Fast Buck Duck is a 1963 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson and Ted Bonnicksen.
Plot[]
Daffy Duck, flat broke and living in the middle of a junkyard, has a newspaper thrown at his mouth, and states that every morning the same thing happens. He reads the newspaper and learns that a millionaire willed his fortune to a butler. In a fit of rage, Daffy tears up the newspaper to see an advertisement that says a millionaire is seeking a local entertainer, and a boon companion. Daffy decides to apply for this job. When he arrives at the house, he finds that he has one major obstacle, a bulldog that's guarding the place. Daffy tries to feed the dog a piece of ham, but the bulldog nearly bites off Daffy's arm, causing him to walk off scared.
Daffy, shocked at the sight of the dog, begins to think, "Bulldog? Couldn't have been!" He climbs over the wall to investigate. The dog then knocks Daffy down to the ground. "It has a face of a bulldog, but the body of a brick wall". Daffy then tries many attempts to get past the bulldog:
- Daffy first digs a hole under the wall, but the dog runs him over with a lawn roller and flies him as a kite out of the manor.
- Daffy plans to vault over next, but the dog pushes part of the wall up to hit him flat.
- Daffy chisels out part of the wall and grabs a hammer calling, "Here, kitty kitty kitty kitty!" Suddenly, he finds himself surrounded by cats, but when the dog appears, Enraged, the cats go berserk and wildly claw at Daffy.
- Daffy tries to lift himself over the wall with a balloon, but the dog is on stilts. "Shows who gots the brains- he has!" The bulldog tries to bite Daffy and Daffy tries to blow himself back until the balloon pops and Daffy falls down.
- Daffy uses sleeping powder on the dog, and tests various noises to try and wake him, but none do it. Daffy then walks away, rustling a twig, which awakens the dog, who grabs Daffy. Daffy then uses a stick to distract the dog, but he comes back just before he can run. Daffy then does this again, this time with a stick of dynamite. He makes it to the door. The dog opens it and gives back the dynamite to Daffy before it blows up.
Daffy makes it to the millionaire's room, only to find out the companion is for the bulldog himself, Percy. The millionaire says, "I know you two will become the best of friends." Percy walks away with Daffy in his mouth, who says, "'Friends' he says! With friends like this, you don't need any enemies!"
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- When this cartoon aired on CBS in the 1970s, the scene of Daffy drugging the guard dog's water with sleeping powder was cut, making it seem like the dog fell asleep on his own accord.
Notes[]
- With only 5 minutes and 8 seconds of footage (not counting the credits and cards), "Fast Buck Duck" is the shortest Daffy Duck short ever made in the Golden Age of American Animation.
- This was also the shortest Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon to be made in the Golden Age of American Animation, timing 5 minutes and 44 seconds.
- This was the only cartoon from Warner Bros. co-directed by Ted Bonnicksen, an animator for the Robert McKimson unit.
- Daffy's design in this short would later become the design that would be used in the cartoons featuring Speedy, himself, and the Goofy Gophers from the DePatie-Freleng era that were also directed by Robert McKimson.
- MeTV has aired a previously unreleased restored print of this short on Saturday Morning Cartoons.
- However, a small portion of the opening is cut due to time reasons, and immediately starts at the zoom in at Daffy's junkyard house instead of pausing briefly. When the short airs on the Toon In with Me block, the cut opening is left reinstated.
Gallery[]