''My Little Duckaroo'' is a 1954

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'' theatrical

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

short directed by

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

and written by

Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director ...

. The cartoon was released on November 27, 1954 and stars

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

and

Porky Pig Porky Pig is a cartoon 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 man ...

. This cartoon in many ways resembles the 1951 short directed by

entitled '' Drip-Along Daffy''. In this animated piece, upon seeing a wanted poster with a reward of $10,000.00 for the dead or alive capture of Nasty Canasta, Daffy sets out alongside his companion Porky and his trusty steed to retrieve the villain and collect the money. The cartoon can be found on the sixth volume of the ''Looney Tunes Golden Collection'', as well as the second volume of its Blu-ray Disc successor, the ''Platinum Collection'' (along with '' Drip-Along Daffy'' and '' Barbary Coast Bunny'').

Plot

Much like '' Drip-Along Daffy'', this cartoon parodies the widely popular Westerns of the time period. The Masked Avenger (Daffy) and his sidekick Comedy Relief (Porky) ride along in the desert until they come across a poster offering $10,000 reward for Nasty Canasta, wanted dead or alive for crimes including horse stealing, candy stealing, gag stealing, sheriff scaring and square dancing in a round house. "This looks like a job for...the Masked Ee-venger", Daffy shouts. "And besides, it isn't the principle of the thing, it's the money." Following large conspicuous signs literally pointing the way to (and at) to Canasta's hide-out, Daffy tells Porky to wait outside "whilst I go in and fix his little red wagon". Daffy bursts into the hideout, to find Canasta sitting peacefully at a table playing cards. He announces himself as the Masked Avenger, then as the Frisco Kid and later as Superguy, but Canasta pays no attention until Daffy offers advice on his card game, to which Canasta asks if Daffy plays cards. Challenged to join the game, Daffy departs and returns in new cowboy garb (but without the mask), confident of victory. What follows is the humiliation of Daffy again and again through different gags and challenges. The first round of the card game is ended abruptly when Canasta literally cuts the deck of cards with a meat cleaver, nearly cutting off Daffy's hand as well. Daffy deals the cards, giving Canasta one and himself the rest of the deck. Canasta "wins" the hand when he pokes a pistol in Daffy's mouth and declares "I got a 3 of clubs." Daffy nervously says, "Beats me!" The next scene opens with Canasta reading ''The Gravedigger's Joke Book'' by Burke and Hare, while Daffy attempts to roll a cigarette (ending up with just the paper in his mouth). Daffy challenges Canasta to an

arm wrestling Arm wrestling (also spelled "armwrestling") is a sport in which two participants, facing each other with their bent elbows placed on a flat surface (usually a table) and hands firmly gripped, each attempt to "pin" their opponent's hand by forcing ...

match, which Canasta easily wins, smashing Daffy into and through the table. Porky appears and suggests to Daffy, "Why don't you plain old arrest him?" Daffy tries that, but when he puts Canasta in irons, Canasta effortlessly breaks the handcuffs, and when Daffy tries to take him away, he finds that he cannot move Canasta from the spot he is standing. Daffy then gets annoyed and angry, telling Canasta that he is going to give him a fist beating, with Porky encouraging Daffy (telling him to fix Canasta's "little red wagon"). However, Daffy's spunk ends badly for Daffy himself, as Canasta rips his shirt right off just by flexing his muscles before beating up Daffy. The house shakes as Porky sits outside whittling with a knife and a stick, saying things like "Oh, h-h-h-he'll murder him." Daffy then emerges from the house after a few seconds, dazed and staggering with slurred speech, proclaiming that he indeed fixed Canasta's little red wagon, followed by Daffy staggering outside the house with a shiny new red wagon ("I told you I'd fix his little red

wagon A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by Working animal#Draft animals, draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are i ...

. You should've seen it. The wheels were busted, the axle was all bent, and it needed a new coat of paint. Now...now I'm going home to Mother.").

References

External links

My Little Duckaroo at AOL Video
* {{Chuck Jones 1954 films 1950s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) comedy short films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Daffy Duck films Porky Pig films Films scored by Milt Franklyn Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Western (genre) animated films 1954 comedy films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films 1950s English-language films Films set in deserts English-language Western (genre) comedy short films 1954 animated short films

Plot

See also

References

External links