| Conrad the Sailor | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies series | |
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| Directed by | Charles Jones |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story by | Dave Monahan |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc Pinto Colvig |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by | Ben Washam |
| Layouts by | John McGrew |
| Backgrounds by | Gene Fleury |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 28, 1942 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7 min, 08 sec |
| Language | English |
Conrad the Sailor is a 1942 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Chuck Jones. The title character, a.k.a. Conrad the Cat, is voiced by Pinto Colvig. The other featured player is Daffy Duck, voiced as usual by Mel Blanc.
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The story takes place aboard a battleship staffed by anthropomorphic cats (barely recognizable as such), most of whom are singing "The Song of the Marines (Shovin' Right Off Again)" as a chorale group. Cut to Conrad, who talks and sings exactly like Colvig's characterization of the Walt Disney character "Goofy".
As Conrad swabs the deck, he is interrupted by Daffy and his pranks. The two spend the cartoon chasing and tormenting each other. A running gag in the picture is that all action screeches to a halt whenever the ship's diminutive captain walks by, as both sailor and duck snap to attention and salute. The final gag involves Conrad and Daffy being chased by a shell from one of the ship's big guns. All three, including the shell, snap to attention as the captain walks by.
Animator John McGrew borrowed much of the staging for the cartoon from Sergei Eisenstein's film The Battleship Potemkin whilst it also saw his first use of match cuts where different objects in separate scenes would have the same basic shape, with McGrew giving the example of a gun and a cloud.[1]
Conrad the Sailor is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 Disc 4.
| Preceded by The Henpecked Duck |
Daffy Duck Cartoons 1942 |
Succeeded by Daffy's Southern Exposure |