''Hard Luck Duck'' is a ''

What a Cartoon! ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by the ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

cartoon directed by

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

, produced by

Hanna-Barbera Cartoons Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, and broadcast as a part of ''World Premiere Toons'' on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

on April 16, 1995. The cartoon involves Hard Luck Duck (

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until his ...

), after venturing away from Harley Gator(

Brad Garrett Bradley Henry Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Possessing a distinctive deep voice, he has appeared in numerous television and film roles in both live-action and ...

)'s watch, is a hungry fox (

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as th ...

)'s target to be cooked. Although he was a producer on many Hanna-Barbera titles until his death on March 22, 2001, ''Hard Luck Duck'' is notable for being, with fellow ''What a Cartoon!'' short '' Wind-Up Wolf'', the last cartoons written and directed by William Hanna, whose career began in the

Golden Age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the late 1960s, where theatrical animated shorts began losing popularity to the ...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

(MGM) with the short '' To Spring'' (1936) and his later ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

'' series.

Plot

A villainous fox wants to put Hard Luck Duck on his menu. Hard Luck Duck has a friend/bodyguard, an alligator named Harley. Harley routinely thwarts the fox's efforts to make a meal of the duck.

Production

Fred Seibert Frederick (Fred) Seibert (born September 15, 1951) is an American television producer, co-founder of MTV and the CEO of FredFilms, an animation production company based in Burbank, California. His official biography states he has led five (working ...

became president of

in 1992 and helped guide the struggling animation studio into its greatest output in years with shows like ''

2 Stupid Dogs ''2 Stupid Dogs'' is an American animated television series created and designed by Donovan Cook and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. It originally ran from September 5, 1993, to May 15, 1995, on TBS as a part of their ''Sunday Morning in Fr ...

'' and '' SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron''. Seibert wanted the studio to produce short cartoons, in the vein of the

Golden age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the late 1960s, where theatrical animated shorts began losing popularity to the ...

. Although a project consisting of 48 shorts would cost twice as much as a normal series, Seibert's pitch to Cartoon Network involved promising 48 chances to "succeed or fail," opened up possibilities for new original programming, and offered several new shorts to the thousands already present in the

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

library. According to Seibert, quality did not matter much to the cable operators distributing the struggling network, they were more interested in promising new programs. Seibert's idea for the project was influenced heavily by ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

''. Hanna, with partner

Joe Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

, as well as veteran animator

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

, taught Seibert how the shorts of the Golden Age of American animation were produced. As was the custom in live action film and television, the company did not pay each creator for the storyboard submitted and pitched. For the first time in the studio's history, individual creators could retain their rights, and earn royalties on their creations. ''Hard Luck Duck'' was written and pitched by Hanna, and immediately entered production.

Release

''Hard Luck Duck'' premiered Sunday, April 16, 1995 as a stand-alone cartoon. The cartoon preceded Cartoon Network's

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

night movie block, '' Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theatre''.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=1216994, title=Hard Luck Duck 1995 animated films 1995 films 1990s animated short films What a Cartoon! shorts Short films directed by William Hanna Hanna-Barbera animated films 1990s American animated films Animated films about foxes Films about ducks 1990s English-language films