Duck Amuck (Merrie Melodies)
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All of this just works. ― Todd Howard |
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Duck Amuck (episode 673)
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This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 1999.
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 "Brother, what a way to run a railroad!"
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Duck Amuck is an American animated cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. The short film was released in early 1953 by The Vitaphone Corporation, the short subject division of Warner Bros., as part of the Merrie Melodies series.
Plot
Daffy Duck gets tormented by a seemingly sadistic, "unseen animator", who constantly changes Daffy's locations, clothing, voice, physical appearance, and even shape, much to Daffy's aggravation and rage.
Why It Rocks
- Daffy is very funny here and steals the whole show.
- Several hilarious moments such as Daffy and the blob and Daffy getting turned into a screwball creature.
- The concept of a character getting tormented by an unseen animator is very unique and creative.
- Great animation for 1950's standards.
- Great soundtrack by Carl Stalling.
- Mel Blanc is absolutely hilarious on this cartoon and does a wonderful performance as Daffy.
- Great plot twist with the unseen animator being revealed as Bugs Bunny.
- Several memorable lines such as "Brother, What a Way to Run a Railroad!"
- It even later spawned numerous "stand-alone sequels", such as "Rabbit Rampage" (featuring Bugs Bunny in place of Daffy, with Elmer Fudd revealed to be the unseen animator), and the New Looney Tunes episode "One Carroter in Search of an Artist" (again, featuring Bugs Bunny in place of Daffy, with Daffy revealed to be the unseen animator finally getting his revenge on Bugs).
The Only Bad Quality
- The twist ending where it is revealed that Bugs Bunny is the unseen animator responsible for all of Daffy's troubles, while hilarious, is a rather out-of-character moment for Bugs, as it depicts him as far more sadistic as usual, which also heavily contradicts the one rule that director Chuck Jones himself established for Bugs since "Hold the Lion, Please!" (1942) which is Bugs MUST always be provoked as a valid reason to torment his enemies.
Reception
Duck Amuck was voted #2 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field, losing only to What's Opera, Doc?, also directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It has been inducted into the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The cartoon was also a favorite among Looney Tunes fans. It also has an 8.6/10 on IMDb, the highest of any Looney Tunes cartoon to date.
Trivia
- This short spawned several internet memes such as Daffy going crazy.
- It got adapted into its own game of the same name in 2007.