Daffy - The Commando
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| Daffy - The Commando
Looney Tunes (Daffy Duck) series |
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| Directed by | I. Freleng |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Studio | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) |  November 20, 1943 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7 minutes (one reel) |
| IMDb profile | |
Daffy - The Commando is a 1943 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. Daffy is a commando, dropped behind enemy lines, and causes havoc to the German commander, Von Vulture, who tries to capture him. As with many of the World War II-themed cartoons put out by the major studios, Daffy - The Commando was placed under an unofficial ban from broadcast or video distribution by Warner Bros. and other rights-holders such as Turner Broadcasting and AOL Time-Warner. It can currently be found on the home video Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons.
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[edit] Synopsis
A German commander, Von Vulture, gets a letter from his superior officers, threatening him with his 'ka-rear' if he lets one more 'kommando' through. Hearing a plane overhead, he calls in a soldier, Schultz, whom he abuses by knocking him regularly over his helmet with a mallet. Schultz and Von Vulture go outside and use a searchlight to look for Daffy, who is floating down on a parachute.
After a quick "Put out those lights!" gets the lights out, Daffy uses his fingers to make shadow puppets and dancing chorus girls. When Von Vulture chases Daffy behind a curtain of asbestos, Daffy makes a face similar to the stereotypical Japanese faces used in cartoons at the time (see, for example, Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips), causing Von Vulture to run off frightened.
Back at his bunker,[1] Von Vulture is presented with a bomb from Daffy, ticking down. Von Vulture hands the bomb off to Schultz, who is blown through the roof. When Schultz falls back, Daffy stops Von Vulture from hitting Schultz over the head with a mallet, and instead hits him. Von Vulture chases Daffy (temporarily saluting a skunk as Adolf Hitler) to a telephone booth, where Daffy continues to make fun of Von Vulture.[2]
Daffy then jumps in a plane, narrowly avoiding being shot by 'a mess of Messerschmitts', when he's shot down by Von Vulture (his plane literally being blown to pieces). Daffy then runs into a cannon, and is shot out by Von Vulture. However, Daffy flies (as the 'Human Cannonball') into Berlin, where Hitler is making a speech to his people (the music used in the background is similar to an organ grinder). Daffy jumps up and whacks Hitler on the head with a mallet, causing Hitler to yell for Schultz, similar to Von Vulture.
[edit] The Telephone Booth Scene
A scene where Daffy is on a pay phone as Von Vulture is trying to get into the booth has Daffy speaking to him in German, while holding cue card-like signs with the dialog translated for the audience (a classic example of "breaking the fourth wall"). In many public domain prints, the signs are illegible, but read as follows:
Sign 1: ENGLISH TRANSLATION: "Can't you see this telephone is busy? Wait your turn!"
Sign 2: "Got a nickel, bud?"
Sign 3: GERMAN TRANSLATION: "Ich bin fertig mit der telefon, Herr von Limburger."
- (As Daffy shouts, "It's all yours, Von Limburger!)
[edit] Availability
- This short, as well as a few other Warner shorts, is in the public domain, after Associated Artists Productions neglected to renew the copyright in time.
[edit] References
- ^ There is a semi-nude photo on the wall in Von Vulture's bunker.
- ^ The telephone booth scene has Von Vulture thinking he's talking to Schultz, but finds himself talking to operator Myrt from the Fibber McGee & Molly radio show.
