The Prize Pest

The Prize Pest
The Prize Pest
Directed by	Robert McKimson
Story by	Tedd Pierce
Produced by	Edward Selzer
Starring	Mel Blanc; Tedd Pierce (uncredited)
Music by	Carl Stalling
Animation by	Rod Scribner; Phil DeLara; Emery Hawkins; Charles McKimson; John Carey (uncredited)
Layouts by	Peter Alvarado
Backgrounds by	Richard H. Thomas
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures; The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	December 22, 1951 (USA);
Running time	7 minutes
Language	English

The Prize Pest is a 1951 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Robert McKimson, and written by Tedd Pierce.^[2] The cartoon was released on December 22, 1951, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.^[3]

Plot

After winning a prize from a radio show, Porky Pig receives an unexpected house guest — Daffy Duck — who refuses to leave. Daffy claims to have a split personality, turning sweet when treated kindly and monstrous when mistreated. Falling for Daffy's ruse, Porky agrees to serve him, but secretly plans to call the authorities. Daffy, however, outsmarts Porky by impersonating the phone.

When Porky tries to scare Daffy out of the house by dressing up as a monster, Daffy's reaction is so extreme that he flees, hiding back in the gift box he arrived in. In a twist, Porky catches sight of himself in the mirror wearing the monster costume and frightens himself, realizing he is just as cowardly as he accused Daffy of being.

Aftermath

The Prize Pest is considered by some to be one of the last screwball Daffy Duck cartoons, as all of the directors eventually stuck with the greedy, self-centered Daffy that emerged in Rabbit Fire (1951).
The cartoon was included in the 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.
Daffy reprises his "crazy" look from this short in the Looney Tunes Show episode "Devil Dog" when trying to distract some SWAT team guys while Bugs and Taz escape.

References

^ "Robert McKimson's "The Prize Pest" (1951)". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 230. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.

External links

The Prize Pest at IMDb

This Looney Tunes–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[Prize_Pest-1] "Robert McKimson's "The Prize Pest" (1951)". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved 23 September 2020.

[Beck-2] Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 230. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.

[3] Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.

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