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Duck Dodgers in the 24½th (twenty-fourth and a half) Century is a 1953 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
Plot
Duck Dodgers must search for the rare element Illudium Phosdex, "the shaving cream atom." In the future, the only remaining supply of the element is on the mysterious "Planet X", which fortunately is found when Dodgers follows a path of planets shaped like letters, leading from Planet A to Planets B, C, D, and so on until he reaches Planet X. Dodgers is about to claim Planet X in the name of the Earth when Marvin the Martian, in a ship called the Martian Maggot, lands on the same planet and claims it in the name of Mars.
Porky Pig is the "Eager Young Space Cadet." The planet that Duck Dodgers and Marvin the Martian fight over is destroyed, and the remaining area claimed by Daffy at the end is barely large enough for him to stand upon. The dismissive attitude to Dodgers' pyrrhic victory is epitomized by Porky's cynical response to his boss's overblown proclamation, "B-B-Big deal."
Availability
- (1982) VHS - The Looney Tunes Video Show, Volume 13
- (1985) VHS - A Salute to Chuck Jones
- (1993) LaserDisc - Daffy Duck's Screen Classics: Duck Victory
- (1995) VHS - Classic Collection (WHSmith Exclusive Video) (United Kingdom only)
- (1998) VHS - Space Tunes
- (1999) VHS - Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 2: Running Amuck
- (2000) DVD - Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens
- (2003) DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc 2
- (2011) DVD - The Essential Daffy Duck, Disc 1
- (2011) Blu-ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc 2
- (2015) Blu-ray - Calamity Jane (restored)
- (2017) Streaming - Boomerang App
Sequels
- Main article: Duck Dodgers
- Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century (1980 in Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special, then reformatted into a separate short with parts cut for time)
- Tiny Toon Adventures: "Duck Dodgers Jr.", segment in the episode "The Return of the Acme Acres Zone" (1990)
- Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension (1996), a 3D cartoon
- Attack of the Drones (2003)
- Duck Dodgers (TV series) (2003-2005)
Notes
- Production Code: 1264
- First reference to Duck Dodgers
- In 1994, it was voted #4 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. In 2004, it was retrospectively awarded a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[1]
- This cartoon was used in The Bugs Bunny Road-Runner Movie and clips of this cartoon were used in Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes.
- In the sci-fi series Babylon 5, the character of Michael Garibaldi is a fan of Daffy Duck, and describes "Duck Dodgers" as his "second favorite thing in the universe". In the episode "Midnight on the Firing Line", Garibaldi looks for someone to share it with, and eventually watches the cartoon with Ambassador Delenn.
- When the main character of the science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) wakes up, after trying all night to make contact with the aliens, his daughter is watching "Duck Dodgers".
- Considering the period in which the cartoon was produced (the Second Red Scare was in full swing during the 1950s era), some scholars have used the cartoon to parallel the futility of the Cold War and the arms race.
- Only Golden Age cartoon to feature Marvin the Martian not paired with Bugs Bunny.
'Gallery'
Add a photo to this galleryExternal Links
- Duck Dodgers at Big Cartoon Database
- Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century at the Internet Movie Database
- In His Own Words: Chuck Jones on Duck Dodgers by Jim Korkis at cartoonresearch.com
- Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century on the SFX Resource Wiki
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