Release Date:

June 22, 1946

Main Character(s):

Daffy Duck

Summary:

Arriving in Hollywood, Daffy Duck is determined to see the famous celebrities, but the studio cop (who has Joe Besser’s voice) won’t let gate crashers in and chases Daffy around the studio.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 2-15, the 2nd Merrie Melodie in the 15th release season.

The cartoon lacks a director credit due to Freleng disliking the plot of the cartoon and refusing to have his name attached to it. But since it was made by his unit, I still very much count this as a Freleng cartoon.

The cartoon somewhat reuses the plot of the Donald Duck cartoon, “The Autograph Hound” (1939).

This cartoon is not to be confused with the similarly titled “Daffy Duck in Hollywood”.

This is the first usage of the “character runs into painting, not knowing it’s a painting, but the character who painted it tears through it” gag.

There are a few references to the stars throughout the cartoon:

Ann Sheridan’s dressing room being surrounded by bear traps references the fact that she was frequently pursued by men, with Jimmy Durante (who has a trap on his foot) being one of them.

Jack Benny is seen at a claw machine that has an Oscar inside, which references the fact that he never won an Oscar in his lifetime (considering how big of an influence he was to Mel Blanc, this is also proof that the Academy Awards has very peculiar taste in film).

Lastly, Daffy imagines a star (the shape) as Dorothy Lamour, who is seen wearing a sarong.

What I Like About This One:

As soon as he steps off the bus, Daffy is very ecstatic to be in “the land of fortune, fame, and Lauren Bacall!” He kisses everywhere down the Boulevard while hoo-hooing (animated by Ken Champin).

Daffy simply walks past the cop who is guarding “Warmer Brothers Productions” but the cop pulls on his feathers like a string on a shirt. Daffy spins around to get them back to which the cop says, “Ooh, you’re such a sneak!” and points to the exit to signify to Daffy he wants him to leave. Daffy looks like he’s about to do so, but he simply does the opposite. The cop goes after him (animated by Gerry Chiniquy up to here) and kicks Daffy so hard he slides into a mailbox. Dazed, Daffy puts a letter in the mailbox to the tune of Chopin’s “Minute Waltz” (animated by Champin).

The cop greets all the stars such as Bette Davis, who acts snooty but gives a polite “Good Morning” before concluding, “I’m All This and Heaven Too!”, which references the 1940 film of the same name and Johnny Weissmuller who swings in as Tarzan and crashes offscreen (animated by Chiniquy). Daffy attempts to sneak in imitating Charlie Chaplin, Jimmy Durante, and Bing Crosby but is thrown out each time. He then comes back with his body completely gold. The cop asks what he’s supposed to be, to which Daffy replies, “For your sole information, I am the Academy Oscar! And JL is waiting!” (JL refers to Jack Warner) The cop pushes a button labeled “For Gate Crashers Posing as Academy Oscars”. A mechanical hand appears and boots Daffy out of his gold disguise (animated by Virgil Ross).

Chasing after Daffy, the cop gets stopped by a railroad crossing where Daffy imitates a train passing several times (animated by Champin).

Daffy next disguises as a tour guide giving a tour of the studio and pushing the cop into the tour car. We then see the “sequestered quarters of the cinema stars” where their dressing rooms are references to them: Abbott and Costello’s dressing rooms are lean and fat, respectively, Ann Sheridan’s is surrounded by bear traps, while Jimmy Durante comes out with a bear trap on his foot and laments, “Those are the conditions that prevail!” Pretending to present the cop, Daffy describes him as having a cranium that is insensible to injury as an excuse to whack him with a stick, which causes the cop to get wise (animated by Manuel Perez).

Jack Benny is at a claw machine and has grabbed an Oscar in said machine for a prize, but the cop accidentally bumps into him while chasing Daffy, which causes the claw to drop the Oscar. Annoyed, Benny sulks, “Darn it! I’ll never get one of those Oscars!” (animated by Ross)

The cop is stopped by Daffy disguised as a big-shot director, who sees the cop as a very talented actor. “What’s Errol Flynn got that you haven’t got?”, Daffy asks before asiding, “Don’t answer that!” The cop modestly replies, “I’ll bet you’re only saying that cause it’s true!” After Daffy puts lipstick on the cop’s face and covers him with grease paint and face powder, he tells the cop that all he has to do is run up a road and jump over a wall (animated by Ross). The cop ends up taking a very long fall after jumping over the set wall (animated by Champin).

Chasing Daffy once more, the cop attempts to trick him with a backdrop of a road. Daffy runs through it and into the distance, but since the cop set it up, he smashes through it (animated by Perez).

The cop eventually catches Daffy, who slaps himself out of the cop’s clutches and angrily claims that he came here to see stars and that he’s not leaving until he sees them. Pretending to be generous, the cop lets him- that is, beating him on the head with his billy club and tossing him into a trash can. Dazed, Daffy sees literal stars and imagines them as Hedy Lamarr, Alexis Smith, Dorothy Lamour (wearing a sarong), Baby Snooks (a tiny star), and goes wild over one he imagines as Ann Sheridan. He kisses it and hops off hoo-hooing (animated by Chiniquy).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕