Duck Amuck (1953)

The short-tempered Daffy Duck must improvise madly as the backgrounds, his costumes, the soundtrack, even his physical form, shifts and changes at the whim of the animator.

Director:

Chuck Jones

Writer:

Michael Maltese (story)

Stars:

Mel Blanc

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mel Blanc	...	Daffy Duck / Bugs Bunny (voice)

Storyline

Daffy Duck plays a Musketeer, but as he advances on his enemy, the background disappears; Daffy demands the proper scenery, and an animator paints a completely inappropriate background - the start of a running duel between Daffy and the unseen animator who changes backgrounds, Daffy's appearance, the soundtrack, and even the film projection under Daffy's feet, forcing the mad mallard to improvise his performance and leaving him screaming for the animator's head.

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Plot Keywords:

animator | reference to longfellow | sailor | audio problems | long shot | 

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Genres:

Family | Animation | Comedy | Short

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farce au canard

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In animation historian Jerry Beck's 1994 poll of animators, film historians and directors, this cartoon was rated the second greatest cartoon of all time.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Daffy Duck: Stand back, musketeers, they shall sample my blade! Touche!
[suddenly realizes that there is absolutely nothing behind him]
Daffy Duck: Musketeers? Hm? En Garde, eh? My blade? Hey, psst. Whoever's in charge here! The scenery! Where's the scenery?

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are written in essentially the same style as those of "Rabbit Hood" from 1949--red and blue "Old English" letters on parchment--deceptively suggesting "Duck Amuck" is a similar "period" cartoon.

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Connections

Referenced in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Dragonshy (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Can't We Talk It Over"
(uncredited)
Music by Victor Young

User Reviews

Animation fun

In this cartoon an unseen animator is having fun with the Daffy Duck character. The animator changes backgrounds, changes the clothes of Daffy, and even changes Daffy from time to time. Every time the animator does this Daffy has to act different. Daffy himself of course is commenting on all this playing around. In the end he asks who is responsible and the cartoon has a nice and very funny surprise for us.

This classic cartoon shows us the world of animation where everything is possible. The animator is not seen but his tools, like a pencil, are and that makes it very funny. Director Chuck Jones shows us Daffy and although he changes from time to time he always is Daffy. A great and hilarious cartoon.