The Stupid Cupid is a 1944 Looney Tunes short directed by Frank Tashlin.
Plot[]
Elmer Fudd plays Cupid, still wearing his trademark derby and diaper, shooting arrows at animals so they fall in love with their female counterparts, except a bulldog who falls in love with a cat he's chasing, making the cat commit suicide multiple times.
When he attempts to shoot Daffy Duck, who is bathing in a barn, the duck complains of the last time he was shot by his cupid's arrow, ending up tied down, unhappily married to a wife and many ducklings, including one with two heads, whose wallet photos he offers as evidence. Daffy stuffs Elmer into his own derby and shoots him away with his own bow, telling him to "SCRAM!" Although Elmer was cheerful at his job before, when he emerges from his hat, his stuttering laugh has never sounded more ominous.
Showing a fiendish side, Elmer shoots a giant arrow to Daffy, crashing through several hen houses and half of the landscape, and makes Daffy fall in love with married hen Emily. Her rooster husband Rocko gets ready to pummel Daffy. The duck declares he is a family man himself, briefly appearing with a jalopy full of the previously mentioned ducklings. Then Rocko the Rooster lets Daffy go, but Elmer shoots him yet again, starting the whole process over again. While Rocko the rooster is smooching his wife named Emily, Daffy slips in-between the two and begins smooching Emily the hen. Emily the hen taps on Rocko the rooster's shoulder to alert him.
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- Two different censored versions of this cartoon (both of which cut the scene of the cat shooting himself in the head after the dog gets hit by Cupid's arrow and declares his love for the cat) exist on the American Turner networks:
- The a.a.p. version (which aired on Cartoon Network, TBS and TNT before 1995 and currently airs on Latin America's Tooncast channel) removes the entire scene featuring the cat and the bulldog, making the cartoon go from the horse getting hit with Cupid's arrow and gleefully bouncing around the barnyard after kissing the female horse to Daffy bathing in a trough and Cupid Elmer about to target him.
- The 1995 dubbed version (which aired on Cartoon Network, TBS and TNT after 1995 and is the version that currently airs on Boomerang) leaves in the part with the cat and dog fighting, Cupid Elmer firing his arrow at the dog, and the dog suddenly sounding like Charles Boyer and declaring his love for the cat, but as soon as the cat shrugs his shoulders, the edited version fades into the scene of Daffy bathing in a trough and Cupid Elmer about to target him.
Lost Ending[]
In known prints of this cartoon, the last scene involves the rooster kissing the hen with Daffy quickly zooming in between the two lovers and kissing the hen himself. The hen taps on the rooster's shoulder to alert him of Daffy's presence. The rooster stops kissing and looks up shocked just before the scene abruptly fades to black. According to historian Greg Ford, the original ending involved Daffy saying "If you haven't tried it, don't knock it." It is uncertain whether this was excised from the original release print or from the Blue Ribbon reissue.
Notes[]
- Elmer would play cupid again in the Valentine's Day special Bugs Bunny's Valentine. The New Looney Tunes episode Valentine's Dayffy is also a rebooted version of this episode, and replaces Emily Chicken with Daffy's unnamed crush.
- Cupid Elmer from this cartoon would later make a brief cameo in the title card of the Valentine's Day special Looney Tunes Cartoons Valentine's Extwavaganza!, despite not appearing in any Looney Tunes Cartoons episodes to date.
- When the rooster is shocked that he is kissing Daffy, there is an abrupt fade to black. According to historian Greg Ford, the original ending involved Daffy saying "If you haven't tried it, don't knock it."[3] Whether it was removed for the Blue Ribbon reissue or from the original release print is unknown.
- This is the first cartoon to use WARNER BROS. PICTURES INC. on opening titles. The drum ending would still have PRODUCED BY WARNER BROS. CARTOONS until "Odor-able Kitty".
- With the exception of his signature laugh, Elmer did not have any dialogue in this cartoon, hence Frank Graham voices Elmer in this cartoon instead of Arthur Q. Bryan.
- This is Elmer Fudd's first appearance in a Looney Tunes cartoon (outside of his voice in "Nutty News"); all of his previous cartoons are in the Merrie Melodies series.
- This cartoon was shown in theatres with The Doughgirls during its original release.