''Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½^th Century'' is a 1980 animated short film starring

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...

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 star power, and the animators created many criti ...

and

Marvin the Martian Marvin the Martian is an extraterrestrial character from Warner Bros.' '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons. He frequently appears as a villain in cartoons and video games, and wears a helmet and skirt. The character has been voic ...

. It is the sequel to the 1953 cartoon ''

Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century ''Duck Dodgers in the th Century'' (spoken as "twenty-fourth-and-a-half") is a 1953 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The cartoon was released on July 25, 1953, and stars Daffy Duck as space hero Duck Dodger ...

''. It was the first Daffy and Porky cartoon since 1965. This cartoon first premiered on November 20, 1980, as part of an animated

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television special called ''Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special'', with scenes that would later be cut when this cartoon was reformatted as a short. A majority of Maltese's storyboards weren't used in the final product, including a duel with Marvin and Daffy and the majority of the boards had K-9, but the character was later deleted from the short entirely. The only parts written that Maltese that remained in the final product is the problem of the lack of the element that produces yo-yo polish (called flexonite in the boards) and Gossamer being shaven (albeit with Porky using hair clippers instead of Daffy singing

The Song of the Marines "The Song of the Marines" is a song composed by Harry Warren with lyrics by Al Dubin. It was featured in the 1937 Warner Bros. film, ''The Singing Marine'' where it was sung by actor Dick Powell. Later, Warner Bros. Cartoons used the song in ...

to Gossamer and his weakness being barbers instead of music). The theme tune is an orchestral version of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

- Polonaise in A major Op. 40 No. 1 Military.

Plot

Daffy Duck reprises his famous role of

Duck Dodgers Duck Dodgers is the metafictional star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros., featuring Daffy Duck in the role of a science fiction hero. He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short ''Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'', directed by ...

in another spoof of Saturday afternoon space serials. Assigned to locate the rack-and-pinion molecule needed for

yo-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

polish, Dodgers and his sidekick, an eager young space cadet (Porky Pig), crash their spaceship into a giant eggshell-shaped planet, where they find Marvin the Martian, who is, as usual, scheming to destroy Earth in an attempt to solve the " fuel problem". Marvin asks Dodgers to visit the boudoir of

Gossamer Gossamer most commonly refers to: * Fine spider silk used by spiderlings for ballooning or kiting * Gossamer (fabric), very light, sheer, gauze-like fabric Gossamer may also refer to: Technology * Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered ai ...

, which Dodgers thinks is a space princess, but Gossamer turns out to be a giant, hairy monster in sneakers, and the frightened Dodgers flees. Porky uses electronic clippers to literally

haircut A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming ...

Gossamer into nothingness, and Dodgers, infuriated by his assistant's all-too-literal interpretations of his commands, repeatedly fires his gun at Porky. When Porky asks what Earth will do without the rack-and-pinion molecule Dodgers replies "

Let them eat cake "Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "'", said to have been spoken in the 17th or 18th century by "a great princess" upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread e ...

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 r ...

(as

and Dr. I.Q.

Changes in the reformatted version

* The following scenes were cut when this cartoon was reformatted as an individual animated short: ** Dodgers telling Marvin he is under arrest. ** Porky using a

straitjacket A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with long sleeves that surpass the tips of the wearer's fingers. Its most typical use is restraining people who may cause harm to themselves or others. Once the wearer slides their arms into the ...

gun to capture Marvin the Martian. ** The real ending where Marvin (still wrapped in the straitjacket) aims his missile at Earth and fires it, then tells the viewers that the missile will take three days to reach Earth, giving everyone time to get their affairs in order before getting killed (which explains the "That's All Folks!" ending card where Marvin the Martian says, "Don't worry, folks. After all, it's only a cartoon."). * The Nickelodeon version of this cartoon cuts out the "That's All Folks!" ending card where Marvin the Martian says, "Don't worry, folks. After all, it's only a cartoon," along with the edits made to it when it was reformatted as a cartoon short. * The edited version of this cartoon has also been seen on ABC, Cartoon Network, and even in such home video releases as ''Marvin the Martian and K-9: 50 Years on Earth'' VHS, ''Marvin the Martian: Space Tunes'' VHS, the ''Bugs and Friends'' Japanese laserdisc set, the DVD release of '' Daffy Duck's Quackbusters'' and the '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1'' Blu-Ray set. In short, almost all current prints of this cartoon are edited. However, this short can be seen in its entirety as part of the ''Daffy Duck Thanks-for-Giving Special'', available on the ''Essential Daffy Duck'' DVD set.The Essential Daffy Duck-Animated Views
/ref>

References

External links

*
''Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½ Century'' on MUBI

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th Century 1980 films 1980 animated films 1980 short films 1980s science fiction comedy films 1980s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films American parody films American animated science fiction films Animated films about extraterrestrial life American science fiction comedy films Duck Dodgers Films set in the 24th century Films scored by Dean Elliott Daffy Duck films Marvin the Martian films Porky Pig films Films set on fictional planets Mars in film 1980 comedy films Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese 1980s English-language films