Night of the Living Duck
Encyclopedia
Night of the Living Duck is a six minute 1987-animated, 1988-released Merrie Melodies
cartoon
starring Daffy Duck
, directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon. It was released to theatres as a part of Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
on September 24, 1988.
clock falls, and beans Daffy, making him think he's the featured act in a nightclub. All the customers at the nightclub are classic movie monsters. Fortunately, there was a bottle of "Eau de Tormé" in Daffy's dressing room, which makes him sing like Mel Tormé
. He sings "Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives" to the room, and they love it. Then he goes around the room, greeting the patrons, but his good-natured ribbing of "Smogzilla" doesn't go over well with the giant lizard ("Say, Smog baby, been any major cities lately?", "You know, Smogzilla's just like any unemployed actor, except when he pounds the pavement, it registers a ten on the Richter scale!", "Oh, what's the matter? The public not buying those cheap special effects anymore?"), who eats Daffy. Daffy wakes up, to find himself stuck in a wastebasket, along with the comic he was looking for (Hideous Tales issue #177), with "Smogzilla" on the cover. Daffy scoffs, and the Smogzilla on the cover comes to life, saying, "You were expecting maybe Calvin Coolidge
?"
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
starring Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
, directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon. It was released to theatres as a part of Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is a 1988 Looney Tunes film with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. Cartoons shorts and animated bridging sequences, starring Daffy Duck. It is the final Looney Tunes project in which Mel Blanc provided the voices of the characters. The film was released to theaters by...
on September 24, 1988.
Plot
Daffy Duck, here a horror fanatic, is reading a scary comic book called "Hideous Tales" (issue #176). The story ends in a cliffhanger, and Daffy rifles his bookcase looking for the next issue ("It's a veritable collector's item!"). A SmogzillaGodzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
clock falls, and beans Daffy, making him think he's the featured act in a nightclub. All the customers at the nightclub are classic movie monsters. Fortunately, there was a bottle of "Eau de Tormé" in Daffy's dressing room, which makes him sing like Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
. He sings "Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives" to the room, and they love it. Then he goes around the room, greeting the patrons, but his good-natured ribbing of "Smogzilla" doesn't go over well with the giant lizard ("Say, Smog baby, been any major cities lately?", "You know, Smogzilla's just like any unemployed actor, except when he pounds the pavement, it registers a ten on the Richter scale!", "Oh, what's the matter? The public not buying those cheap special effects anymore?"), who eats Daffy. Daffy wakes up, to find himself stuck in a wastebasket, along with the comic he was looking for (Hideous Tales issue #177), with "Smogzilla" on the cover. Daffy scoffs, and the Smogzilla on the cover comes to life, saying, "You were expecting maybe Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
?"
Trivia
- This is the last Looney TunesLooney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
/Merrie Melodies cartoon where Mel Blanc voices one of his characters. - This cartoon was the opening sequence for 1988's Daffy Duck's QuackbustersDaffy Duck's QuackbustersDaffy Duck's Quackbusters is a 1988 Looney Tunes film with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. Cartoons shorts and animated bridging sequences, starring Daffy Duck. It is the final Looney Tunes project in which Mel Blanc provided the voices of the characters. The film was released to theaters by...
, which was released a day after this short was released. - Alfred E. NeumanAlfred E. NeumanAlfred E. Neuman is the fictional mascot and cover boy of Mad magazine. The face had drifted through American pictography for decades before being claimed and named by Mad editor Harvey Kurtzman...
(of MAD magazine fame) appeared briefly in this short holding some drinks (when the Creature from the Black LagoonCreature from the Black LagoonCreature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 monster horror film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes...
is shown). - Some of the monsters featured include Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Bride of Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, Medusa, The Fly, The Wolfman, LeatherfaceLeatherfaceLeatherface is the main antagonist in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror-film series and its spin-offs. He wears masks made of human skin and engages in murder and cannibalism alongside his inbred family. He is considered by many to be one of the first major slasher film villains alongside Michael...
, and of course GodzillaGodzillais a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
called Shmodzilla in the cartoon.