Daffy - The Commando
About Daffy - The Commando
Daffy Duck parachutes behind German lines singing in a fake Cockney accent and ties up a Nazi officer, Von Vultur, and his aide Schultz. He throws shadow-puppets on the searchlight beam, hides behind an asbestos curtain to make a face, and hands Von Vultur a time bomb while asking the time. Schultz gets the blast. Daffy's plane falls apart. He runs into a howitzer, thinking it is a tunnel, and is fired into Berlin, where he hits Hitler on the head with a mallet. Hitler shouts for Schultz.
Cast & crew
More about Daffy - The Commando
Friz Freleng directed. Michael Maltese wrote it. Mel Blanc voices the characters. Carl W. Stalling wrote the music. Leon Schlesinger produced it for Warner Bros. Released 20 November 1943.
Themes
Background
Looney Tunes put Daffy in a commando role in November 1943, with Hitler as the punchline rather than a character with a plot.
Making
A wartime Schlesinger cartoon, released while American troops were in Italy and the Pacific. The Berlin ending is a gag, not a battle scene.
Music
Carl W. Stalling scored the short. Daffy sings "She Was Poor but She Was Honest" in a Cockney accent.
Preservation
The cartoon survives.
Notes
- Daffy opens on the song "She Was Poor but She Was Honest.
- In a phone booth he holds up signs translating his German, including a request for a five-pfennig coin.
- Von Vultur gets an operator and says "Ist dat you, Myrt?", a Fibber McGee and Molly joke.
- Schultz is blown through the roof when he is left holding the bomb.
- The last shot is Hitler yelling for Schultz after the mallet.
Scenes
- Shadow puppets of a dog and a chorus line play across the searchlight clouds.
- Daffy asks the time and leaves Von Vultur with a ticking bomb.
- Fired from a howitzer, he lands in Berlin and clubs Hitler.
Quotes
Ist dat you, Myrt?
