The Iceman Ducketh is a 1964 Looney Tunes short directed by Phil Monroe and Maurice Noble.
Title
The title refers to the 1939 play The Iceman Cometh written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill.
Plot
At a trading post, Daffy discovers that he can trade animal furs for cash. Despite being warned that winter will come and that he is too late, Daffy runs off to catch fur in the snow. He hopes to capture Bugs Bunny for his soft coat.
Bugs, completely aware that Daffy will be hunting for him this season, builds a snowman. Daffy confuses the snowman as Bugs and beats it up until it reveals a bear, which mauls Daffy. As Daffy returns, Bugs states that his fur is indeed soft but he then smooches the duck and runs off, blocking the rifle with a carrot. The rifle explodes when Daffy tries to shoot at Bugs. Once things quiet down, Daffy realizes that there are bears hibernating in the area, but his aggressiveness angers most of the sleeping bears and gets himself caught in an avalanche, and Bugs trying to trap Daffy whenever possible doesn't help. Daffy then tries to blow up the rabbit hole with dynamite, which Bugs simply direct back at Daffy.
As Bugs runs off to hide in a tree, Daffy tries to burn the tree down, but gets himself drizzled with frozen water until he freezes completely. He then skis down a hill to ram into Bugs, and Bugs uses water that freezes into a wall that Daffy slams into. Finally, Daffy tries to roll a snowball to smash the rabbit, which misses and sends a barrage of bears at Daffy instead. Bugs wishes Daffy a good night, while Daffy, freezing and bruised, is forced up the tree with the bears sleeping under it.
Availability
Christmas Looney Tunes
Bugs and Daffy: What's Up, Duck? (1997 dubbed version) (only in PAL regions)
Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 8)
Looney Tunes VCD Compilation 2
Christmas Cartoon Capers
Christmas Collection Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes Super Stars' Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl (cropped to widescreen)
Looney Tunes Super Stars Family Multi-Feature Vol. 2, Disc 1
Streaming
Notes
- This was the last Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon featuring Bugs and Daffy together until "Box Office Bunny" in 1991, and the last that the Chuck Jones unit worked on, as Jones was fired at an early stage of production and replaced by Monroe (by the time it was released, Jones had already produced two cartoons at his new studio, Sib-Tower 12).
- Much like "Woolen Under Where", Chuck Jones was fired during production of this cartoon. Although unlike "Woolen Under Where", where he was credited for writing the cartoon, Jones did not manage to contribute anything to "The Iceman Ducketh".
- The bears' roaring sounds were archival recordings of the monster's roars from the WB live-action film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
- Clips from this cartoon were used and commentated on by John Madden and Pat Summerall as the second quarter of the 2001 Cartoon Network special The Big Game XXIX: Bugs Vs. Daffy.
- This is the first of only two cartoons to depict Daffy as a big game hunter, the other is "Suppressed Duck".
- This cartoon references the Colgate toothpaste TV commercials of the 1960s; Bugs creates an "invisible shield" by throwing out a bucket of water, which freezes into a shield, into which Daffy crashes.
- Alongside "Stork Naked", this short is one of the two from the pre-1965 era where Daffy is unusually depicted as far more nasty and mean-spirited compared to previous Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck pairings, going so far as attempting to kill Bugs for his fur. Following the Warner Bros. cartoon studio's closure later that year, Daffy's more mean-spirited side from this cartoon would be exaggerated further during the DePatie-Freleng and the W-7 eras when Daffy became an antagonist to Speedy Gonzales.
Censorship
- On the Fox version of The Merrie Melodies Show, the syndicated version of The Merrie Melodies Show, and the version shown on the now defunct WB, two parts were cut:[1]
- Daffy pulling Bugs' carrot from the gun barrel after Bugs plugs it, along with Daffy getting shot and saying sarcastically, "Oooh, I LOVE him!"
- The part after Daffy gets turned into an ice statue where Daffy climbs out of the statue, tugs on the gun that's still in there, and gets shot.
- While Fox ended the scene with Daffy stuck in his own ice sculpture after Bugs' line "See you after the spring thaw, pal!", the syndicated "Merrie Melodies" show and The WB! ended the scene after Daffy gets out of his own ice sculpture and says "We'll see who gets the last laugh around here!" right before he tugs on the gun. [1]
Gallery
TV Title Cards
References
External Links
- "The Iceman Ducketh" at SuperCartoons.net
- "The Iceman Ducketh" at ok.ru
| Preceded by Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1964 |
Succeeded by False Hare |
Also see
