Duck Dodgers in the 24+1/2th Century (spoken as "twenty-fourth-and-a-half") is a 1953 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The cartoon was released on July 25, 1953, and stars Daffy Duck as space hero Duck Dodgers, Porky Pig as his assistant (the Eager Young Space Cadet), and Marvin the Martian as his opponent. This cartoon marked the first of many appearances of the Duck Dodgers character.
Marvin the Martian had been introduced as an unnamed villain in Warner's cartoon Haredevil Hare (1948), playing opposite Bugs Bunny (Marvin would not receive his proper name until 1979). He was later given the title 'Commander, Flying Saucer X-2' in 1952's The Hasty Hare. The Duck Dodgers cartoon is an extended parody of the pulp magazine, newspaper comic strip, and comic book character Buck Rogers, and his longtime run of space adventures, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
In 1994, Duck Dodgers was voted #4 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. Because he was such a fan of the short in particular, Star Wars creator George Lucas attempted to arrange that the short be shown before the original Star Wars film during its initial run in theaters and succeeded in making this happen for screenings at the Cinema 21 in San Francisco. In 2004 at the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention, it was retrospectively nominated for a Retro Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation—Short Form.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
No comments yet — be the first.
Sign in — Sign in to leave a comment or review.