The Prize Pest

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = The Prize Pest
series = Looney Tunes


caption =
director = Robert McKimson
story_artist = Tedd Pierce
animator = Phil DeLara
Emery Hawkins
Charles McKimson
Rod Scribner
layout_artist = Pete Alvarado
background_artist Richard H. Thomas
voice_actor = Mel Blanc (Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, radio announcer)
musician = Carl Stalling
producer = Eddie Selzer
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
release_date = December 22, 1951
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 7 min (one reel)
movie_language = English
imdb_id =

"The Prize Pest" is a 1950 Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" cartoon featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. It was directed by Robert McKimson, and written by Tedd Pierce. It was originally released December 22, 1951.

Plot

After listening to one of his favorite radio programs, Porky Pig receives a grand prize from the station. Out of the gift box pops Daffy Duck, who insists on living in Porky's house. After numerous attempts to throw Daffy out of the house, Daffy devises a plan to stay. He tells Porky that he has a split personality (á la "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde") and when people treat him badly he turns into a hideous monster, which he does by messing his hair up and putting in fangs, whereas when treated with kindness he becomes sweet and cuddly. When Porky realizes he's been had, he now has to outsmart a psychotic duck and get him out of the house by dressing up as a monster. When Daffy sees the monster, he becomes so scared, he falls apart (literally) and runs out of the house screaming. When Porky accidentally sees himself in the mirror in his monster costume (which he stated that only a craven little coward would be scared of), he scares himself so much that he jumps onto a chandelier (“So I’m a craven little coward.”).

Aftermath

*This is considered the last screwball Daffy Duck cartoon, as all of the directors eventually stuck with the Daffy that emerged in "Rabbit Fire" (fy|1951).
*This cartoon was incerpted in the fy|1988 compilation film "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters" in which Daffy hired Porky in his "Paranormalist at Large" company. The cartoon was shortened in the movie, with a mix of new animation.