Daffy Duck & Egghead (1938)

Director:

Tex Avery

Writer:

Ben Hardaway (story)

Release Date:

1 January 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Short | Comedy

Plot:

A very early appearance of a barely recognisable Daffy Duck, seen here tormenting Egghead, a prototype...

Plot Keywords:

Daffy Duck | Egghead | Rotoscoping | Cartoon | Hunting

Cast

Mel Blanc	...	Daffy Duck / Turtle Referee / Nut House Duck (voice) (uncredited)
Cliff Nazarro	...	Egghead (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Tex Avery		(as Fred Avery)

Writing credits
Ben Hardaway		(story) (as J.B. Hardaway)

Produced by
Leon Schlesinger	....	producer

Original Music by
Carl W. Stalling

Animation Department
Virgil Ross	....	animator

Production Companies

• Leon Schlesinger Studios

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | UK:U

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Trivia:

This is the only cartoon in which Egghead is not depicted as his traditional self, in a green suit and derby. In this film, he wears a brown hunting suit and cap, has dark hair, and carries a Savage .99 rifle.

Quotes:

[Egghead finally has Daffy when an asylum ambulance appears]
Nut House Duck: Gee, thanks a lot, chum, for catching this goof. You know, we've been after this guy for months. He's absolutely wingdingy, looney-tuney, and Oofty McGoofty. I feel sorry for the poor squirrel, but I'm telling ya, he's one-hundred percent nuts.
Egghead: Yeah?
Nut House Duck: Yeah!
[the Nut House duck honks Egghead's nose, then he and Daffy go hopping and woo-hooing together]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Looney Tunes 50th Anniversary (1986) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down

Daffy Still Developing But Other Characters, Writers & Artists Shine

The first bit of humor is in the "disclaimer" which includes the word "roasted" and then we get the customer pond shot at sunrise which, by the way, is beautifully drawn. There's something about these late '30s/early '40s animated shorts and films that have a distinct watercolor beauty to them.

Next we see "Egghead," a prototype of Elmer Food. Another sign of the times was the silhouette of a man in the movie theater and the character on screen talking to him, usually - as is the case here - telling the person to "sit down." When he doesn't, Egghead shoots him!! (I think Bugs Bunny did that once, too, but I'm not sure.)

This very young and smaller-looking Daffy was not the funny guy he was a decade later, almost a wise-guy. This is almost an introduction to this character as Daffy sings a song explaining who he is.

The funnier characters and real-life people in here were the Italian turtle, Ben Hathaway who wrote some clever sight gags into this story and the director, Tex Avery. Just don't expect laughs from the usually-hilarious Daffy Duck.

This is part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3.