Release Date:

April 18, 1953

Main Character(s):

Daffy Duck

Summary:

At the beach, Daffy Duck and his fickle girlfriend encounter a Southern-accented strongman of a duck, who the girlfriend immediately leaves Daffy for, after Daffy is too much of a scrawny little ten-pound weakling to stand up against him. After being given a phony muscle-building tonic called “Atomcol” by a salesman duck and lifting a 5000-lb. barbell (actually balloons labeled as such on each end of said barbell), Daffy becomes convinced he’s now as strong as the strongman and challenges him to a series of strength-proving contests.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1244 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. In the summer of 2022, a 16mm black and white print with the original opening and closing rings was found. In April 2023, the print was uploaded onto YouTube, around the 70th anniversary of this cartoon.

While Daffy has been a salesman in several cartoons (and would be one more time a year later in “Design for Leaving”, also directed by McKimson), he becomes the victim of a salesman’s scam this time, although he never finds out that he was scammed.

The hat Daffy wears in this cartoon is the same one he wears in “Fool Coverage”.

This is the last cartoon to use the “Hold the Onions” gag.

The girlfriend’s voice is provided by actress Gladys Holland, who would be used by McKimson two more times as the lovesick hen, Clara, in “Easy Peckin’s” (released six months later and will be the post three weeks from today) and as Miss Prissy in “Little Boy Boo” (1954).

You can find out who animated what scene here.

The cartoon’s title was originally spelled as “Mussel Tussel”.

“Atomcol” is a reference to “Hadacol”, which was an alcoholic tonic that was taken off the market in 1952, when this cartoon was in production.

“Atomcol” could also be seen as a precursor to the “Secret Stuff” in “Space Jam” (1996).

Carlos Manriquez does the backgrounds for this one rather than Richard H. Thomas.

The cartoon’s plot would be somewhat reworked for the Tom and Jerry cartoon, “Muscle Beach Tom” (1956) where Tom competes against Butch (the black cat that is often his rival) via strength for the affections of Tom’s girlfriend while at the beach.

Favorite Scene:

Daffy starts ranting at the strongman for “trying to muscle in on MY chick”, but the strongman only tells him in a polite manner that if he doesn’t stop “flappin’ that big yap of yours, I’m gonna have to knock your head so far down between your little old shoulders, you’ll have to unbutton your vest to eat”. Daffy dismisses this threat as being nonsensical, only for the strongman to actually punch his head down below his shoulders. Daffy then undoes the button on his shirt as his head pops out from it to groggily order, “One cheeseburger. Hold the onions”.

What Happens in This One:

With several ducks seen on the beach, either jumping into the water or scooping sand into a bucket (animated by Keith Darling), Daffy is seen with his camera trying to get a picture of the girlfriend, “Now turn your head and look over your shoulder”, and says, “Swell!” when she does so. She soon sees the strongman walking past, and upon noticing her, he flexes his large muscles in her direction. Daffy tells her, “Hold still, now. I’m focusing you”. When trying to adjust his finder, Daffy soon finds the strongman approaching the girlfriend and her being charmed by him through the lens (animated by Charles McKimson).

Daffy becomes annoyed at the strongman for getting into the picture and walks up to him (animated by Herman Cohen). He rants, “And just who- and just who do you think YOU are, trying to muscle in on MY chick!? (animated by Phil DeLara) If you’re lookin’ for trouble, brother, just start something! (animated by Charles) Don’t just stand there! Start startin’ somethin’!” The strongman only replies in a calm, polite manner, “Look, friend, if you all don’t stop flappin’ that big yap of yours, I’m gonna have to knock your head so far down between your little old shoulders, you’ll have to unbutton your vest to eat”. Believing this to be impossible, Daffy mocks the threat in a sarcastic way, “Ho ho! That’s rich, I’ll say!” In response, the strongman does indeed punch his head far between his shoulders. Daffy unbuttons his shirt and sticks his head out of it to groggily order, “One cheeseburger. Hold the onions” (animated by Cohen).

The girlfriend takes out her pocket mirror to put on lipstick as she eggs Daffy on, “Hit him, Daffy! Sock the big bully!” After the strongman puts Daffy’s hat back on his head, the girlfriend continues, “Sock him, Daffy! What’s the matter? You’re not afraid of him, are ya?” Daffy acts brave, “Afraid? (chuckles boastfully) Certainly not! It’s just that I-” Girlfriend: “Well, go ahead. Sock him, then. Smash him in the mush”. Daffy: “It’s just that- I-” Girlfriend: “Give him a clunk in the head!” Daffy: “Now you keep out of this! What have you got against this- this charming gentleman?”, before Daffy waves at the strongman while chuckling nervously. The girlfriend proves her unfaithfulness, “Gee, Daffy. You’re an awful little coward, aren’t you? I don’t like cowards. I like big, strong men like him”. She leaves with the strongman and bids Daffy goodbye with an insult, “Goodbye, you scrawny little nine-pound weakling” (animated by Charles).

Daffy takes the insult personally in a rather different way, “How do ya like that? Calling me a scrawny little nine-pound weakling! When it’s perfectly obvious I’m a scrawny little TEN-pound weakling! Hmmph!” He suddenly hears a voice calling out to him, “Ya say you’re a ten-pound weakling?” (animated by Charles) The voice is shown to come from the salesman who is shown at a desk selling, “Atomcol For Mighty Muscles”, as he continues, “Ya say you’re not satisfied with your puny physique? I’ll tell ya what I’ll do! I’ll prove to you that Atomcol will make a new man out of you!” The label reveals that it’s 10% pure tap water and 90% hot mustard. “I’m gonna give ya a shot of Atomcol, absolutely free”, he says as he pours a teaspoon of it for Daffy, but then goes back on his absolutely free offer, “For five dollars. Thank you”, as he takes a $5 bill from Daffy. “Open wide!” as he opens Daffy’s beak and shoves the teaspoon of Atomcol into his mouth. The hot mustard then takes effect as Daffy literally breathes fire out of his mouth before going into a coughing fit (animated by Cohen).

In the midst of Daffy’s coughing fit, this is revealed to be a scam as the salesman gets to work by blowing up two large black balloons labeled “5000 lbs” on each end of a metal bar (animated by Charles). The salesman then stops Daffy’s coughing fit by slapping him on the back, “Now I’ll tell ya what you’re going to do! To satisfy yourself a new man, you’re gonna lift this 5000-lb. barbell over your head!” Believing he can’t do it, Daffy nervously chuckles, but ends up lifting them up effortlessly, and briefly floating up into the air. Unaware that they’re actually balloons, Daffy is delighted, “I did it! I lifted 5000 lbs! Just wait til she gets a gander at THIS gorgeous hunk of duck!” before walking off while bending his head back and with his arms down (animated by Rod Scribner).

Daffy finds the strongman serenading the girlfriend by singing “Down in Nashville, Tennessee” while playing a small guitar. Daffy gets the girlfriend’s attention by whispering, “Psst!” two times. Noticing Daffy’s posture, she wonders, “Gee, what’s the matter with you, Daffy? You got a stiff neck?” Daffy claims, “There’s NOTHING the matter with me! It’s just that I’m a virile, red-blooded, he-duck!” The strongman scoffs at this, accepting the challenge while snapping his finger (animated by DeLara).

The strongman takes one of a few pipes and ties it into a bow against a pole. Figuring he can do that, Daffy scoffs himself and also snaps his finger. He takes a fishing pole available for rent and attempts to bend it against the pole of the shack, which results in him flying forward against the pole. While the fishing pole is indeed tied into a bow, Daffy is now stuck in it but is unfazed, “Huh! Didn’t think I could do it, did ya?” (animated by DeLara)

The next contest involves the strongman removing one of the chains blocking off a private beach, biting on said chain, and spitting it out as nails into a wooden post. Daffy does the same with another chain, but instead of spitting out nails, he ends up spitting out all of his teeth instead! Realizing this, Daffy chuckles awkwardly at the audience, revealing his now-toothless mouth (animated by Darling). The strongman next balances on a bottle with one finger while floating in the air. Daffy loudly dismisses it with, “Pew!”, but when he attempts to do it, he ends up falling headfirst into the bottle (animated by DeLara). After the strongman effortlessly breaks a large rock with a sledgehammer, Daffy calls it, “Ha! Child’s play!”, but then chuckles nervously upon being given the sledgehammer and realizing how heavy it is. The impact of Daffy hammering another large rock only results in Daffy breaking into several pieces (animated by Scribner). Daffy’s still-intact beak utters, “You’re despicable!” (animated by Cohen)

Later, the strongman and the girlfriend are seen walking past a sulking Daffy as the girlfriend sighs, “Gee, handsome. You’re sure strong, huh?” Daffy thinks to himself, “I MUST be stronger than he is! Because I can lift 5000 lbs!” Getting a “why didn’t I think of this before” realization, Daffy decides, “Hey, that’s it! I’ll show HIM!” Daffy comes back in a triumphant manner with the phony barbell (animated by Charles) and gets the attention of the girlfriend and the strongman, “Get a load of this!” He then twirls the barbell like a bandleader’s baton, “5000! Count them! 5000 lbs! Yet!”, before tossing it in the air, catching it by having it balance on one finger, and then balancing it with his foot. Impressed, the girlfriend remarks, “Well, what do ya know?” Daffy tells the strongman, “Alright, buster! Let’s see YOU do that!” Once the strongman lifts it up, the balloons on each end suddenly lose their air from him holding it, sending him zooming high into the air. Both balloons then pop at the maximum height, before the strongman falls back to the ground and lands offscreen very hard. Daffy remarks, “Well, what do you call THAT!?” Now a deformed dwarf with his body massively scrunched down, the strongman informs Daffy and the girlfriend, “You all can call me ‘Shorty’!” before waddling away (animated by Scribner). The girlfriend gets back with Daffy and tells him, “Come on, Daffy. I only like ‘em if they’re tall, dark, and gruesome, like you!”, to which Daffy chuckles (animated by Charles).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½