You Were Never Duckier

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = You Were Never Duckier
series = Merrie Melodies
(Daffy Duck/Henery Hawk)


caption =
director = Chuck Jones
story_artist = Michael Maltese
animator = Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Ken Harris Philip Monroe
voice_actor = Mel Blanc
musician = Carl Stalling
producer = Eddie Selzer
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
studio = Warner Bros. Cartoons
release_date = August 7, 1948
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 8 min (one reel)
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0040984

"You Were Never Duckier" is an animated cartoon in the "Merrie Melodies" series from fy|1948. Starring Daffy Duck and Henery Hawk, this cartoon was significant for several reasons. It ushered in a new "era" as the first ever Warner Bros. cartoon in the post-1948 package to be released (as things turned out). It also marked the start of a direction change for Daffy Duck, from a "screwball" character, to a greedy, self-centered one.

In the 1954-55 season, the cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue - the first post-1948 cartoon to get one. This was only one of five post-1948 WB cartoons to get a Blue Ribbon reissue prior to 1956 - with the original credits cut. The others were "Daffy Dilly", "The Foghorn Leghorn", "Kit for Cat", and "Scaredy Cat".

Plot

The National Poultry Show is being held, and Daffy Duck looks at the matinee showing the prizes for the judging. The first prize for best rooster is $5000, and the best duck is $5. Daffy is not happy about this, and decides to disguise himself as a rooster (using rubber gloves and the tail feathers of another rooster) to get $5000. Meanwhile, Henery is being taught all about roosters by his father. Henery decides to head to the poultry show and catch himself a rooster.

Daffy's plan backfires when Henery decides to take him home. Daffy says he's a special breed of rooster, and thinking that Henery's father is the judge to give him the $5000, he tags along. Daffy then finds out he is in a chickenhawk's house, and tries to escape, but fails. Henery's father then starts to prepare Daffy as a meal. Daffy tries to prove he is really a duck, even trying to take his disguise off (to no avail). When he tries to escape, Henery's father grabs his "head" (the rubber glove), and the glove lands on "his" head, then he proceeds to chase Daffy, who is finally able to escape when Henery accidentally hits his father with a mallet.

Before the contest begins, Daffy puts on another glove. Then, at the contest, Daffy loses to Henery's father, disguised as a Rhode Island red. Daffy then tries for the best duck prize, but loses that as well - to Henery, wearing a disguise consisting of a clothespin and two flippers.

Censorship

*The CBS version edits out two parts:
**The part where Daffy runs for the door after realizing that Henery Hawk and his father (George K. Chickenhawk) are going to eat him was missing the part where Henery Hawk closes the door on Daffy and Daffy slams facefirst into the door (the part afterwards where Daffy's beak can be seen from outside as he cries, "Help!", gets pulled back in, and is seen again when Daffy says, "I distinctly said, 'Help!'" wasn't edited).
**The part where George K. Chickenhawk chases Daffy in circles in one door and out of another and Henery accidentally hits George instead of Daffy was replaced with a shot of Daffy looking off-screen, but the shot of George on the floor with stars coming out of his head was not cut.

ee also

* Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940-1949)
* List of Daffy Duck cartoons

External links

*imdb title|0040984|You Were Never Duckier