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What Makes Daffy Duck is a 1948 Looney Tunes short directed by Arthur Davis.

Synopsis[]

Duck season is open and Daffy is running scared. While taking a shower, Daffy is grabbed by both Elmer and a Hungry Fox (Chuckles). The two fight over who get Daffy.

Plot[]

Daffy sneaks across the meadow, dodging hunter's bullets. He hides behind a tree, his teeth chattering and knees knocking. He is startled on seeing the audience, but calms down and explains, "You see, it's duck season, and, confidentially, I'm a duck!"

He crawls across the meadow and takes a morning shower while singing "King for a Day". While he sings in the shower, a fox and Elmer Fudd approach the shower from opposite directions, each unaware of the other's presence. They reach into the shower to grab Daffy, but he emerges from the shower untouched. They look inside the curtain and see their fingers literally tied together, much to their annoyance.

The fox and Elmer start grabbing at Daffy, but Daffy stops them. He tells them to race to a pine tree, and the first one to reach it "gets tender, juicy me as first prize." When he fires the starting gun, only Elmer takes off; the fox stays behind, grabs Daffy, and flees. Daffy calls to Elmer and tells him he has been swindled. Elmer starts chasing after the fox. Meanwhile, Daffy deliberately squirts oil on the hill, and the fox slides downhill. At the bottom of the hill, Elmer aims his gun at the fox and demands that he leave. The fox turns to escape, only to run smack into a tree, knocking him out cold.

Now Elmer turns his gun on Daffy, but Daffy puts Elmer on a guilt trip, melodramatically complaining about the misery of being constantly pursued by hunters. Catching Elmer off guard, he hits Elmer on the head with a mallet, knocking him out.

A little later, Daffy is admiring himself in a mirror. Elmer puts on a semi-realistic female duck disguise and calls to Daffy from a pond. Daffy begins flirting with the duck, but dives underwater, sees Elmer's boots, and sees through his game. Still, Daffy plays along, and offers to bring some art collectibles for "her" to see. He slips away and awakens the fox (who was still unconscious until now) with a duck call. The fox sees the "female duck", grabs it, and runs away, until he notices the neck stretching. Curiously, he confusedly asks "What kind of a duck is this?" as he opens the lid of the duck costume, and Elmer pops out pointing his gun in the fox's face. Elmer, still in costume, chases after the fox, but is caught by the boot with a long rope, pulling him out of the costume and getting him entirely stuck in the boot, sadly asking himself, "How am I ever gonna catch that scwewy duck?" Daffy, who lassoed him, replies, "Precisely what I was wondering, my little nimrod!"

Suddenly, the fox grabs Daffy by the throat and flees the area with him, trying to put as much distance between himself and Elmer. But just when he thought he had gotten far enough away, he turns and runs into Elmer and his gun. Elmer forces the fox to give up Daffy and sends him away. Then Elmer, by now greatly irritated, drags Daffy away to shoot him, while Daffy calls to the fox to stop Elmer. Elmer pins Daffy to a tree and squeezes the trigger, but instead of gunfire, there is a pop. The fox has returned and stuck his fingers in the gun barrel to stop Elmer. The fox and Elmer start cursing in each others' faces, and their argument turns to fisticuffs, while Daffy watches from atop the tree, cheering them on.

While the fox and Elmer are fighting, a dog in a ranger uniform appears and nails two signs to the tree: DUCK SEASON CLOSED and FOX SEASON OPEN. He blows a whistle. The fox and Elmer read the signs, and then Elmer glares menacingly at the frightened fox, who flees for his life. The dog gives Elmer a more appropriate hunting hat and a horse to ride, and Elmer chases the fox on horseback. As the fox, Elmer and his horse run away into the distance, the dog pulls off his rubber mask to reveal Daffy in disguise, and he comments, "Obviously, I am dealing with inferior mentalities."

Availability[]

All prints have the 1950 green Merrie Melodies ending title card.

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

When this short was broadcast on the former WB Network the following scenes were edited:

  • The scene where the fox captures Elmer dressed as a female duck, opens the duck costume ("What kind of a duck is this?"), and gets Elmer's rifle in his face ("Muscwing in on my tewwitowy again, eh? I'm gonna put your--"), then closes the costume and runs off with Elmer chasing after the fox and yelling, "I'll get you, you cwazy character!" was cut, going from Daffy waking the fox up with a duck call to Elmer running after the fox and yelling, "I'll get you, you cwazy character!"
  • The entire sequence after the fox makes off with Daffy and unplugs the boat, causing it to sink where Elmer scares the fox off by, once again, threatening him with his rifle, Elmer taking Daffy, Daffy begging the fox to come back for him, Elmer slamming Daffy against a pole and going to shoot him, only for the fox to reappear and plug the rifle was completely cut, going from the fox sinking the rowboat to Elmer calling the fox a "doggone cwook" and the two fighting over who gets Daffy (before a game warden changes the hunting season from duck to fox).

Notes[]

  • The original ending title was replaced with the 1950 Merrie Melodies ending card before the sale to Associated Artists Productions, as the a.a.p. print also had the 1950 Merrie Melodies ending card. However, both American and European Turner prints, recognize this short as a Looney Tune and as such use the 1947-48 dubbed Looney Tunes closing.
    • The original closing titles are presumed to be lost, as the short only exists with the 1950 Merrie Melodies closing titles, even on the restored DVD release. However, the original ending survives on a pre-1950 16mm print.[citation needed] (November 2019)
  • This short is the only Elmer Fudd short to be directed by Arthur Davis.
  • Although the short was released in Cinecolor, the lobby cards say that it is in Technicolor. A possible explanation is that the short was planned to be released in Technicolor, but had to be in Cinecolor for budgetary reasons.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ā†‘ https://archive.org/details/catalogofcopyrig3291213libr/page/n122/mode/1up?view=theater
  2. ā†‘ (3 October 2022) Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 (in en). BearManor Media, page 137. 
Elmer Fudd Cartoons
1937 Little Red Walking Hood
1938 The Isle of Pingo Pongo ā€¢ Cinderella Meets Fella ā€¢ A Feud There Was ā€¢ Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas
1939 Hamateur Night ā€¢ A Day at the Zoo ā€¢ Believe It or Else
1940 Elmer's Candid Camera ā€¢ Confederate Honey ā€¢ The Hardship of Miles Standish ā€¢ A Wild Hare ā€¢ Good Night Elmer
1941 Elmer's Pet Rabbit ā€¢ Wabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to Supper ā€¢ Any Bonds Today? ā€¢ The Wacky Wabbit ā€¢ Nutty News ā€¢ Fresh Hare ā€¢ The Hare-Brained Hypnotist
1943 To Duck .... or Not to Duck ā€¢ A Corny Concerto ā€¢ An Itch in Time
1944 The Old Grey Hare ā€¢ The Stupid Cupid ā€¢ Stage Door Cartoon
1945 The Unruly Hare ā€¢ Hare Tonic
1946 Hare Remover ā€¢ The Big Snooze
1947 Easter Yeggs ā€¢ A Pest in the House ā€¢ Slick Hare
1948 What Makes Daffy Duck ā€¢ Back Alley Op-Roar ā€¢ Kit for Cat
1949 Wise Quackers ā€¢ Hare Do ā€¢ Each Dawn I Crow
1950 What's Up Doc? ā€¢ The Scarlet Pumpernickel ā€¢ Rabbit of Seville
1951 Rabbit Fire
1952 Rabbit Seasoning
1953 Upswept Hare ā€¢ Ant Pasted ā€¢ Duck! Rabbit, Duck! ā€¢ Robot Rabbit
1954 Design for Leaving ā€¢ Quack Shot
1955 Pests for Guests ā€¢ Beanstalk Bunny ā€¢ Hare Brush ā€¢ Rabbit Rampage ā€¢ This Is a Life? ā€¢ Heir-Conditioned
1956 Bugs' Bonnets ā€¢ A Star Is Bored ā€¢ Yankee Dood It ā€¢ Wideo Wabbit
1957 What's Opera, Doc? ā€¢ Rabbit Romeo
1958 Don't Axe Me ā€¢ Pre-Hysterical Hare
1959 A Mutt in a Rut
1960 Person to Bunny ā€¢ Dog Gone People
1961 What's My Lion?
1962 Crows' Feat
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
2012 Daffy's Rhapsody
Daffy Duck Cartoons
1937 Porky's Duck Hunt
1938 Daffy Duck & Egghead ā€¢ What Price Porky ā€¢ Porky & Daffy ā€¢ The Daffy Doc ā€¢ Daffy Duck in Hollywood
1939 Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur ā€¢ Scalp Trouble ā€¢ Wise Quacks
1940 Porky's Last Stand ā€¢ You Ought to Be in Pictures
1941 A Coy Decoy ā€¢ The Henpecked Duck
1942 Conrad the Sailor ā€¢ Daffy's Southern Exposure ā€¢ The Impatient Patient ā€¢ The Daffy Duckaroo ā€¢ My Favorite Duck
1943 To Duck .... or Not to Duck ā€¢ The Wise Quacking Duck ā€¢ Yankee Doodle Daffy ā€¢ Porky Pig's Feat ā€¢ Scrap Happy Daffy ā€¢ A Corny Concerto ā€¢ Daffy - The Commando
1944 Tom Turk and Daffy ā€¢ Tick Tock Tuckered ā€¢ Duck Soup to Nuts ā€¢ Slightly Daffy ā€¢ Plane Daffy ā€¢ The Stupid Cupid
1945 Draftee Daffy ā€¢ Ain't That Ducky ā€¢ Nasty Quacks
1946 Book Revue ā€¢ Baby Bottleneck ā€¢ Daffy Doodles ā€¢ Hollywood Daffy ā€¢ The Great Piggy Bank Robbery
1947 Birth of a Notion ā€¢ Along Came Daffy ā€¢ A Pest in the House ā€¢ Mexican Joyride
1948 What Makes Daffy Duck ā€¢ Daffy Duck Slept Here ā€¢ The Up-Standing Sitter ā€¢ You Were Never Duckier ā€¢ Daffy Dilly ā€¢ The Stupor Salesman ā€¢ Riff Raffy Daffy
1949 Wise Quackers ā€¢ Holiday for Drumsticks ā€¢ Daffy Duck Hunt
1950 Boobs in the Woods ā€¢ The Scarlet Pumpernickel ā€¢ His Bitter Half ā€¢ Golden Yeggs ā€¢ The Ducksters
1951 Rabbit Fire ā€¢ Drip-Along Daffy ā€¢ The Prize Pest
1952 Thumb Fun ā€¢ Cracked Quack ā€¢ Rabbit Seasoning ā€¢ The Super Snooper ā€¢ Fool Coverage
1953 Duck Amuck ā€¢ Muscle Tussle ā€¢ Duck Dodgers in the 24Ā½th Century ā€¢ Duck! Rabbit, Duck!
1954 Design for Leaving ā€¢ Quack Shot ā€¢ My Little Duckaroo
1955 Beanstalk Bunny ā€¢ Sahara Hare ā€¢ Stork Naked ā€¢ This Is a Life? ā€¢ Dime to Retire
1956 The High and the Flighty ā€¢ Rocket Squad ā€¢ Stupor Duck ā€¢ A Star Is Bored ā€¢ Deduce, You Say
1957 Ali Baba Bunny ā€¢ Boston Quackie ā€¢ Ducking the Devil ā€¢ Show Biz Bugs
1958 Don't Axe Me ā€¢ Robin Hood Daffy
1959 China Jones ā€¢ People Are Bunny ā€¢ Apes of Wrath
1960 Person to Bunny
1961 The Abominable Snow Rabbit ā€¢ Daffy's Inn Trouble
1962 Quackodile Tears ā€¢ Good Noose
1963 Fast Buck Duck ā€¢ The Million Hare ā€¢ Aqua Duck
1964 The Iceman Ducketh
1965 It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House ā€¢ Moby Duck ā€¢ Assault and Peppered ā€¢ Well Worn Daffy ā€¢ Suppressed Duck ā€¢ Corn on the Cop ā€¢ Tease for Two ā€¢ Chili Corn Corny ā€¢ Go Go Amigo
1966 The Astroduck ā€¢ Mucho Locos ā€¢ Mexican Mousepiece ā€¢ Daffy Rents ā€¢ A-Haunting We Will Go ā€¢ Snow Excuse ā€¢ A Squeak in the Deep ā€¢ Feather Finger ā€¢ Swing Ding Amigo ā€¢ A Taste of Catnip
1967 Daffy's Diner ā€¢ Quacker Tracker ā€¢ The Music Mice-Tro ā€¢ The Spy Swatter ā€¢ Speedy Ghost to Town ā€¢ Rodent to Stardom ā€¢ Go Away Stowaway ā€¢ Fiesta Fiasco
1968 Skyscraper Caper ā€¢ See Ya Later Gladiator
1980 The Yolks on You ā€¢ The Chocolate Chase ā€¢ Daffy Flies North ā€¢ Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24Ā½th Century
1987 The Duxorcist
1988 The Night of the Living Duck
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1996 Superior Duck
2003 Attack of the Drones
2004 Daffy Duck for President
2012 Daffy's Rhapsody
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