“The sthity of the sthinema at lastht!”
Directed by I. Freleng; Story by Michael Maltese; Animation by Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy, and Manuel Perez; Layouts and Backgrounds by Hawley Pratt and Paul Julian; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1945
Well folks, a new job is going to make it difficult for me to post on Wednesdays anymore. So the only logical thing to do is move to Mondays. (Which my previous job prevented me from doing.)
Our story today takes place in Hollywood. (Naturally) There are plenty of wolves here as it’s a perfect environment for them. Plenty of hot babes, nice climate, and delicious toons to eat. Daffy has just arrived and much like his Disney counterpart did in “The Autograph Hound”, wants to see some celebrities. Despite the fact there are plenty of signs saying he can’t, he waltzes into the studio anyway. He is thrown out by a studio guard dressed like a klassic keystone kop (Or a kkk member for short.) Considering Daffy is a black duck, that could be part of the reason why Rolly, there (that’s what I’m calling him) refuses to let him in.
The chubby cop (portrayed hysterically by Mel) may be fat enough to snack on two popsicles at once, but he isn’t an idiot. He does his job well. (You know Daffy’s apprentice, Plucky, would also have a hard time getting past Ralph the guard in Tiny Toons to get in the studio years later.)Daffy tries various disguises. Charlie Chaplin, Jimmy Durante, and Bing Crosby don’t get him in. But he is able to slip by as an Oscar. Even though Rolly can’t tell what he’s supposed to be, he does have a button that is to be pressed when gatecrashers disguised as Oscars come in. His disguise revealed, Daffy flees into the lot.
He pretends to be a tour guide and shows Rolly some of the stars dressing rooms. Abbot and Costello’s are fat and skinny, and Durante’s has extra space for his nose. He even shows off the studio guard and shows that his head is so thick, you can repeatedly hit it with a stick and he won’t feel anything. (Physically; mentally he will feel angry.) He chases once more as they run past Jack Benny trying and failing to get an Oscar out of a claw machine. “I’ll never get one of those.” And he didn’t. (A regular Nostradamus.)
Daffy pretends to be a director and flatters Rolly into being in his film. He gets him to jump off a cliff. The chase continues (and Daffy is saying his trademark laugh, strangely quietly) and the cop tries to stop him with a painted backdrop of a path. (Daffy runs into it, and Rolly runs through it.) The duck thinks he’s finally rid of him, but Rolly grabs him anyway. Daffy says that he is not leaving because he wants to see stars. Rolly asks why he didn’t say so. He can show him stars. He beats him on the head and tosses him out. But Daffy is happy. He’s seeing more stars than Carl Sagan ever did.
Personal Rating: 3