Wise Quackers

Wise Quackers
Directed byI. Freleng
Story byTedd Pierce
Produced byEdward Selzer (uncredited)
StarringMel Blanc
Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited)
Music byCarl Stalling
Animation byManuel Perez
Pete Burness
Ken Champin
Virgil Ross
Gerry Chiniquy
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • January 1, 1949 (1949-01-01)
Running time
7:19
LanguageEnglish

Wise Quackers is a 1949 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The film was released on January 1, 1949, and stars Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd.[1][2]

The short's title should not be confused with the 1939 Bob Clampett short Wise Quacks.

Plot

In a wintry landscape, Daffy Duck, struggling to keep up with migrating birds, crash-lands in Elmer Fudd's farmyard. Mistaking Daffy for game, Elmer tries to hunt him, but Daffy convinces Elmer to spare him by offering to be his servant. Inside, Daffy plays pranks on Elmer, then cooks him a meal, only to eat most of it himself. Elmer realizes he has been tricked and chases Daffy out. Daffy's antics escalate, culminating in a tree falling on a neighbor's house. Elmer's dogs capture Daffy, who tricks Elmer into thinking he is about to whip him before running off dressed as Abraham Lincoln, lecturing Elmer on slavery.

Production notes

The film makes several references to African-American slaves for comedic effect, and has Daffy uttering the line "Tote dat barge! Lift dat bale!" from the song Ol' Man River. Warner Bros' films dropped the use of racist caricatures at the end of the 1940s; this is the last Daffy Duck cartoon to include stereotyped imagery of black people.[3]

References

  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 194. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70-72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ Cohen, Karl F. (2004), "Racism and Resistance:Stereotypes in Animation", Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, McFarland & Company, p. 54, ISBN 978-0786420322