''Golden Yeggs'' is a 1950

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

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 ...

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

directed by

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 '' ...

. The cartoon was released on August 5, 1950, and stars

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

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 ...

. A forerunner of the

Rocky and Mugsy The '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated shorts released by Warner Bros. feature a range of characters which are listed and briefly detailed here. Major characters from the franchise include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer ...

characters appear, with Rocky already in his present-day form. The story was written by

Tedd Pierce Edward Stacey "Tedd" Pierce III (August 12, 1906 – February 19, 1972) was an American screenwriter and voice actor of animated cartoons, principally from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s. Biography Pierce was the son of a stockbroker, Samue ...

and animated by Arthur Davis,

Gerry Chiniquy Germain Adolph Chiniquy (pronounced "chin-a-KEE"; June 23, 1912 – November 22, 1989) was an American animator known for his work with Friz Freleng, at both Warner Bros. and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Chiniquy joined Freleng's animation ...

, Ken Champin,

Virgil Ross Virgil Walter Ross (August 8, 1907 – May 15, 1996) was an American artist, cartoonist, and animator best known for his work on the Warner Bros. animated shorts including the shorts of legendary animator Friz Freleng. Biography Early yea ...

and

Emery Hawkins Emery Otis Hawkins (April 30, 1912 – June 1, 1989) was an American animator, best known for his work during the Golden age of American animation, working in various studios in the industry. Early life and career Emery Hawkins was born in Jerom ...

. Paul Julian painted the backgrounds and

Hawley Pratt Hawley B. Pratt (June 9, 1911 – March 4, 1999) was an American film director, animator, and illustrator. He is best known for his work for Warner Bros. Cartoons and as the right-hand man of director Friz Freleng as a layout artist and late ...

designed the layouts.

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 ...

provided the voices and

Carl W. Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...

the music. "Yegg" is a slang term for a burglar or safecracker. The same play-on-words was used in the title of the 1947

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 '' ...

cartoon, ''

Easter Yeggs ''Easter Yeggs'' is a 1947 ''Looney Tunes'' theatrical animated short. The cartoon was released on June 28, 1947, and features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The title is a play on "Easter eggs" and on "yegg", a slang term for a burglar or safecracker ...

''. It is also a

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

parody.Film Noir Cartoons at the Academy, Cartoon Brew
/ref>

Plot

When Porky finds a

golden egg Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

in his henhouse, a goose reveals to the audience that he laid it. However, knowing full well what happened to the goose that laid the golden egg (a reference to

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...

), the goose tells Porky that Daffy is responsible. After reading about how much Daffy is worth, Rocky and his gang strong-arm Porky and 'talk him into' selling the duck to them. They hustle Daffy back to their den where Rocky demands he lay a golden egg. Daffy tries to stall for time, at one point asking for surroundings that would make him more comfortable. Rocky and his henchmen oblige, but when Daffy tries to get out of providing the egg, they shoot him out of the nice pool he has been enjoying and take him back to their hideout. Daffy is given five minutes to lay the egg, or else. The duck insists on privacy, then tries various ways to escape his predicament, but is stopped at every turn. When time runs out, Rocky fires his gun at Daffy's head. The extreme stress results in him actually laying a golden egg. Relieved he is now free to go, Daffy prances toward the door. Rocky holds him up, points into a room containing dozens of empty egg crates and orders the duck to fill them. Daffy groans, "Oh, my achin' back" and faints.

Alternative ending

When this cartoon was used in ''

The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie ''The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie'' (credited onscreen as ''Friz Freleng's Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie'') is a 1981 American animated comedy package film with a compilation of classic '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' Wa ...

'', a new ending was used. Instead of Daffy fainting,

, alias Elegant Mess (a parody of

Eliot Ness Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone and enforce Prohibition in Chicago. He was the leader of a team of law enforcement agents, nicknamed The Untouchables. H ...

), arrives with the police to bust Rocky and his gang. Daffy is exhausted by carrying out Rocky's orders. Naturally, Rocky and his gang are arrested. Daffy is taken to a hospital on a stretcher. Bugs asks Daffy if he needs anything and Daffy requests a

proctologist Colorectal surgery is a field in medicine dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and Colon (anatomy), colon. The field is also known as proctology, but this term is now used infrequently within medicine and is most often employed to identify ...

, immediately.

References

External links

* * {{The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs 1950 animated films 1950 short films 1950 films Merrie Melodies short films Short films directed by Friz Freleng Daffy Duck films Porky Pig films Films scored by Carl Stalling 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films 1950s English-language films Film noir cartoons