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Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur

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Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur
Directed byCharles Jones
Story byDave Monahan
Produced byLeon Schlesinger
StarringMel Blanc
Jack Lescoulie
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation byA.C. Gamer
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • April 22, 1939 (1939-04-22)
Running time
8:06
LanguageEnglish

Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones.[1] The cartoon was released on April 22, 1939, and is the first Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Jones.[2]

Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur is set in a chronologically twisted Stone Age and features Daffy Duck going up against a caveman named Casper (who is a caricature of Jack Benny) and his pet Brontosaurus Fido.

This is the last cartoon with the Vitaphone intro, which was first used in The Phantom Ship in 1936.

Plot

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Casper the Caveman (Jack Lescoulie impersonating Jack Benny) and his pet Fido the Brontosaurus go hunting for breakfast and come upon Daffy (Mel Blanc). Casper uses a slingshot to fire a rock at the duck (which Casper calls his favorite vegetable), who, until he realizes the danger, is casually floating along in a lake. He revs up to incredible speed, though barely keeping ahead of the rock. Finally, Daffy slides to a halt and, disguised as a traffic cop, causes the rock to wait while a swan crosses, as though at an intersection. After that, Daffy waves the rock through and takes off in the other direction. The rock realizes it has been tricked and backtracks, but Daffy races between Casper's and Fido's legs. Fido, bending down to peer between his legs to see where Daffy has gone, has his head impacted by the rock. The dazed dinosaur performs a silly dance before floating to the ground, asleep.

Upon seeing Daffy behaving decidedly, unlike a regular duck in water, Casper says, "Gosh, that duck acts like he's crazy." Daffy replies, "That is correct; absolutely one hundred percent correct!" and snaps the rubber of Casper's slingshot into the caveman's face. Casper decides to dive in after the duck and strips down. As he dives in, Daffy holds up a sign that indicates no swimming is allowed. Casper freezes in mid-dive, then retreats to shore and gets dressed, ranting that other cave dwellers get to go swimming.

After ordering Fido to retrieve Daffy, which results only in Fido tying his neck in a knot, the two leave. Daffy, however, knows that Casper will not give up, so he paints an image of himself on a rock. Indeed, Casper returns with a club and bashes the image; the reverberation courses through his body. Daffy gives the caveman a glass of bromo-seltzer, which cures the issue and results in Casper thanking the duck and offering to shake hands. Daffy gives him a card advertising "...the biggest, most luscious Duck..." Casper and Fido head off in the direction indicated on the card, following a series of billboards (parodying advertising techniques of the era, including references to "The Breakfast of Champions" and "The Pause that Refreshes") Daffy has erected. They eventually reach an inflatable balloon duck, which Daffy is pumping up. Casper is terrified by this until Daffy hands him a knife. Casper marches over and stabs the giant, angry-looking balloon duck. The explosion proves lethal enough to blow up Casper, Fido, and even Daffy.

Afterwards, the three of them have ascended to Heaven, lounging on clouds. Fido plays a harp while Daffy and Casper think about their mistakes. Daffy laments that "maybe this wasn't such a hot idea after all." The short ends with Casper looking at the audience and saying Jack Benny's line "Good night, folks."

Production notes

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Most of Chuck Jones-directed cartoons from this era (such as the ones featuring Sniffles the Mouse) were very heavily inspired by Walt Disney's cartoon shorts, placing more emphasis on story and animation than gags. Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur shows the faintest hints of deviation from such cartoons, which eventually led to the fast-paced Jones cartoons of the 1940s, such as The Dover Boys and The Draft Horse.

This is also an important milestone in the evolution of Daffy Duck's personality. While Tex Avery and Bob Clampett had depicted Daffy as completely insane, irrational, and uncontrollable in their previous cartoons with the character, Jones depicted Daffy here as somewhat more thoughtful and calculating. Jones and Friz Freleng continued to develop Daffy's personality in this direction throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

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In the music video for Was (Not Was)'s Walk the Dinosaur, the cartoon in question is show on its television.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 86. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ Walk the Dinosaur Music Video; Retrieved September 22, 2024.
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Preceded by Daffy Duck Cartoons
1939 		Succeeded by
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