My Favorite Duck questions...

[Crazy Tom]

My wife and I watched My Favorite Duck (1942) last night and we each were wondering a thing or two about the film.

1) I know Moonlight Bay at the beginning of the film comes from Stephen Foster. Where did "My Mama That Told Me" come from? Is this an original or did it come from somewhere else?

2) In the first "My Mama That Told Me" scene (where Daffy moves to every spot Porky wants to pitch his tent), what was Daffy sitting on? Was it a nest, a camping bag, or something else?

[Larry T]

1. The "My mama done told me" is from "Blues in the Night", but unfortunately I don't know who composed it, etc.

2. I think Daffy is sitting on a nest, implying that he has a residency anywhere Porky tries to pitch his tent.... :)

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Larry T
1. The "My mama done told me" is from "Blues in the Night", but unfortunately I don't know who composed it, etc.

Music by Harold Arlen (composer of "The Wizard of Oz"), lyrics by Johnny Mercer. From the 1941 film of the same name.

[PorkyandDaffy]

That song was also sung by Beaky Buzzard in BUGS BUNNY GETS THE BOID.

[Thad Komorowski]

The actual music of the song was used in the opening credits of "The Hypochrondi-Cat"


-Thad

[Mike]

Originally posted by Crazy Tom
My wife and I watched My Favorite Duck (1942) last night and we each were wondering a thing or two about the film.

This has really nothing to do with your questions, it's just some commenting by me on "My Favorite Duck." I've always been a big fan of that cartoon. It's one of the best Porky-and-Daffy shorts, and is an early sign of how great a director Jones would become in a few years. Everything, from the opening "Moonlight Bay" song to the hilarious end gag (oh, to be actually watching the cartoon in theatres and seeing that happen must have been great), is excellent in that cartoon. One of the real classic WB cartoons.

And I'd love to see this cartoon the way it was released, as an actual LT, and not the blue-ribbon reissue we've got now.

Mike

[Jack]

I love this cartoon, and it's one of the best uses of the broken film gag. The pace is fast, and Daffy is a pest for the fun of it. It's often overlooked that Jones made a lot of great cartoons with the crazier Daffy in the 40s. This one is right up there with The Ducksters, Tom Turk and Daffy, A Pest in The House, and Daffy Dilly.

I'll also mention that his version of Daffy was really cute, he sometimes had two toes and ran sort of like the Road Runner. Jones adopted a slightly different version in 1947 or so before changing Daffy into the beaky version we have nowadays. I'd love to see a model sheet of two toed Daffy. It's probably my favorite version of the little black duck. That version always struck me as having a look of innocence, hiding Daffy's true nature.

I also like the way Daffy is animated when he starts describing how the cartoon ended, anyone know who did that?



Jack :D

[Bobby B]

Originally posted by Thad Komorowski
The actual music of the song was used in the opening credits of "The Hypochrondi-Cat"


It was also used as background music in Coal Black.

[Larry T]

I agree with Jack, that "cuter" little Daffy that Jones used was probably one of my favourites as well, especially in "To Duck or Not To Duck".

As for the ending soliloquy of the cartoon, after the film breaks, it was one of my other favourite animators... Bob ("Bobo") Cannon who animated that scene.

[Crazy Tom]

Originally posted by Larry T
As for the ending soliloquy of the cartoon, after the film breaks, it was one of my other favourite animators... Bob ("Bobo") Cannon who animated that scene.

The ending to My Favorite Duck is certainly one of the all-time funniest and most innovative. Just curious, but was he also the same animator who did the same thing in Rabbit Punch?

[Larry T]

I'm not sure, but I think that one was Ken Harris- a lot of the animation leading up to that point was Bob's though...

[Jack]

Hm, Cannon might be one of my favorite animators, and I don't even know it. I've heard he did a lot of work in "Odor-able Kitty" and "Hair Raising Hare," two cartoons I love to watch because of the animation as well as the gags. I don't know what he animated specifically, though.

I also like Jones' "cuter" Bugs from the 40s.


Jack :D

[Jack]

I've been recovering from all the Christmas candy I ate today, so I looked up "My Favorite Duck" at the IMDb.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0035101

I think the reviewer might be reading into the cartoon a little too much... But I found it interesting.



Jack :eek:

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Jack
I've been recovering from all the Christmas candy I ate today, so I looked up "My Favorite Duck" at the IMDb.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0035101

I think the reviewer might be reading into the cartoon a little too much... But I found it interesting.

Hard to say, but it might just be a parody of typical by-the-numbers filmcrit hogwash. I think my plot summary was more to the point ;)