Aqua Duck is a 1963 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
Title[]
The title is a play on "aqueduct".
Plot[]
A tired and desperately thirsty Daffy is wandering in the desert. He finds a small lake of water, which is just a mirage of sand. Daffy tries to dig for water and finds a gold nugget. "Who needs water? With this, I can buy Lake Erie." As Daffy keeps the nugget for himself, he grows paranoid, and his sanity deteriorates.
He buries his gold nugget, makes a map of where it is, and eats the map. However, he spots large amounts of marks where he hid the nugget. He finds the real mark moving. The pack rat which he passed earlier has attempted to take the gold nugget for himself. Daffy orders the rat to give back his nugget or be shot. After giving Daffy a worthless bone, the rat obliges. Soon, Daffy is worn out and hallucinates a phone. He imagines himself in a hotel and tries to request room service for a pitcher of ice water. The pack rat hears what Daffy says and gives him a jug of water. Daffy accepts the water, but inadvertently also gives his gold nugget to the pack rat. Realizing his mistake, Daffy rushes offscreen and takes his nugget back. Daffy imagines that he will wait for the transcontinental bus and steamship, before losing it even more and bouncing around, crazily laughing.
Daffy tries to get a grip of himself, but he fantasizes himself being in a baseball game, using his nugget as a baseball. He is hit by the nugget, declaring that he fouls. The pack rat offers the duck a water dispenser for the gold, which Daffy rejects. Daffy daydreams about being in a bar which he gets kicked out of, and dancing with a cactus. Realizing that a cactus also has water, he cuts it open to reveal the pack rat with a glass of water.
With the heat growing even more intense, Daffy can't take it anymore and disintegrates. The pack rat saves the duck by dropping some water on him, and Daffy surrenders his nugget to the pack rat. As he is about to down the glass of water, a large rainstorm comes and floods the desert. Daffy responds, "One thing you got to admit. When I buy water, I sure get my money's worth," before happily drinking.
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- On CBS' The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show, the part where Daffy pulls a gun on the pack rat when the pack rat takes his gold nugget was cut.
Notes[]
- A small portion of this cartoon was used in Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales.
- This cartoon was also used in the TV special How Bugs Bunny Won the West.
- MeTV aired a previously unreleased restored print of the cartoon on Toon In with Me. This restoration was later made available on Warner Bros. Discovery RIDE.
- The distinctively designed desert vegetation is evidence that Maurice Noble did uncredited work in this cartoon.
Gallery[]
TV Title Cards[]
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