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Duck Dodgers is the metafictional star of a series of cartoons produced by
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 ...
, featuring
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 ...
in the role of a science fiction hero. He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short ''
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 Dodgers, ...
'', 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 ...
as a spoof of the popular '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and ''
Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...
''
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
serials of the 1930s, casting the brash, egomaniacal Daffy Duck as the hero of the story. it is available in the DVD compilation '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1'', and is also available for download on the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
in the Daffy Duck collection. The plot of the cartoon involves Duck Dodgers' search for the rare element Illudium Phosdex, "the
shaving cream Shaving cream or shave cream is a category of cream cosmetics used for shaving preparation. The purpose of shaving cream is to soften the hair by providing lubrication. Different types of shaving creams include aerosol shaving cream (also kn ...
atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...
", the only remaining supply of which is on the mysterious "
Planet X Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century and continued at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell's ...
". Just after Dodgers has claimed Planet X in the name of the Earth,
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 ...
lands on the same planet and claims it in the name of
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
. The stage is set for a battle of wits, not to mention various forms of weaponry, most of which tend to backfire comically on Dodgers. Considering the period in which the cartoon was produced (the Red Scare was in full swing during the 1950s era), some scholars have used the cartoon to parallel the supposed futility of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
and the arms race.


Duck Dodgers sequels

The first sequel, also produced 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 with Mel Blanc reprising his roles, was titled ''
Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century ''Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century'' is a 1980 animated short film starring Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Marvin the Martian. It is the sequel to the 1953 cartoon ''Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century''. It was the first Daffy and Porky ...
'' and was released in 1980. The plot of this sequel cartoon was nearly a carbon copy of the original though this time, Marvin says he is trying to solve the Earth's energy crisis (by blowing up the Earth); Marvin succeeds in launching his missile and at the end of the cartoon reminds everyone that it's only a cartoon. The second short, titled ''
Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension ''Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension'' (also titled ''Marvin the Martian in 3D'' and ''Marvin the Martian in 4D'') is a 3-D Looney Tunes film formerly an attraction at Drayton Manor Resort in Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England, Wa ...
'', was a 3D cartoon released in 1996 to select venues, and had impressionist Joe Alaskey providing Duck Dodgers' voice. These included the flagship
Warner Bros. Studio Store The Warner Bros. Studio Store was a chain of retail stores selling Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and other merchandise based on Warner Bros. films, similar in style to The Disney Store. They first opened in 1991. In 1996, Warner Bros. owner Time Warne ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, and Warner Bros. Movie World theme parks on the
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
, Australia and in
Bottrop-Kirchhellen Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and rail cent ...
, Germany. It included a range of interactive effects including a splash with water. Unlike the other Dodgers cartoons, Porky Pig did not appear. A third short, titled ''Superior Duck'' was released in 1996, with Frank Gorshin as Duck Dodgers. In this short, the character instead went by the name Superior Duck. A fourth short, titled ''Attack of the Drones'', was made in 2003 and featured
Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the Johnny Bravo, eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in ''Gargoyles (TV series), Gargoyles'' and List o ...
as the voice of Duck Dodgers. This short was part of a series of new shorts, but because of the failure of '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'', it was not released theatrically. However, the short was included as a special feature on disc two of ''
The Essential Daffy Duck ''The Essential Daffy Duck'' is a DVD set featuring cartoons focusing on Daffy Duck. It was released on November 1, 2011. Contents The contents are split over two discs. The first disc features 15 classic Daffy Duck shorts (14 of which were previ ...
''
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 kind ...
set.


Further appearances

* Duck Dodgers (voiced by
Jeff Bergman Jeffrey Bergman (born July 10, 1960) is an American voice actor and impressionist who has provided the modern-day voices of various classic cartoon characters, most notably with '' Looney Tunes'' and Hanna-Barbera. Bergman was the first to rep ...
) also made an appearance in a ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'' segment titled "Duck Dodgers Jr." (in the episode "The Return of the Acme Acres Zone"), where Daffy Duck's pint-sized protégé and student Plucky Duck also visited the futuristic world of Duck Dodgers. Here
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 ...
appears with his niece, Marcia. Duck Dodgers also makes an appearance in ''Star Warners''. * A
SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...
and
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
game called '' Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions'' (in which he is voiced by
Greg Burson Gregory Lewis Burson (June 29, 1949 – July 22, 2008) was an American voice actor. He was best known as a replacement for voice actors Daws Butler and Mel Blanc following their deaths in 1988 and 1989, respectively. Career Burson was trained ...
), as well as a
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
video game, entitled '' Duck Dodgers 64'', have also been produced. He also appeared in the game '' Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal'', voiced by Alaskey. * The original cartoon also appeared in a 1994 episode of the science fiction series ''
Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...
'' (also produced by WB), where it was revealed that ''Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'' was Security Chief
Michael Garibaldi Michael Garibaldi is a lead fictional character in the universe of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'', played by Jerry Doyle. Character history Overview During most of ''Babylon 5's'' five seasons, Garibaldi is the Chief of Sec ...
's "second favorite thing in the universe". One episode shows Garibaldi laughing uproariously at the cartoon, as Ambassador
Delenn Delenn is a fictional lead character in the universe of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5''. She was originally Minbari, but from season 2 onwards, became a Minbari/human hybrid. She was played by Mira Furlan. Role in ''Babylon ...
watches it with him, appearing totally bewildered. * Portions of this cartoon can be seen and heard in the background in a scene from the 1977 movie ''
Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...
''. * Duck Dodgers, again voiced by Alaskey, appears in the 2003 feature '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' when Daffy notes that the only character that could save the film's proverbial day was Duck Dodgers; Daffy then realizes that Dodgers is his
alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
. He ends up defeating Marvin and saving humanity, after several jet packs exploded when he said his name. * From 2003 to 2005,
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 ...
aired a ''
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 ...
'' TV series. In this show, which had Joe Alaskey returning as the titular character's voice, Duck Edgar Dumas Aloysius Eoghain Dodgers started out as a hapless soul that was accidentally frozen for over three hundred years for reasons not known. He was later revived by Dr. I.Q. Hi in the 24½th century. Through scheming and lies he managed to trick everyone into believing he was a 21st-century hero. In reality, he was only a
water boy In the United States, a water boy or water girl (sometimes spelled waterboy or watergirl) was someone who worked in the field, providing water to farm workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the name is given to those who work on the ...
for the Midstate University
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team, and "Quarterback Quack" shows that he only carried out this façade at the insistence of a time-traveling Martian Commander X-2, who unwittingly made Dodgers into the hero he was known as. Dodgers is arrogant, selfish, greedy, lazy, cowardly, gullible, and not particularly intelligent. However, he occasionally displays surprisingly high levels of heroism and competence, suggesting that he is not quite as daft as he appears to be, although he mostly succeeds through sheer dumb luck and the work of the Eager Young Space Cadet. Martian Commander X-2 actually caused Dodgers to become a minor football star in the final game of the season, which is what he used to parlay himself into captaincy in the Protectorate, meaning that he is, technically, not lying when he claims he won a championship football game in his own time. It is implied that he can't read, though this is contradicted several times. He also has shown to have quite the ego, when he caused the energy core of his ship to explode while using the lasers to carve his name on a nearby planetoid for example, and burning out the auxiliary core to make toast. In "The Green Loontern", Duck Dodgers accidentally got his costume mixed up with Hal Jordan's
Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...
costume at the dry cleaners where the rest of the
Green Lantern Corps Green Lantern Corps is the name of a fictional intergalactic law enforcement organization appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residin ...
mistook him for Hal Jordan. He ended up fighting
Sinestro Thaal Sinestro () (or simply Sinestro) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, particularly those featuring Green Lantern. Sinestro is a former Green Lantern Corps member who was dishonorably discharged for abu ...
until Hal Jordan arrived and regained his costume to help defeat Sinestro. Though he doesn't show it often, Dodgers cares deeply for his Cadet, even though he often demeans and puts him through humiliating situations. In "Of Course You Know, This Means War and Peace" Pt. 1, he is described by Psy Q. Hi as an ego-maniacal, bipolar, narcissist, and pathological liar with sociopathic tendencies. * Duck Dodgers' Green Loontern appearance appears as a playable character in the 2014 video game '' Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham''. This was also Alaskey's final performance as the character before his death in 2016.


Use by the US Air Force and NASA

In 2003, both Duck Dodgers and Marvin the Martian were featured on separate 1st Space Launch Squadron mission patches for that year's
Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, ''Spirit (rover), Spirit'' and ''Opportunity (rover), Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rover ...
missions.


Dragon Con

The original ''Duck Dodgers'' cartoon is played during the Masquerade contest while the judges make their decisions annually. Dragon Con occurs every Labor Day weekend in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The tradition was taken on by Dragon Con when Atlanta Fantasy Fair, a preceding Atlanta convention, became defunct. In 2020, due to the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic, Dragon Con shifted to its first ever virtual convention, Dragon Con Goes Virtual. In keeping with tradition, the Masquerade was held, though in virtual form. A
sweded' version
was produced by DragonConTV for Dragon Con Goes Virtual and included Kirk R. Thatcher, Neil Grayston,
Chris Gauthier Christopher Gauthier (born 27 January 1976) is an English-born Canadian actor best known for his work in '' Need for Speed: Carbon''. He had a recurring role on the SyFy Channel series '' Eureka'', as Café Diem owner Vincent. While filming the f ...
, Eddie McClintock,
Victor Yerrid Victor Yerrid (born November 13, 1971) is an American actor and puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company and has performed Muppet characters in many films, television commercials and television shows. He is best known in the Muppet World for his work ...
,
Mark Meer Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a numb ...
, Raymond Carr,
Garrett Wang Garrett Richard Wang () (; born December 15, 1968) is an American actor. Wang is known for his role in '' Star Trek: Voyager'' as Ensign Harry Kim. Early life Wang was born in Riverside, California, to Taiwanese immigrant parents. He has one ...
, K`Tetch, and
Bob Bergen Robert Bergen (born March 8, 1964) is an American voice actor. He voices Warner Bros. cartoon characters Porky Pig and Tweety and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted the children's game show '' Jep!'', ...
.


References


External links

* * *
Screenshots from ''Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century''
*
Duck_Dodgers:_A_Dragon_Con_Tribute_ Duck_Dodgers:_A_Dragon_Con_Tribute_[dragoncontv
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/nowiki>' {{Looney_Tunes_&_Merrie_Melodies Duck_Dodgers.html" ;"title="ragoncontv
/nowiki>.html" ;"title="ragoncontv">Duck Dodgers: A Dragon Con Tribute [dragoncontv
/nowiki>">ragoncontv">Duck Dodgers: A Dragon Con Tribute [dragoncontv
/nowiki>' {{Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Duck Dodgers"> Film characters introduced in 1953 Animal superheroes Fictional ducks Fictional anthropomorphic characters Fictional cryonically preserved characters Science fiction characters Television series set in the 24th century Fictional characters with alter egos