A Pest in the House

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A Pest in the House Looney Tunes/Daffy Duck series
Directed by	Chuck Jones
Produced by	Edward Selzer
Story by	Tedd Pierce Michael Maltese
Voices by	Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited)
Music by	Carl Stalling
Animation by	Lloyd Vaughan Basil Davidovich Ben Washam
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	August 2, 1947 (USA)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 min (one reel)
IMDb profile

A Pest in the House is a 1947 cartoon directed by Chuck Jones starring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. The title is an appropriate play on "a guest in the house." Voices are performed by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan.

The film is notable for featuring a sort of "in-between" interpretation of Daffy. He is not necessarily the zany, impish intepretation used famously by Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, nor is he the greedy, self-centered version that Chuck Jones later popularized in the 1950s. As Paul Dini said in the DVD audio commentary for this cartoon: "[In this cartoon, Daffy] is really kind of almost like a sprite. He's just a little, almost elfin creature who's not really out to hurt anybody or has any ill will or malice toward anybody. He's just completely out of his mind."^[1]

1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Censorship
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

The cartoon starts with a brief narration (Blanc) describing a labor shortage that compels employers to hire "anybody or anything". Daffy (Blanc) is a hotel bellboy and Elmer (Bryan) is the manager. A man (Bryan, in his natural voice) demands peace and quiet... and threatens violence against Elmer if disturbed. Daffy, in a Jerry Colonna-like, sarcastic aside to the audience, remarks: "Likable chap, isn't he!" Daffy does many stunts that keep the man awake. Every time he is awakened again, the increasingly-irritated man trudges to Elmer's station, to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel", and at the moment where the song would say "pop", he busts Elmer in the face... even when Elmer switches places with Daffy in an effort to fool the man. Daffy concludes the cartoon with another Jerry Colonna-like aside: "Noisy little character, isn't he!"

[edit] Cast

Mel Blanc as Daffy Duck

Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd, The Tired Businessman

[edit] Censorship

The version that aired on Kids' WB! edited out the part where the man is kept awake by a drunk man in the next room singing "How Dry I Am" and Daffy tells the man that he'll "muzzle that inebriated canary" only to drink up with the drunk man and sing along in harmony.