- Daffy Dilly
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Daffy Dilly Merrie Melodies (Daffy Duck) series 
Title card of the original printDirected by Charles M. Jones Produced by Eddie Selzer Story by Michael Maltese Voices by Mel Blanc Music by Carl Stalling Animation by Ben Washam
Lloyd Vaughan
Ken Harris
Philip MonroeLayouts by Robert Gribbroek Backgrounds by Peter Alvarado Studio Warner Bros. Cartoons Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone CorporationRelease date(s) October 30, 1948 Color process Technicolor (production, reissue)
Cinecolor (original issue)Running time 7:19 Language English Daffy Dilly is a 1948 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Daffy Duck. It is another early example of a greedy, self-centered Daffy (with some "screwball" elements), as perfected by this cartoon's director, Chuck Jones.
This was one of only five post-1948 WB cartoons to get a Blue Ribbon reissue prior to 1956 - with the original credits cut. The others were The Foghorn Leghorn, Kit for Cat, Scaredy Cat, and You Were Never Duckier. Daffy Dilly is still the only one remaining to have its original titles restored for DVD release (and also the only one of these to have been originally released in Cinecolor; the others were released in Technicolor), however, a print of the original version is in possession of the Old Greenbelt Theatre in Greenbelt, Maryland. Recently, a print of Daffy Dilly with a.a.p. titles was discovered, although, again, this was a post-1948 cartoon (and thus the print might have been given to a.a.p. by mistake).
Despite the existence of an original print, the restored version as seen on Looney Tunes Super Stars' Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl is the Blue Ribbon version (it is not known if WB was aware of the original print's existence or not). It is the only creditless Blue Ribbon retained by WB to be presented as such on DVD.
Forty years later, this cartoon was edited into Daffy Duck's Quackbusters.
Contents
Plot
Daffy Duck is a novelty gag salesman operating on the sidewalk of a large city, selling things like flower squirters, a Joe Miller joke book, a rib-tickler, a cheap chicken inspector badge ("It's ... it's ... only 13 cents ...") and a 200 volt electric hand buzzer, even shocking himself with it in the process ("it's ... shocking ..."). However, he fails to sell anything to anyone. But after hearing a radio report declaring that the mirthless buzzsaw tycoon J.P. Cubish is offering a one million dollar reward to anyone who can make him laugh (which he hasn't done, apparently, for 50 years) before he passes on, Daffy promptly sets off for the millionaire's home with dollar signs in his eyes.
Upon arriving at Cubish's mansion, Daffy finds that the butler (whom Daffy refers to as "Jeeves," "Ruggles," "Meadows," and other commonly used servant names) is not willing to let him in. Daffy tries several ways to get inside (scaling the wall with a grappling hook, swinging in through the window on a rope, etc.), all of which end in failure (in one case, removing the butler's dentures in the process!). Daffy finally sneaks into the house by hiding in a package designed to look like a bottle of champagne (which the butler tries to keep for himself). Daffy runs for his life as the butler tries to kill him using an axe and cannon. Daffy climbs to the top of the building, only to confront the butler ("Whoops. How are things in Glocca Morra?").
As the butler corners Daffy ("Once and for all, I'm going to..."), the wily duck starts interrogating the butler ala Humphrey Bogart ("Not so fast, my man, Goddfrey! It becomes increasingly apparent that I'm not wanted around here!"), accusing him of not wanting Cubish to return to his good health ("Are we to assume that there is anything significant in this attitude of yours? That A: A butler might not want his master to recover his good health? That B: Said butler should endeavor to remove from the premises the only person capable of restoring said health, to said master?!"). He proceeds to accuse the astounded butler of attempted murder ("Where were you, the night of April the 16th? A likely story! I see it all now. You and the upstairs maid! 'Do the old boy in', you said! 'Elderberry wine and old lace', you said! 'Then, the quick getaway', you said! Rio de Janerio, tropical nights, romance and a heavy bank account! But you weren't smart enough John, alias Johnny, alias Jack, alias Jackie! Phew! What's Humphrey Bogart got that I ain't got?"). Having frightened the butler into incoherence, Daffy tricks him into fleeing the house in disguise, so as not to be arrested. ("But just to show you I'm not all copper, I'm gonna give you a ten-minute head start!", "Don't try to thank me now, get going! Hurry! They're on your trail! Run! Out this way! AAAAHHHH! And stay on the straight and narrow!")
At last, Daffy makes it to Cubish's bedroom, but before he can even unpack his novelty items, he slips and falls on a tray of food, covering himself in cake. To Daffy's bemused resentment ("What's the matter? You see anything green? Any flies on me?!"), Cubish finds this sight hilarious and laughs uproariously. In the end, Cubish keeps Daffy on hand as his personal jester, merrily throwing pies at the duck's face while he stands against a target. "It's a living," Daffy asides to the audience.
Notes
The August 18, 1956 Blue Ribbon reissue title card of the cartoon.
Daffy's role as a salesman would be used again in The Stupor Salesman (1948), Fool Coverage (1951), and Design For Leaving (1954). Elmer Fudd is Daffy's foil in the latter cartoon.
This cartoon served as the genesis of the plot for the 1988 compilation feature Daffy Duck's Quackbusters. In the film, Cubish "dies laughing" and leaves his entire fortune to Daffy, on the grounds that he use it to perform a beneficial public service "and to display honesty in all business affairs". When Cubish returns in spectral form and threatens to take away Daffy's inheritance, Daffy forms a ghost-hunting business to "rid the world of disgusting ectoplasmic slime like J.P. Cubish!...Uh, I mean, nice ectoplasmic slime like J.P. Cubish!"
In the original short, Daffy hears the news bulletin on the radio. In Quackbusters, the bulletin is broadcast on TV.
See also
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
- List of Daffy Duck cartoons
External links
Succession
Preceded by
You Were Never DuckierDaffy Duck cartoons
1948Succeeded by
The Stupor SalesmanCategories: English-language films | 1948 films | Merrie Melodies shorts | Films directed by Chuck Jones
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