Duck Amuck (1953)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Chuck Jones

Writer:

Michael Maltese (story)

Release Date:

28 February 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Comedy | Short

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Animator | Daffy Duck | Cartoon Character Draws Own Reality | Movie Star | Split Screen

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Mel Blanc

...

Daffy Duck / Bugs Bunny (voice)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #15191) | UK:U | Canada:G (Nova Scotia)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

According to Chuck Jones, the revelation of the animator in the ending is just for comedic value - Jones (the director) is speaking to the audience directly, asking "Who is Daffy Duck anyway? Would you recognize him if I did THIS to him?"

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?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest Cartoons (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Penguin

One Duck Show

The Duck has been a favorite cartoon character of audiences from his inception, but in Chuck Jones' hands, Daffy was at his greediest, all too human like best (worst?).

In this cartoon, Daffy Duck is manipulated by some unseen, omnipotent force that keeps changing the scenery, the sound, and even the appearance of Daffy himself, much to his horror. The humor in most of the gags go deeper than the usual Warner Bros. cartoon, with claustrophobia, an exact duplicate of Daffy and instant deformity inflicted upon him has us laughing at our own fears.

But it's Jones' vision of Daffy that is the true star of this and many other of his cartoons. The other directors, the great Friz Freleng and the unfairly maligned Robert McKimson, never really had the grasp of the new Daffy Duck that emerged in the mid 40's, but he really was a new creation of Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones, only faintly reminiscent of the crazy antics that handlers such as Frank Tashlin, Tex Avery and Robert Clampett portrayed him as possessing. That old Daffy was wild and wacky and good, the new Daffy always has us humans at a disadvantage by making fun of our own weaknesses.