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Yankee Doodle Daffy is a 1943 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng.

Title[]

The title and introductory music are inspired by the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy, a major hit and another Warner release. Other than both films being about show business, they have no plot elements in common.

Plot[]

Daffy Duck, agent to the stars, complete with business card that flashes like a theater marquis, does everything he can to convince Porky Pig of "Smeller Productions" that his preadolescent client "Sleepy LaGoon" can become a star. This annoys Porky, as it is his day off and he has planned to play golf.

Daffy tells Porky what his client can do, while actually performing various schticks himself in his usual wild and frenetic way. After trying various ways to escape, Porky locks Daffy in a huge vault and takes off in a plane, only to find out that the pilot of the plane was Daffy. Porky jumps out with a parachute while Daffy follows. Porky is chased back to his office. Finally, Porky relents and asks to see what his client can do. "Sleepy", a small and droopy-eyed duck who has whiled away the whole time slurping a huge all-day sucker which he keeps in a banjo case, finally gets to perform. "Sleepy" begins to sing a song in a strong baritone voice. He starts out well, then tries to hit a high note, and goes into a coughing fit.

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Parodies[]

  • "Yankee Doodle Daffy" is parodied in the South Park episode "The Passion of the Jew", when Stan and Kenny are trying to escape Mel Gibson's house, a reference to Porky trying to escape from Daffy.
  • "Yankee Doodle Daffy" is twice referenced in the TV series SpongeBob SquarePants: first in the episode "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler" when the Tattletale Strangler tries to escape SpongeBob by jumping off of a plane and using a parachute, only to find that SpongeBob was the parachute, a gag borrowed from this cartoon, and second in the episode "Rodeo Daze", where Sandy is riding SpongeBob like a horse, a possible reference to Daffy riding Porky like a horse.

Notes[]

  • Daffy mentions "the Sweater Girl", Lana Turner.
  • Portraits of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Friz Freleng appear on Porky's walls.
  • The Warner cartoonists occasionally played jokes on themselves and their audience, sometimes "testing the waters" to see what they could get away with. In this case, during Daffy's Carmen Miranda impersonation, and out of character with the rest of the set-piece, a single frame appears to show Daffy subtly giving "the bird" to the viewer while grinning devilishly. This would have been invisible to the theater audience, but can easily be seen with now-routinely available equipment that allows frame-by-frame study of films. Viewing a cartoon that way can reveal the artistry of the Warner cartoonists, as well as reveal these amusing "easter eggs".
  • In the 1988 TV special compilation Bugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video Stars, Daffy refers to his abrupt transition from banjo playing to Carmen Miranda impersonation as his "crossover hit, 'Banjo Chicky-Boom'."
  • The sequence where Daffy performs "I'm Just Wild About Harry", a song more customarily sung by female vocalists, contains an arguable acknowledgement of homosexuality. When Daffy reaches the lyrics "The heavenly blisses / Of his kisses / Fill me with ecsta---" he stops abruptly to make sure Porky knows, "This is just a rough idea, y'understand," before completing the song.
  • This cartoon entered the public domain in 1971 due to United Artists not renewing the copyright in time.
  • This is the final Looney Tunes short to have the Vitaphone release number appear on screen under the opening titles.
  • Vitaphone release number: 1139[4]

Music-Cues[5][]

  • Yankee Doodle (traditional)
    • Played during the opening credits
  • You Oughta Be in Pictures
    • Played during the opening scene
  • Hang On to Your Lids, Kids (by Harold Arlen)
    • Plays when Daffy introduces himself and Sleepy Lagoon
  • Puddin’ Head Jones (by Lou Handman)
    • Plays when Sleepy Lagoon first appears on screen, sucking a lollipop
  • I'm Just Wild About Harry (Music by Eubie Blake & Lyrics by Noble Sissle)
    • Sung by Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc)
    • Also plays during the following scene
  • Hang On to Your Lids, Kids (by Harold Arlen)
    • Plays again when Daffy is talking to Porky
  • Frat (by John F. Barth)
    • Performed by Daffy Duck on the banjo
  • Hang On to Your Lids, Kids (by Harold Arlen)
    • Plays again when Daffy stops Porky from escaping and carries him back to his seat
  • Laugh, Clown, Laugh (Music by Ted Fio Rito & Lyrics by Sam Lewis and Joe Young)
    • Sung by Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc)
  • Cheyenne (Music by Egbert Van Alstyne)
    • Sung by Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc) as "I'm a Cowboy"
  • We Watch the Skyways (Music by Max Steiner & Lyrics by Gus Kahn)
    • Sung by Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc)
  • Angel in Disguise (Music by Paul Mann and Stefan Weiß & Lyrics by Kim Gannon)
    • Sung by Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc)
  • William Tell Overture (Music by Gioachino Rossini)
    • Sung with substitute lyrics by Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc)
  • Can-Can (by Jacques Offenbach)
    • Plays when there are multiple Daffy's
  • Puddin’ Head Jones (by Lou Handman)
    • Plays again when Sleepy Lagoon is sucking a lollipop
  • In the Garden of My Heart (Music by Ernest Ball & Lyrics by Caro Roma)
    • Sung by Sleepy Lagoon (Ken Bennett)

Gallery[]

References[]

Daffy Duck Cartoons
1937 Porky's Duck Hunt
1938 Daffy Duck & EggheadWhat Price PorkyPorky & DaffyThe Daffy DocDaffy Duck in Hollywood
1939 Daffy Duck and the DinosaurScalp TroubleWise Quacks
1940 Porky's Last StandYou Ought to Be in Pictures
1941 A Coy DecoyThe Henpecked Duck
1942 Conrad the SailorDaffy's Southern ExposureThe Impatient PatientThe Daffy DuckarooMy Favorite Duck
1943 To Duck .... or Not to DuckThe Wise Quacking DuckYankee Doodle DaffyPorky Pig's FeatScrap Happy DaffyA Corny ConcertoDaffy - The Commando
1944 Tom Turk and DaffyTick Tock TuckeredDuck Soup to NutsSlightly DaffyPlane DaffyThe Stupid Cupid
1945 Draftee DaffyAin't That DuckyNasty Quacks
1946 Book RevueBaby BottleneckDaffy DoodlesHollywood DaffyThe Great Piggy Bank Robbery
1947 Birth of a NotionAlong Came DaffyA Pest in the HouseMexican Joyride
1948 What Makes Daffy DuckDaffy Duck Slept HereThe Up-Standing SitterYou Were Never DuckierDaffy DillyThe Stupor SalesmanRiff Raffy Daffy
1949 Wise QuackersHoliday for DrumsticksDaffy Duck Hunt
1950 Boobs in the WoodsThe Scarlet PumpernickelHis Bitter HalfGolden YeggsThe Ducksters
1951 Rabbit FireDrip-Along DaffyThe Prize Pest
1952 Thumb FunCracked QuackRabbit SeasoningThe Super SnooperFool Coverage
1953 Duck AmuckMuscle TussleDuck Dodgers in the 24½th CenturyDuck! Rabbit, Duck!
1954 Design for LeavingQuack ShotMy Little Duckaroo
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareStork NakedThis Is a Life?Dime to Retire
1956 The High and the FlightyRocket SquadStupor DuckA Star Is BoredDeduce, You Say
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBoston QuackieDucking the DevilShow Biz Bugs
1958 Don't Axe MeRobin Hood Daffy
1959 China JonesPeople Are BunnyApes of Wrath
1960 Person to Bunny
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitDaffy's Inn Trouble
1962 Quackodile TearsGood Noose
1963 Fast Buck DuckThe Million HareAqua Duck
1964 The Iceman Ducketh
1965 It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the HouseMoby DuckAssault and PepperedWell Worn DaffySuppressed DuckCorn on the CopTease for TwoChili Corn CornyGo Go Amigo
1966 The AstroduckMucho LocosMexican MousepieceDaffy RentsA-Haunting We Will GoSnow ExcuseA Squeak in the DeepFeather FingerSwing Ding AmigoA Taste of Catnip
1967 Daffy's DinerQuacker TrackerThe Music Mice-TroThe Spy SwatterSpeedy Ghost to TownRodent to StardomGo Away StowawayFiesta Fiasco
1968 Skyscraper CaperSee Ya Later Gladiator
1980 The Yolks on YouThe Chocolate ChaseDaffy Flies NorthDuck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th 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
Porky Pig Cartoons
1935 I Haven't Got a HatGold Diggers of '49
1936 Plane DippyAlpine AnticsThe Phantom ShipBoom BoomThe Blow OutWestward WhoaFish TalesShanghaied ShipmatesPorky's PetPorky the Rain-MakerPorky's Poultry PlantPorky's Moving DayMilk and MoneyLittle Beau PorkyThe Village SmithyPorky in the North WoodsBoulevardier from the Bronx
1937 Porky the WrestlerPorky's Road RacePicador PorkyPorky's RomancePorky's Duck HuntPorky and GabbyPorky's BuildingPorky's Super ServicePorky's Badtime StoryPorky's RailroadGet Rich Quick PorkyPorky's GardenRover's RivalThe Case of the Stuttering PigPorky's Double TroublePorky's Hero Agency
1938 Porky's PoppaPorky at the CrocaderoWhat Price PorkyPorky's Phoney ExpressPorky's Five & TenPorky's Hare HuntInjun TroublePorky the FiremanPorky's PartyPorky's Spring PlantingPorky & DaffyWholly SmokePorky in WackylandPorky's Naughty NephewPorky in EgyptThe Daffy DocPorky the Gob
1939 The Lone Stranger and PorkyIt's an Ill WindPorky's Tire TroublePorky's Movie MysteryChicken JittersPorky and TeabiscuitKristopher Kolumbus Jr.Polar PalsScalp TroubleOld GloryPorky's PicnicWise QuacksPorky's HotelJeepers CreepersNaughty NeighborsPied Piper PorkyPorky the Giant KillerThe Film Fan
1940 Porky's Last StandAfrica SqueaksAli-Baba BoundPilgrim PorkySlap Happy PappyPorky's Poor FishYou Ought to Be in PicturesThe Chewin' BruinPorky's Baseball BroadcastPatient PorkyCalling Dr. PorkyPrehistoric PorkyThe Sour PussPorky's Hired HandThe Timid Toreador
1941 Porky's Snooze ReelPorky's Bear FactsPorky's PreviewPorky's AntA Coy DecoyPorky's Prize PonyMeet John DoughboyWe, the Animals - Squeak!The Henpecked DuckNotes to YouRobinson Crusoe Jr.Porky's Midnight MatineePorky's Pooch
1942 Porky's Pastry PiratesWho's Who in the ZooPorky's CafeAny Bonds Today?My Favorite Duck
1943 Confusions of a Nutzy SpyYankee Doodle DaffyPorky Pig's FeatA Corny Concerto
1944 Tom Turk and DaffyTick Tock TuckeredSwooner CroonerDuck Soup to NutsSlightly DaffyBrother Brat
1945 Trap Happy PorkyWagon Heels
1946 Baby BottleneckDaffy DoodlesKitty KorneredThe Great Piggy Bank RobberyMouse Menace
1947 One Meat BrawlLittle Orphan Airedale
1948 Daffy Duck Slept HereNothing but the ToothThe Pest That Came to DinnerRiff Raffy DaffyScaredy Cat
1949 Awful OrphanPorky ChopsPaying the PiperDaffy Duck HuntCurtain RazorOften an OrphanDough for the Do-DoBye, Bye Bluebeard
1950 Boobs in the WoodsThe Scarlet PumpernickelAn Egg ScrambleGolden YeggsThe DuckstersDog Collared
1951 The Wearing of the GrinDrip-Along DaffyThe Prize Pest
1952 Thumb FunCracked QuackFool Coverage
1953 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
1954 Claws for AlarmMy Little Duckaroo
1955 Jumpin' JupiterDime to Retire
1956 Rocket SquadDeduce, You Say
1957 Boston Quackie
1958 Robin Hood Daffy
1959 China Jones
1961 Daffy's Inn Trouble
1965 Corn on the Cop
1966 Mucho Locos
1980 Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
1996 Superior Duck
2004 My Generation G...G... Gap


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