Duck Amuck
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Duck Amuck is a surreal 1953 animated cartoon produced by Warner Bros. as part of the Merrie Melodies series and starring Daffy Duck, who is tormented by a sadistic, unseen animator who constantly changes Daffy's location, clothing, voice, physical appearance, and even shape. Pandemonium reigns throughout the cartoon as Daffy attempts to steer the action back to some kind of normality, only for the animator to either ignore him or, more frequently, to over-literally interpret his increasingly frantic demands.
In 1994 it was voted #2 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
According to director Chuck Jones, this film demonstrated for the first time that animation can create characters with a recognizable personality, independent of their appearance, milieu, or voice. Although in the end, the animator is revealed to be Daffy's friend and rival Bugs Bunny (who famously declares "Ain't I a stinker?"), according to Jones the ending is just for comedic value: Jones (the director) is speaking to the audience directly, asking "Who is Daffy Duck anyway? Would you recognize him if I did this to him? What if he didn't live in the woods? Didn't live anywhere? What if he had no voice? No face? What if he wasn't even a duck anymore?" In all cases, it's obvious that Daffy is still Daffy; not all cartoon characters can claim such distinctive personality.
Duck Amuck is included in the compilation film, The Bugs Bunny-Road Runner Movie, along with other favorite Chuck Jones cartoons including What's Opera, Doc?
Mel Blanc does the voices. It was directed by Chuck Jones with a story by Michael Maltese. The film contains many examples of self-referential humor, breaking the fourth wall.
In 1999 the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. This was the second of three animated shorts by Jones to receive this honor (the others are 1957's What's Opera, Doc? and 1955's One Froggy Evening). Jones has the distinction of being the only director (as of 2006) with three animated shorts in the registry.
The cartoon's plot was essentially replicated in one of Jones' later cartoons, Rabbit Rampage (1955), in which Bugs Bunny turns out to be the victim of the silly animator (Elmer Fudd). A similar plot was also included in an episode of Baby Looney Tunes, only Bugs was the victim, Daffy was the animator, and it was made on a computer instead of a pencil and paper.
[edit] Referenced in other works
Daffy is again transformed into a flower-faced spotted creature in the 1960s short A-Haunting We Will Go.
The Super NES video game Bugs Bunny in Rabbit Rampage, merges both premises from Duck Amuck and Rabbit Rampage, the result being Bugs portrayed as Daffy's victim.
This cartoon was parodied in the last episode of the short-lived series Clerks: The Animated Series, further proving the short's lasting legacy. The final scene of the series even mirrors the ending of the original short, with Jay and Silent Bob in place of Bugs.
It was also referenced in a 30-second short cartoon gag in Johnny Bravo.
It was used in "Babylon 5", in the episode "Conflicts of Interest", where Michael Garibaldi is listening to it. This was used for ironic effect as at the time Garibaldi himself is unknowingly being manipulated by a seemingly omnipotent force.
In The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy episode "Complete and Utter Chaos", Grim is transformed into the same flower-faced and spotted creature that Daffy is turned in to. He even says Daffy's catchphrase, "You're despicable!"
On the original VHS release of Batman, a short ad for Warner Bros. merchandise was shown featuring both Daffy and Bugs. Throughout the ad, an unseen animator "draws" items such as t-shirts, movie books, and posters (and in classic fashion, when Bugs mentions ties, the animator draws a rope around Bugs, effectively tying him up, to which he response, "that's NECK-ties!"). In the end, Daffy begins to lose his cool, ending in his being erased from the ad by the animator.
Robert Smigel did a similar cartoon in his weekly TV Funhouse segment on SNL, where Michael Powell, FCC Chairman at the time, played Daffy Duck and Howard Stern played Bugs Bunny.
