Release Date:

May 20, 1950

Main Character(s):

Daffy Duck

Summary:

Daffy Duck marries a rich and very tall female duck for her money, only to find out that she’s an unbearable battle-ax and that he has to look after her mischievous brat, a little yellow duck named Wentworth.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1118 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

This is the third time that Daffy is seen in an unhappy marriage with the first two being in “Wise Quacks” and “The Henpecked Duck”. This would also happen to him in “Stork Naked” (1955) and “Quackodile Tears” (1962).

The cartoon’s plot would be reworked for “Honey’s Money” (1962) with Yosemite Sam in Daffy’s role, the rich widow being the same height as Sam but still a battle-ax, and while the child is still named “Wentworth”, he is more an oblivious child who doesn’t know his own strength.

Wentworth is presumably named after actress Martha Wentworth, who does Battle-ax’s voice here (well, that’s what I’m referring to the wife as as there is no better way to describe her).

Wentworth shares the same character design as the stubborn yellow duck in “Ain’t That Ducky”.

The title is a pun for “his better half”, which is supposed to refer to one’s spouse. Appropriately, here, Daffy marrying Battle-ax only serves to make his life a misery.

During the scene where Wentworth is painting a metal cylinder to disguise himself as a dynamite stick, a can labeled “Hadley and Pert Flex Lak Thinner” is seen. This is another variation on Hawley Pratt.

“Powerhouse” plays during the scene where Daffy does all the chores.

This was one of Eddie Selzer’s favorite Daffy Duck cartoons (something he isn’t negative about for once).

Freleng would rework the shooting gag (the screenshot used in this post) ten years later in “Horse Hare”.

What I Like About This One:

With a pleasant rendition of “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leafed Clover” playing in the background, Daffy is seen in his pond home, reading ads of people wanting spouses: “Man with herd of cattle wishes to meet woman with frying pan; Object, hamburger” and “Refined wealthy lady duck with home and income wishes to meet refined single gentleman duck. Object, matrimony”. The latter gets Daffy excited: “Eureka! What am I waitin’ for?” Putting on his hat and coat, Daffy says to himself, “Brother! What a setup for an impoverished but personable single duck like yours truly” (animated by Arthur Davis).

After Daffy buys a 20 cent ring from the 5 and 10 store, he and Battle-ax are married offscreen at the church as their jalopy as “Just Married” written on the back along with several cans tied to said back (animated by Davis).

Upon entering his new home, Daffy is seen in Battle-ax’s arms and after kissing her, asks, “Ours?”, to which she happily nods. Daffy gets down, “Well, the honeymoon’s over!” an reads the newspaper, wearing a fez and smoking a pipe while sitting in a chair, and asks, “How’s the chow coming along, my pet?” Battle-ax pulls him out of the chair and reveals her true colors: “Now haul your anchor loose of that chair and get busy with the household chores!” Shocked at her bossiness, Daffy reacts, “WHAT!?” and firmly declares, “No, madam. It must be clearly understood that no one is going to henpeck this little black duck”. She snaps back, “Ah, shut up! Or I’ll slap your mouth clean off of your face!” Believing this isn’t possible, Daffy dares, “I’d like to see ya”. She slaps him so hard, his beak falls off. “I see ya”, Daffy says without his beak before putting it back on (animated by Davis).

Daffy is soon doing all the chores such as washing dishes while operating an old-fashioned washing machine with his foot, mowing the lawn while collecting the laundry hanging out to dry, and sweeping before putting the dust under the rug (animated by Virgil Ross). By the time he’s finished, Daffy is exhausted and out of breath: “Oh, brother. Am I- inhale, exhale, p-p-pooped”. Suddenly, shouting noises such as “BANG! POW!”, etc are heard, which turn out to be coming from Wentworth, who is first seen riding a tricycle, and then dressed as a soldier who mimics firing a gun and then being shot. He then drives a toy fire truck, climbs up a miniature ladder he places against the back of Daffy’s chair, and squirts Daffy’s seltzer. Daffy is then chased and run over by Wentworth imitating one of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders yelling, “CHARGE!” (animated by Ken Champin)

Daffy asks, “Sufferin’ succotash! What’s THAT!?”, pointing to Wentworth (animated by Champin). Battle-ax chuckles, “Um, heh, heh, I forgot to tell you. Uh, that’s my little son, Wentworth", before asking in a demanding tone, “Don’t ya think he’s kinda cute!?” (animated by Davis) Daffy accurately responds in an irritated tone, “Yeah. Cute like a stomach pump”. Wentworth suddenly shows up dressed like an Indian, requesting to Daffy rapidly, “Come on, pop. Let’s play Indians. Let’s play Indians. Huh, pop? Huh, pop? Let’s play Indians. Huh, pop? Let’s play Indians”. Daffy shakes Wentworth off his foot, “Ah, lay off of me! I ain’t playin’ no Indians!” Battle-ax won’t let Daffy say no however (animated by Ross): “Daffy, Wentworth wants to play Indian”. Daffy talks back, “I am NOT playing Indian”. Cut to Wentworth innocently watching the argument as Battle-ax is heard saying, “You’ll play Indian or I’ll-” before Daffy responds, “Nope. NO Indian”. Wentworth flutters his eyebrows at the audience as a loud kick is heard. Daffy walks over to Wentworth, where it’s revealed that Battle-ax kicked him in the rear so hard that he is walking very high on his legs. “Come on, Rain-in-the-Puss. Let’s play Indian”, he says reluctantly (animated by Davis).

While Battle-ax is eating chocolates and reading, Daffy is running for his life away from Wentworth imitating an Indian and chasing him with a meat cleaver. Daffy comes in, having been scalped, and angrily asks, “Got any more bright ideas!?” Battle-ax responds, “Yes, Daffy. I think it would be nice to take Wentworth to the park”. Daffy refuses: “What!? If you think for one moment that I’m gonna take that brat to the park, you’re… you’re… you’re…”, but she shows him her bank book open-paged, so he instead ends with, “you’re absolutely right” (animated by Champin).

Having taken Wentworth to the park’s carnival, Daffy angrily mutters to himself at the fix he’s gotten himself into, he quickly takes away a rifle Wentworth is holding at a shooting gallery. He warns, “Don’t you know that shooting is dangerous for small squabs like you? Especially you. If there’s any shooting to be done, let an expert do it”. Daffy tells the guy in charge of the shooting gallery, “Daffy Oakley’s the name”, and takes his shot. Once he does, Wentworth slingshots a small pellet at the back of the shooting gallery man’s head, causing the latter to think Daffy hit him. “Say! Watch where you’re shootin’, bub?” Believing it must have “ricocheted” (pronouncing the “t” in the word), Daffy decides to shoot upside down, pulling the trigger with his foot: “Now, Wentworth, just watch me pick off that big moose with a silly-lookin’ puss!” Thinking Daffy is referring to him, the man angrily glares at him before Wentworth hits the man in the back of the head a second time. The man warns Daffy, “Listen, duck! Plunk me once more, and it’s your last plunk!” Realizing Wentworth is the one responsible, Daffy fakes shooting by saying the appropriate onomatopoeias, he points to Wentworth after the latter hits again, but Daffy ends up getting socked by the man (animated by Gerry Chiniquy).

That evening, Wentworth brings home a groggy Daffy and tells Battle-ax, “Look what I brought ya, Mom”. Presumably believing Daffy’s been drinking, Battle-ax beats him up offscreen: “Huh! Right to the gills! That’ll teach ya! Go get to bed! Ya gotta get up early and help Wentworth shoot off his fireworks for the Fourth!” (animated by Champin)

The next day, Wentworth timidly lights a string of firecrackers and shouts, “Run, Pop! Run! Run Run!” Daffy chuckles and tells him, “Those little ones can’t hurt you. It’s the big ones ya gotta look out for”. It turns out there IS a big one at the end of this string which explodes on Daffy. After the explosion, Daffy says, “Wentworth…” before the next scene fades in to him calling for Wentworth, while holding a plank behind his back, intending to spank him. Wentworth paints a metal cylinder and disguises himself as a firecracker, which scares Daffy into running off. Daffy gets wise upon seeing the disguised Wentworth running past. Turning a corner, Daffy grabs what he thinks is Wentworth and starts spanking him, “Now I got ya! Maybe this’ll teach ya not to try and play pranks on someone that’s just a little older and smarter than you!” He then spots Wentworth in his dynamite disguise running past, making Daffy realize he’s spanking a real firecracker, which explodes (animated by Ross).

Having had absolutely enough, Daffy angrily marches back into the house (animated by Ross) and is met by Battle-ax asking him, “And just where have YOU been, ya battered buzzard? Poor little Wentworth’s been waiting for HOURS for you to take him to the zoo”. Daffy refuses, “Zoo, schmoo! I’m not taking Wentworth ANYWHERE. P-P-Period”. Despite Battle-ax’s threat, “Are you gonna take Wentworth to the zoo or am I gonna pluck every feather off your scrawny carcass!?”, Daffy’s mind has been made up as he punctuates for emphasis, “No. Zoo” (animated by Davis). He packs his bags and leaves, declaring, “No, sir! No one’s gonna tell THIS little black duck what to do!” As he walks away, it’s revealed that all of his feathers from the elbows down to his legs are now gone (animated by Chiniquy).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½