The Ducktators is a 1942 Looney Tunes short directed by Norman McCabe.
Title[]
The title is a pun on the word "dictators".
Plot[]
On a farm, two ducks who are expecting a duckling approach their unusually black-colored egg as it starts to hatch. A duckling with an Adolf Hitler mustache emerges and yells, "Sieg Heil!" while giving the Nazi salute.
The duck grows into adulthood, holding aggressive speeches toward other ducks and geese. One goose, representing Benito Mussolini, agrees with him and gives the Nazi salute. A postcard from The Management of the Theatre says "We wish to apologize to the NICE DUCKS and GEESE who may be in the audience." The Hitler duck gathers a group of soldiers to join him in his own Axis Powers Army. The Mussolini goose delivers a speech to the only listener, a little chick who had been forced to stay and applaud. Storm troopers are sent marching across the area, while the Dove of Peace, grieves at what is happening. "Have they forgot? 'Tis love that's right, and naught is gained by show of might."
A group of chickens and the Mussolini goose are at a Peace Conference, in which the Hitler duck slaps the Mussolini goose and puts the newly signed peace treaty through a shredder, whereupon everyone in the Peace Conference area brawl against each other.
A Hideki Tojo duck with large teeth and round glasses holding the flag of the Empire of Japan is swimming across water and placing the flag on a tiny island that turns out to be a turtle, who emerges from the water and chases the duck, beating him with the "Japanese Mandate Island" flag. The Japanese duck tries to get out of being beaten by flashing a badge that reads, "I Am Chinese, MADE IN JAPAN," but to no avail.
The three, Hitler Duck, Mussolini Goose, and Tojo Duck, march across a field while singing a parody of "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe".
The Dove tries to reason with the Axis Powers. However, they ignore him and trample him. His temper reaching breaking point, the Dove yells at the Axis Powers to stop. The Dove combats against the Hitler duck, Mussolini goose and Tojo duck, as well as their storm troopers. With the help of a group of chickens, the baby chick, a crazy rabbit with a mustache wielding a large wooden hammer for a weapon and hiding in a barrel, and a human man carrying a sniper rifle that emerges from a poster that says "For Victory, Buy United States Victory Bonds" fire at the fleeing Axis powers. The Dove overthrows the Axis Powers and saves the day!
Years later, the Dove, now a brave war hero, has two children, one named Peace, the other named Quiet. The Dove, sounding like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, explains to his children that even though he hates war, he chose to be brave and stand up against the Axis Powers. The Dove points out to his children that his enemies have been killed and are now moose-head trophies above his fireplace.
The final message states to the U.S. audience that if they wish to defeat the Axis Powers and bring peace to the world once again, all they have to do to insure the country's victory is to buy United States Savings Bonds and Stamps.
Caricatures[]
- Adolf Hitler
- Eddie "Rochester" Anderson - black duck's voice
- Benito Mussolini
- Hideki Tojo
- Bill Thompson's character Old Timer - Father Time
- Jerry Colonna - rabbit
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Peace Dove
Availability[]
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc Two
Censorship[]
- When this cartoon was sold to Sunset Productions for television, the entire ending where the War Bonds soldier blasts the fleeing dictators and the dove shows his children his enemies as moose heads on the wall, followed by a message to buy War Bonds was cut, making the short end abruptly with the Jerry Colonna-esque rabbit hitting himself on the head. This edited version has appeared on many gray-market public domain VHS cassettes and DVDs and sometimes crops up on online video channels, though most online video sites have the uncut version with the complete ending.
Goofs[]
- During Hitler's speech, the geese's animation of them agreeing with him flashes on-screen a few seconds early
Notes[]
- The original ending, as mentioned in the "Censorship" section, was restored in an episode of Cartoon Network's anthology series ToonHeads showcasing Norman McCabe's cartoons.
- This cartoon entered the public domain in 1970 due to Warner Bros. failing to renew the copyright.
- Nickelodeon had this cartoon in its broadcasting library back when it had the rights to air Warner Bros. cartoons for Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon, but the channel chose not to air it as it had outdated racial stereotypes that were difficult to edit out of the cartoon.
- The Vitaphone release number is 770.
