''A Pest in the House'' is a ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' animated short film released on August 2, 1947. It is directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

and stars the characters of

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character, character created for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American black duck, black ...

and

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.''Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheo ...

. The film features a transitional interpretation of Daffy. He is not necessarily the zany, impish interpretation used by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

and

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

, nor is he the greedy, self-centered version that Chuck Jones later popularized in the 1950s. As

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) ...

said in the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

for this cartoon: " n this cartoon, Daffyis really kind of almost like a sprite. He's just a little, almost

elf An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

in creature who's not really out to hurt anybody or has any ill will or malice toward anybody. He's just absolutely out of his mind unhinged." It was only one of three non-

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

cartoons from 1947 not to be reissued. The others were '' Mexican Joyride'' and '' Catch as Cats Can'' (which is the only one of the three that Daffy doesn't appear in). The cartoon was followed up in 1948 by ''

Daffy Duck Slept Here ''Daffy Duck Slept Here'' is a 1948 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on March 6, 1948, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. Plot Porky is looking all over the big city for a hotel room ...

'', wherein Daffy (this time as a fellow guest) again does not let a hotel patron sleep – in this case

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created ma ...

Plot

The cartoon starts with a brief narration describing a labor shortage that "became so bad" that employers are willing to hire "anybody – or ''anything''". At the " Gland Hotel", Daffy is a hotel bellboy and Elmer Fudd is the manager. Elmer tells Daffy to take a customer to room

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. The customer (voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan, in his natural voice) asks for peace and quiet, and suddenly threatens to punch Elmer right in the nose if he is disturbed at any time. Daffy, in a Jerry Colonna-like sarcastic aside to the audience, remarks: "Likable chap, isn't he?", intending to take advantage of this condition to cause pain to his employer. Daffy does many stunts that keep the man awake, complete with escorting him to room

. Every time he is awakened again, the increasingly irritated man trudges to the lobby, to the tune of "

Pop Goes the Weasel "Pop! Goes the Weasel" (Roud 5249) is a traditional English and American song, a country dance, nursery rhyme, and singing game that emerged in the mid-19th century. It is commonly used in Jack-in-the-box toys and for ice cream trucks. The song ...

", and at the second where the song says "pop", he punches Elmer in the face (Elmer at one point gets hit through the phone and later dons a knight's helmet in a futile attempt to prevent getting hit). After several shenanigans (including barging in to tell him the legendary "traveling salesman story", only to forget the punch line), Daffy finally concludes it is too cold in the man's room and decides to fix the radiator. Elmer, knowing he will get beat up again, chases after Daffy. Daffy makes the heat vibrate to the room. Elmer hears whistling and covers it with several pillows. Daffy, thinking that Elmer is blowing whistles, proceeds to rant loudly to him: "So, a fine kettle of fish! Here I work myself down to the skin and bones trying to keep this guy asleep, and what do you do? Blow whistles! Just when I got things so quiet, you can hear a pin drop, you bust in here and bust out with a whistle, and you snafu the whole works! How in the name of all that's reasonable do you expect a guy to get his slumber when a goof like you goes around making noises like a one-man Fourth of July celebration?! He needs peace, and quiet! It's positively outrageous!" His screaming obviously wakes the now infuriated man, so Elmer hurries downstairs and he and Daffy switch places through a promotion in an effort to fool the man: "Fow vewy mewitowious sewvice, you are hewewith pwomoted to the position of managew. Take ovew." However, Elmer gets punched one last time, and Daffy concludes the cartoon with another Jerry Colonna-like aside: "Noisy little character, isn't he?"

Reception

Director David Bowers writes, "''A Pest in the House'' is a great cartoon featuring a terrific performance from Daffy Duck. Although it's directed by Chuck Jones, he hadn't yet developed Daffy into the selfish, greedy, ill-tempered foil to Bugs Bunny that he would become. For me, the cartoon is the best of two worlds: the wonderful drawings, poses, and comic timing of Jones' direction coupled with the much funnier Daffy of directors

and

Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator, cartoonist, children's writer, illustrator, screenwriter, and film director. He was best kn ...

... Daffy was rarely more obnoxious — or funnier."

Cast

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

as Daffy Duck, Unseen Drunk and Narrator * Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd and Hotel Guest (uncredited)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pest In The House, A 1947 animated films 1947 films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Daffy Duck films Films set in hotels Merrie Melodies short films Films scored by Carl Stalling Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films 1940s English-language films

Plot

Reception

Cast

See also

References

External links