Fudd is absent. Some excerpts:
After the opening credits, the narrator says the title but acts too gibberish. According to the short, it says:
“Who’s who at a zoo-zoo who zoo uh, ahem. Who’s Who at Azusa’s Zoo.”
The narrator mentions the places and descriptions of the animals in the beginning with animal gags and puns shown.
In a comic "triple", a timber wolf is shown, then a gray wolf, then an unexpected "Hollywood wolf" (a frequent reference in the 1940s WB cartoons).
Other creatures include a "missing lynx", a "tortoise and the hair", "March hares" who march to a drumbeat, a down-on-his-luck "bum steer", an Indian elephant attired as an American Indian, a bald eagle wearing a toupee, and Capistranoswallows.
An Alaskan Bear who's known for hugging its prey to death picks up and starts hugging a defenseless sheep. When the narrator begs the bear to stop hugging the sheep, the sheep responds, in a feminine voice sounding like Sterling Holloway: "Oh, for goodness' sake, mind your own business!"
A group of seals that the narrator says only eat fresh mountain trout. Porky attempts to feed them a mackerel instead, claiming it to be indistinguishable, but a seal plants a sign saying "No substitutes accepted".
Some gags reference the then-ongoing World War II, including a black panther drinking cream from its dish, then noticing the food in the dish is aluminum and says it gibberish. Then, he throws it into a scrap pile, a reference to the Salvage for Victory campaign. A distressed rabbit father of dozens of babies given a note from the government to "increase your production 100%," as the song "What's The Matter with Father" plays in the background.
Then, a hippopotamus laughs while Porky hits him with a stick. A hyenalaughs, but pauses and says “I don’t get it.”, and continues laughing again.
In the end of the short, a lion is waiting a long time for the ice cream truck to come, The ice cream man gives him a popsicle, but it turns out the lion eats the ice cream man instead, hearing the ice cream truck’s bell inside the lion’s belly.
^Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 125. ISBN0-8050-0894-2.
