Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953)

Duck Dodgers and Marvin Martian wage war over Planet X.

Director:

Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)

Writer:

Michael Maltese (story)

Star:

Mel Blanc

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mel Blanc	...	Daffy Duck AKA Duck Dodgers / Porky Pig / Marvin the Martian / Dr. I.Q. Hi (voice)

Storyline

Space hero Duck Dodgers, along with Eager Young Space Cadet Porky, travel to Planet X in search of Illudium Phosdex, the shaving cream atom. Unfortunately, Commander X-2 arrives in his "Martian Maggot" spaceship with his own designs on the place.

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Plot Keywords:

animal character name in title | duck dodgers character | daffy duck character | marvin the martian character | porky pig character | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

When this cartoon was released, it received the admiration of many notable science fiction directors, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. When Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) was re-released in theaters, the cartoon was run preceding the feature at Lucas' request.

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Goofs

On the sign outside Dr. I.Q. Hi's office, the word "stratosphere" is spelled "stratospere."

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. I.Q. High: I have sent for you, Dodgers, because we are facing a crisis. The world's supply of Alludium Phosdex, the shaving cream atom, is alarmingly low.

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Connections

Spoofs Buck Rogers (1939)

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Soundtracks

Egyptian Barn Dance
(uncredited)
Written by Raymond Scott

User Reviews

One of `non-crazy' Daffy's best

When the earth's supplies of the shaving foam atom run low, the scientific community turns to Duck Dodgers, the space travelling adventurer, to seek out a new supply. Dodgers travels to the unexplored planet X, rich in the atom, to claim it for earth; however a Martian is also on the planet to claim it for Mars. A battle ensues.

For many people this is Daffy's best cartoon; it certainly seems to have stuck in many peoples' childhood memories, mine included. The plot spoofs the Buck Rodgers series of the period reasonably well and sees Daffy going to planet X and battling Marvin with a variety of funny weapons. It starts a little slowly but gets better when Marvin appears. The gags may not be brilliant but they have a certain imagination and energy to them that make it all work pretty well.

I much prefer Daffy in his `crazy duck' personae rather than his later work, which is probably why I only enjoyed this film rather than loved it. Here he seems quite restrained and it is only occasionally when his character shines through the character of Dodgers. Porky has little to do but is reasonably amusing in his minor role, but it is Marvin that gives the best support in his rather one-dimensional role.

It will stick in my mind because it is such a good little spoof but it isn't as good as perhaps it has been remembered. On top of that, I didn't see any of the Daffy I really love and that was a problem for me.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,285, 16 February 1998

Gross USA:

$14,753

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,753

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1