- This article is about the 1938 short. For the the 1994 Sega Mega Drive game, see Daffy Duck in Hollywood (game).
Daffy Duck in Hollywood is a 1938 Merrie Melodies short directed by Fred Avery.
Plot[]
At Wonder Studios, producer I.M. Stupendous is interrupted by Daffy Duck asking if he needs a duck actor. He quickly responds "No!" and states, "Y'know, that duck's screwy". The phone rings and Daffy pops out of it saying "You're correct, absolutely correct!" Stupendous then phones Director Von Hemberger (a parody on Josef von Sternberg who bears some resemblance to Porky Pig with Piggy Hamhock's shape, except for he speaks with a German accent, rolling his r's and not stuttering) and orders him to finish the picture he's working on that day.
Daffy bites Von Hemberger's nose while having lunch
On the set, all the crew rushes to follow his orders, including lighting his cigarette, which they all do at once so he must light it himself. Daffy then walks up and starts smoking the cigarette, spelling out Warner Bros. ("Just givin' my bosses a plug", Daffy tells the audience, "I've got an option comin' up!!") Hemberger checks the sound, and Daffy whistles into the microphone; he checks the lights, which Daffy has switched with the emergency fire hose. When the cameras roll, they start spitting out bullets Daffy planted. Hemberger begins crying because it resulted in the movie he's making to turn out into a "gangster picture" which was not what he wanted in the first place. Daffy sympathetically gives him a gift, promising to "stop being screwy"; however, he didn't mean what he said as when Hemberger opens the gift Daffy simply pinches his nose again and runs off hooting wildly.
As they begin filming, a typical romantic scene between a rooster and hen plays out. When the inevitable kiss comes up, Daffy kisses the hen; he is so excited that he does it again. The time being noon, Hemberger decides to have lunch. "I'll take turkey with all the trrrrimmings!" However, Daffy is under the platter, and pinches his nose again. In the film room, Daffy begins clipping and pasting together random film clips ("WOW! I'll make him a REAL feature! Woo-hoo!"), which he switches out with Hemberger's film. Hemberger shows his "film", which contains ridiculous live-action clips of random scenes tied together, such as gold mining, square dancing, the World Championship Fight in Madison Round Garden, etc. Despite Hemberger's obvious (and justified) fear, Stupendous approves of the film, which causes Hemberger to faint.
Soon enough, Daffy is made a new film director, uttering the same line about having turkey, complete with accent and Hemberger's clothing. Hemberger, who apparently has lost his sanity at the end of the previous scene, now imitates Daffy and hides under the platter, pinching his nose and hooting wildly like Daffy.
Caricatures[]
- Josef von Sternberg - as a pig called Director von Hamburger.
- Katharine Hepburn - as a hen actress, and her voice is heard from the fat woman in Daffy's movie
- Clem McCarthy - the ring announcer's voice is an imitation of his.
Availability[]
Cartoon Moviestars: Daffy!
Cartoon Moviestars: Daffy! and Porky!
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes: Volume 1, Side 9, Hooray for Hollywood
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes: Volume 9, Hooray for Hollywood
Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 8: Tex-Book Looney (1995 Turner dubbed version)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Two
Jezebel (in HD)
Cats Don't Dance (in HD)
Notes[]
- The background of the title card is reused from "A Star Is Hatched" (1938).
- Wonder Studios is a direct parody of Warner Bros. The caption "If it's a good picture, it's a Wonder" parodies the famous marketing slogan.
- This is one of two cartoons that were shown on Cartoon Network's Looney Tunes marathon on New Year's Day 2009 to carry the Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) logo; the other was another Daffy Duck outing, "Nasty Quacks" (1945). Most other formerly a.a.p.-owned cartoons on the marathon were shown as "dubbed versions" (such a version of "Nasty Quacks" also aired from time to time), and the rest did not bear the a.a.p. logo. The same a.a.p. print of this cartoon aired in November 2009 as part of a weekday Looney Tunes show.
- The Polish dub of this short replaces the late-1938 opening rendition of "Merrily We Roll Along" with the 1940-1941 rendition.[3]
- This is the final Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Tex Avery.
- This cartoon has a special ending rendition of "Merrily We Roll Along" with an unusual zoom-in sound-effect. Both Turner prints keep this special ending music.
- This cartoon is not to be confused for Friz Freleng's "Hollywood Daffy" (1946), another cartoon featuring a "screwball" Daffy causing havoc at a Hollywood studio.
- The rooster and hen in Director Von Hemberger's movie would later reappear in "Hamateur Night" (1939), now performing a Romeo and Juliet sketch on stage without Daffy Duck's interference.
- Film reels of 1938 Warner Bros. movies Boy Meets Girl and The Adventures of Robin Hood are shown when Daffy Duck enters the film library.
- The film used as the bookend for Daffy's adjusted picture is Gold is Where You Find It, a 1938 Warner Bros. release directed by Michael Curtiz.
- The fat woman shown with the Katharine Hepburn voice at the end of Daffy's film is Nellie Lane, who once held the title of the heaviest woman in the world.
- This was the final cartoon shown during the series finale of The Bugs and Daffy Show on 11 April 2004.[4]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries
- ↑ (3 October 2022) Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 (in en). BearManor Media, page 66.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsfNpIHlkjg
- ↑ https://cnas.fandom.com/wiki/April_11,_2004