You Were Never Duckier
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| You Were Never Duckier | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Daffy Duck) series |
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 Henery Hawk slams the door shut to prevent Daffy Duck from escaping his father's house, believing that Daffy is a chicken. |
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| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Produced by | Eddie Selzer (uncredited) |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Ken Harris Philip Monroe |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | August 7, 1948 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7 minutes 57 seconds |
| Language | English |
You Were Never Duckier is an animated cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series from 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 (though, according to commentary by Eric Goldberg on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD [fifth volume], this cartoon showed Daffy as being both a greedy, self-centered character and a screwball one). This cartoon was also the next-to-last Henery Hawk cartoon to not be directed by Robert McKimson, and one of only three to be directed by creator Chuck Jones (after The Squawkin' Hawk, and followed by The Scarlet Pumpernickel).
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. You Were Never Duckier is the only one of these not to have been reissued in the 1955-56 season. The original credits have since been restored for its DVD release.
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[edit] 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, having traveled all the way from Dubuque for the contest, is outraged that ducks rate such a low prize 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, George K. (or G.K.) Chickenhawk (a reference to G.K. Chesterton. 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, described as "the greatest judge of chicken flesh in the world," 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.
[edit] 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.
