| Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Charles Jones |
| Story by | Dave Monahan |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Jack Lescoulie |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by | A.C. Gamer |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8:06 |
| Language | English |
Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur is a 1939Warner Bros.Merrie Melodies animated cartoon short directed byChuck Jones.[1] The cartoon was released on April 22, 1939, and is the firstDaffy Duck cartoon directed by Jones.[2]
Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur is set in achronologically twistedStone Age and features Daffy Duck going up against acaveman named Casper (who is a caricature ofJack Benny) and his petBrontosaurus Fido.
This is the last cartoon with theVitaphone intro, which was first used inThe Phantom Ship in 1936.
Casper (acaveman) and Fido (anapatosaur) go hunting for breakfast and come upon Daffy. Casper uses aslingshot to fire a rock at the duck who, until he realizes the danger, is casually floating along in a lake. He revs up to amazing speed, though barely keeping ahead of the rock. Finally, Daffy slides to a halt and, disguised as a traffic cop, causes the rock to wait while a swan crosses, as though at an intersection. After that, Daffy waves the rock through and takes off in the other direction. The rock realizes it has been tricked and backtracks but Daffy races between Casper's and Fido's legs. Fido, bending down to peer between his legs to see where Daffy has gone, has his head impacted by the rock. The dazed dinosaur performs a silly dance before floating to the ground, asleep.
Casper, upon seeing Daffy behaving decidedly not like a regular duck in water, says, "Gosh, that duck acts like he's crazy." Daffy replies, "That is correct; absolutely one-hundred percent correct!" and snaps the rubber of Casper's slingshot into the caveman's face. Casper decides to dive in after the duck and strips down. As he dives in, Daffy holds up a sign which indicates noswimming is allowed; Casper freezes in mid-dive then retreats to shore.
After ordering Fido to retrieve Daffy, which results only in Fido tying his own neck in a knot, the two leave. Daffy, however, knows that Casper will not give up, so he paints an image of himself on a rock. Indeed, Casper returns with a club, sees the image and bashes it; the reverberation courses through his body. Daffy gives the caveman a glass of water, which cures the issue and results in Casper thanking the duck and offering to shake hands. Daffy gives him a card advertising "...the biggest, most luscious Duck..."
Casper and Fido head off in the direction indicated on the card, following a series ofbillboards (parodying advertising techniques of the era, including references to "The Breakfast of Champions" and "The Pause that Refreshes") Daffy has erected. They eventually reach aninflatableballoon duck which is being pumped up by Daffy. Casper is terrified by this until Daffy hands him aknife. Casper marches over and stabs the huge, angry-looking balloon duck. The ensuingexplosion kills them all.
The short ends showing the three inHeaven, lounging onclouds. Fido plays aharp while Daffy and Casper think about their mistakes. Daffy laments, "You know, maybe that wasn't such a hot idea after all!" Invoking Jack Benny's usual farewell, Casper says, "Good night, folks." as the scene irises out.
Most of Chuck Jones-directed cartoons from this era (such as the ones featuringSniffles the Mouse) were very heavily inspired byWalt Disney's cartoon shorts, placing more emphasis on story and animation than gags.Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur shows the faintest hints of deviation from such cartoons, which eventually led to the fast-paced Jones cartoons of the 1940s, such asThe Dover Boys andThe Draft Horse.
This is also an important milestone in the evolution of Daffy Duck's personality. WhileTex Avery andBob Clampett had depicted Daffy as completely insane, irrational, and uncontrollable in their previous cartoons with the character, Jones depicted Daffy here as somewhat more thoughtful and calculating. Jones andFriz Freleng continued to develop Daffy's personality in this direction throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
In the music video forWas (Not Was)'s "Walk the Dinosaur", the cartoon in question is shown on its television.
In the episode "Memoriam" ofStar Trek: Voyager, Tom Paris watches part of this cartoon.
Media related toDaffy Duck and the Dinosaur at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toDaffy Duck and the Dinosaur at Wikiquote| Preceded by | Daffy Duck Cartoons 1939 | Succeeded by |