''Fool Coverage'' is a 1952
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 ...
''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American 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.[ ...]
'' cartoon directed by
Robert McKimson.
The cartoon was released on December 13, 1952, and stars
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 Melo ...
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 star power, and the animators created many crit ...
.
In the short, Daffy is an insurance salesman, trying to sell a reluctant Porky a "full coverage" policy.
Plot
Porky answers the door to find Daffy, a pushy insurance salesman representing the Hotfoot Casualty Underwriters Insurance Company of
Schenectady
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Yo ...
, who tries to convince Porky to purchase an insurance policy promising $1 million for a simple black eye. Although Porky is briefly tempted, he shows Daffy to the door. Daffy, unwilling to give up, returns and follows Porky around the house, warning him of the dangers of everyday domestic life. When Porky lights a match to retrieve a
screwdriver
A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for turning screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver has been repla ...
from the oven, Daffy reminds Porky of the risk of explosion, urging him to use a
flashlight
A flashlight ( US, Canada) or torch ( UK, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since th ...
instead. When Daffy demonstrates, the
oven
upA double oven
A ceramic oven
An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...
explodes in his face, prompting him to comment: "Must've been a short in my battery!".
Daffy then stuffs Porky's closet with a range of improbable objects. Daffy asks for each item in turn, only to be told by Porky that he owns no such thing. Finally, Daffy asks for a yo-yo; Porky tells Daffy to look in the closet. Forgetting the trap he has set, Daffy runs to the closet and opens the door, whereupon everything clatters down onto him. Another has him sawing a hole in the floor and covering it with a rug, only to fall down it himself, and replacing a candle with a stick of dynamite (though why such a thing would be in Porky's home is unknown) which results in the explosion sending him flying through the roof.
Ultimately, Porky is convinced that his home is indeed full of hazards, and he agrees to take out the insurance policy. Daffy soon reveals the fine print, according to which the $1 million will be paid only for a black eye incurred in the course of a stampede of wild elephants in his house between 3:55 and 4:00 pm on the
Fourth of July
Independence Day ( colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United State ...
during a hailstorm. Porky is momentarily chastened, but then a stampede of wild
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
s comes through the living room. Daffy nervously looks at his watch, which reads 3:57 pm, and at the calendar, which reads July 4. Outside, hail is pouring down. Porky displays his black eye and demands to be paid, but Daffy refuses with the lie that the provision was in fact for a stampede of wild elephants and one baby zebra, whereupon a baby zebra follows the elephants through the room. Daffy proclaims "And one baby zebra!" and faints, realizing that he'll have to pay Porky no matter how he tries to change up the fine print to avoid it.
Home media
This cartoon can be found, restored and with its original opening and closing title sequences, in the
''
Looney Tunes Super Stars' Porky & Friends: Hilarious Ham''.
See also
*
List of Daffy Duck cartoons
*
Porky Pig filmography
References
External links
*
{{Robert McKimson
1952 animated films
1952 short films
1952 films
Looney Tunes shorts
Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films
Films directed by Robert McKimson
Daffy Duck films
Porky Pig films
1950s Warner Bros. animated short films
Films scored by Carl Stalling
1950s English-language films
Films about salespeople