Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century

Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
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Airdate:	20 November 1980
Series:	Merrie Melodies
MPAA Number:	26033
Starring:	Daffy Duck as Duck Dodgers Porky Pig as Eager Young Space Cadet Marvin the Martian Gossamer
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Mel Blanc
Director:	Chuck Jones
Written By:	Mike Maltese Chuck Jones
Producer:	Chuck Jones Mary Roscoe
Animated By:	Phil Monroe Manny Perez Irv Anderson Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Retta Davidson (key assistant)
Film Editor:	Rich Harrison
Musician:	Dean Elliott

Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½^th Century is a 1980 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot

Duck Dodgers is assigned to locate the rack-and-pinion molecule needed for yo-yo polish. Dodgers and his assistant, Eager Young Space Cadet, crash their spaceship into a giant egg planet, breaking the shell. Dodgers finds Marvin the Martian, who is scheming to destroy Earth in an attempt to solve the "fuel problem". Upon realizing Marvin's intentions, Dodgers tries to arrest Marvin, but fails when Marvin tells what setbacks there are to blowing up the Earth. Marvin complains about Dodgers delaying his procedure, and plans to release a monster named Gossamer to attack Dodgers.

Marvin asks Dodgers to visit the boudoir of Gossamer. Dodgers thinks Gossamer is a space princess, but is quickly proven otherwise when he sees a giant, orange hairy monster. As a scared Dodgers tries to surrender to Marvin, Marvin states that he is unable to take prisoners, "especially cowards." Meanwhile, Porky sees the situation and tranquilizes Marvin by launching a straitjacket at him. Marvin commands Gossamer to attack Dodgers, while Dodgers absentmindedly walks towards the monster before fleeing. Porky uses electronic clippers to literally haircut Gossamer into nothingness. Dodgers, furious of his assistant's all too literal interpretations of his commands, repeatedly fires his ray gun at Porky's rear. During the chase, when Porky asks what the people on Earth will do without the rack-and-pinion molecule, Dodgers simply says, "Let 'em eat cake!"

With Dodgers out of the way, Marvin can finally launch his planet smasher cannon towards Earth. Marvin asides that the missile will reach the planet in three days. However, at the "That's all Folks!" card, Marvin assures not to worry as it is only a cartoon.

Availability

(1992) VHS
Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special

(1998) VHS
Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 8)

(1998) LaserDisc
Bugs and Marvin: Martian Mayhem (1997 dubbed version, only in PAL regions, Latin America, and Japan)

(1998) VHS
Looney Tunes Presents Marvin the Martian & K-9: 50 Years on Earth!

(1999) VHS
Looney Tunes Presents Marvin the Martian: Space Tunes [reissued version]

(2009) DVD
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (theatrical cut 6:40 min)

(2011) Blu-ray
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc Three (theatrical cut 6:40 min)

(2011) DVD
The Essential Daffy Duck, Disc 2 (as part of Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special director's cut 9:26 min)

(2015) DVD
4 Kid Favorites Looney Tunes Collection

(2016) DVD
Looney Tunes Double Feature The Looney Tunes Show Daffy Duck's Quackbusters

(2020) DVD
Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes Marvin the Martian Space Tunes Double Feature

(2020) DVD
Looney Tunes Holiday Triple Feature (as part of Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special director's cut 9:26 min)

(2025) Blu-ray
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (theatrical cut, restored)

Streaming

Boomerang App (2020 - 2024) (theatrical cut 6:40 min)

HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored) (theatrical cut 6:40 min)

Max (2024 - 2025) (restored) (theatrical cut 6:40 min)

Tubi (2025 - ) (restored) (theatrical cut 6:40 min)

Censorship

The following scenes were cut when this cartoon was reformatted as an individual animated short to be released in theaters (and later for television airings):

• Dodgers observing the yolk in the meteor.
• Dodgers telling Marvin he is under arrest, followed by Marvin deciding to call on Gossamer, and Dodgers referring to several locations in New York City that he will miss after Marvin tells him of his plan to blow up the Earth.
• Dodgers' failed surrender to Marvin, followed by Porky using a straitjacket gun to capture Marvin the Martian.
• Dodgers returning to Gossamer, and running away from him when realizing.
• Marvin observing Dodgers shooting Porky from his control center.
• The real ending where Marvin (still wrapped in the straitjacket) aims his missile at Earth and fires it, then tells the audience that the missile will take three days to reach Earth, giving everyone time to get their affairs in order before everyone gets annihilated, which explains the "That's all Folks!" ending card where Marvin says, "Don't worry, folks. After all, it's only a cartoon".
• When this short aired on ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show and Nickelodeon (pre-1993), the end card where Marvin the Martian assures the audience that the Earth won't be destroyed because "...it's only a cartoon" was cut, since both of those networks edited out the original opening and closing cards, including any scenes and gags that were associated with them. Other channels, like MeTV, Boomerang, The WB, and Cartoon Network don't do this.

The reformatted version of this cartoon is the version aired on all television networks, most home media releases, and streaming services. The 2020 restored version also uses the cut theatrical version. The special it originates from, Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special, contains the full, uncut version, although it has not been restored.

Notes

• This cartoon is the sequel to "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century".
• This is the first Daffy and Porky cartoon since 1965's "Corn on the Cop".
• This cartoon first aired as part of an animated TV special called Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special, with scenes that would later be cut when this cartoon was reformatted as a short.
• Although the cartoon was made in 1980, the original MPAA bug is used in the opening.
• Despite being a Merrie Melodies cartoon, this short uses the 1955-64 opening and closing renditions of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" instead of "Merrily We Roll Along".
• This is the first cartoon where Gossamer gets his official name. He was not named in "Hair-Raising Hare", and named Rudolf in "Water, Water Every Hare".
• This cartoon re-arranges some cues from The Bugs Bunny Road-Runner Movie, which was released the previous year.
• The short's music score was used for Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special.
  • To account for the scenes that were removed in the standalone version, the music cues for some of the shots leading into the removed scenes were either edited or replaced with other cues in the score.
• This cartoon reveals that Gossamer consists entirely of hair, hence once his fur is shaved he becomes completely invisible. This was even lampooned in one of Cartoon Network's The Bugs & Daffy Show bumpers during the "Powerhouse" era where Bugs Bunny, in his barber outfit from "Rabbit of Seville", gives Gossamer a haircut. However, in "Water, Water Every Hare", Gossamer is seen with a scalp under his top hair.
• K-9 was in the original storyboard by Michael Maltese, but did not appear in the finished cartoon.
• This short was intended to be shown theatrically before Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, but was not included in its theatrical release.
• This short was considered for an Academy Award in 1980, but was not nominated.
• The beginning of the short was referenced in Cartoon Network's Toonami promos, which feature a similar pan-through of the Absolution.

Gallery

Main article: Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century/Gallery

External links

• “The Return of Duck Dodgers” Storyboard by Michael Maltese – Part 1 on cartoonresearch.com
• “The Return of Duck Dodgers” Storyboard by Michael Maltese – Part 2 on cartoonresearch.com