Duck Dodgers

Fictional cartoon character

For the animated television series, see Duck Dodgers (TV series).

Fictional character

Duck Dodgers

Duck Dodgers in the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity mission patch.

First appearance| Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953)
First game| Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions (1993)
Last appearance| "Bonafide Heroes" (2005)
Created by| Chuck Jones
Michael Maltese
Based on| Looney Tunes
Portrayed by| Daffy Duck
Voiced by| Mel Blanc (1953, 1980)
Joe Alaskey (1990–1991, 1996, 2003–2005, 2014)
Jeff Bergman (1991–1992, 2018)
Greg Burson (1993)
Frank Gorshin (1996)
Jeff Bennett (2004)
Eric Bauza (2018–present)
In-universe information
Full name| Duck Edgar Dumas Aloysius Eoghain Dodgers

Duck Dodgers is the star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros., featuring Daffy Duck in the role of a science fiction hero.

He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, directed by Chuck Jones as a spoof of the popular Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Flash Gordon science fiction serials of the 1930s, casting the brash, egomaniacal Daffy Duck as the hero of the story.[1] The plot of the cartoon involves Duck Dodgers' search for the rare element Illudium Phosdex, "the shaving cream atom", the only remaining supply of which is on the mysterious "Planet X". Just after Dodgers has claimed Planet X in the name of the Earth, Marvin the Martian lands on the same planet and claims it in the name of Mars. The stage is set for a battle of wits, not to mention various forms of weaponry, most of which tend to backfire comically on Dodgers.

Considering the period in which the cartoon was produced (the Red Scare was in full swing during the 1950s era), some scholars have used the cartoon to parallel the supposed futility of the Cold War and the arms race.

## Duck Dodgers sequels

[edit]

The first sequel, also produced by Chuck Jones and with Mel Blanc reprising his roles, was titled Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century and was released in 1980.[2] The plot of this sequel cartoon was nearly a carbon copy of the original though this time, Marvin says he is trying to solve the Earth's energy crisis (by blowing up the Earth); Marvin succeeds in launching his missile and at the end of the cartoon reminds everyone that it's only a cartoon.

The third short, titled Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension, was a 3D cartoon released in 1996 to select venues, and had impressionist Joe Alaskey providing Duck Dodgers' voice. These included the flagship Warner Bros. Studio Store in Manhattan, and Warner Bros. Movie World theme parks on the Gold Coast, Australia and in Bottrop-Kirchhellen, Germany. It included a range of interactive effects including a splash with water. Unlike the other Dodgers cartoons, Porky Pig did not appear.

A fourth short, titled Superior Duck was released in 1996, with Frank Gorshin as Duck Dodgers. In this short, the character instead went by the name Superior Duck.

A fifth short, titled Attack of the Drones, was made in 2003 and featured Jeff Bennett as the voice of Duck Dodgers. This short was part of a series of new shorts, but because of the failure of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, it was not released theatrically. However, the short was included as a special feature on disc two of The Essential Daffy Duck DVD set.

## Further appearances

[edit]

* Duck Dodgers (voiced by Jeff Bergman) also made an appearance in a Tiny Toon Adventures segment titled "Duck Dodgers Jr." (in the episode "The Return of the Acme Acres Zone"), where Daffy Duck's pint-sized protégé and student Plucky Duck also visited the futuristic world of Duck Dodgers. Here Marvin the Martian appears with his niece, Marcia. Duck Dodgers also makes an appearance in Star Warners.
* A SNES and Game Boy game called Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions (in which he is voiced by Greg Burson), as well as a Nintendo 64 video game, entitled Duck Dodgers 64, have also been produced.[3][4] He also appeared in the game Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, voiced by Alaskey.
* The original cartoon also appeared in a 1994 episode of the science fiction series Babylon 5 (also produced by WB), where it was revealed that Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century was Security Chief Michael Garibaldi's "second favorite thing in the universe". One episode shows Garibaldi laughing uproariously at the cartoon, as Ambassador Delenn watches it with him, appearing totally bewildered.
* Portions of this cartoon can be seen and heard in the background in a scene from the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
* Duck Dodgers, again voiced by Alaskey, appears in the 2003 feature Looney Tunes: Back in Action when Daffy notes that the only character that could save the film's proverbial day was Duck Dodgers; Daffy then realizes that Dodgers is his alter ego. He ends up defeating Marvin and saving humanity, after several jet packs exploded when he said his name.

Duck Dodgers as seen in the 2003 Duck Dodgers episode "Wrath of Canasta". Duck Dodgers as a Green Lantern.

* From 2003 to 2005, Cartoon Network aired a Duck Dodgers TV series.[5] In this show, which had Joe Alaskey returning as the titular character's voice, Duck Edgar Dumas Aloysius Eoghain Dodgers started out as a hapless soul that was accidentally frozen for over three hundred years for reasons not known. He was later revived by Dr. I.Q. Hi in the 24½th century. Through scheming and lies he managed to trick everyone into believing he was a 21st-century hero. In reality, he was only a water boy for the Midstate University football team, and "Quarterback Quack" shows that he only carried out this façade at the insistence of a time-traveling Martian Commander X-2, who unwittingly made Dodgers into the hero he was known as. Dodgers is arrogant, selfish, greedy, lazy, cowardly, gullible, and not particularly intelligent. However, he occasionally displays surprisingly high levels of heroism and competence, suggesting that he is not quite as daft as he appears to be, although he mostly succeeds through sheer dumb luck and the work of the Eager Young Space Cadet. Martian Commander X-2 actually caused Dodgers to become a minor football star in the final game of the season, which is what he used to parlay himself into captaincy in the Protectorate, meaning that he is, technically, not lying when he claims he won a championship football game in his own time. It is implied that he can't read, though this is contradicted several times. He also has shown to have quite the ego, when he caused the energy core of his ship to explode while using the lasers to carve his name on a nearby planetoid for example, and burning out the auxiliary core to make toast. In "The Green Loontern", Duck Dodgers accidentally got his costume mixed up with Hal Jordan's Green Lantern costume at the dry cleaners where the rest of the Green Lantern Corps mistook him for Hal Jordan. He ended up fighting Sinestro until Hal Jordan arrived and regained his costume to help defeat Sinestro. Though he doesn't show it often, Dodgers cares deeply for his Cadet, even though he often demeans and puts him through humiliating situations. In "Of Course You Know, This Means War and Peace" Pt. 1, he is described by Psy Q. Hi as an ego-maniacal, bipolar, narcissist, and pathological liar with sociopathic tendencies.
* Duck Dodgers' Green Loontern appearance appears as a playable character in the 2014 video game Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. This was also Alaskey's final performance as the character before his death in 2016.
* In the Bugs Bunny Builders episode "Rock On", Daffy's costume is Duck Dodgers. When the other Looney Builders glare at him, he asks "Wrong galaxy?"

## Use by the US Air Force and NASA

[edit]

In 2003, both Duck Dodgers and Marvin the Martian were featured on separate 1st Space Launch Squadron mission patches for that year's Mars Exploration Rover missions.[6]

## Dragon Con

[edit]

The original Duck Dodgers cartoon is played during the Masquerade contest while the judges make their decisions annually. Dragon Con occurs every Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. The tradition was taken on by Dragon Con when Atlanta Fantasy Fair, a preceding Atlanta convention, became defunct.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dragon Con shifted to its first ever virtual convention, Dragon Con Goes Virtual.[7] In keeping with tradition, the Masquerade was held, though in virtual form. A 'sweded' version was produced by DragonConTV for Dragon Con Goes Virtual and included Kirk R. Thatcher, Neil Grayston, Chris Gauthier, Eddie McClintock, Victor Yerrid, Mark Meer, Raymond Carr, Garrett Wang, K`Tetch, and Bob Bergen.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Korkis, Jim (2019-10-18). "The Many Lives of Duck Dodgers". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
2. ^ Champlin Jr, Chuck (1979-09-03). "'Duck Dodgers' Flies Again". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
3. ^ Curtiss, Aaron (2000-10-26). "'Girl' Dangerously Cool, but Dodge the 'Duck'". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
4. ^ "Infogrames Zaps Looney Tunes: Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck for Nintendo 64 Into Stores This Week". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. August 15, 2000. Archived from the original on August 22, 2000. Retrieved June 17, 2019 - via Yahoo.com.
5. ^ "FOR YOUNG VIEWERS; The First Duck in Space? That Is So Daffy". The New York Times. 2003-09-21. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
6. ^ "Marvin The Martian and Daffy Duck as Duck Dodgers Prepare for Upcoming NASA Missions to Mars". SpaceNews. 2003-05-02. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
7. ^ "Virtual | DragonCon.TV". dragoncon.tv. Archived from the original on 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2020-09-11.

## External links

[edit]

* Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century at IMDb
* Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century at IMDb
* Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension at IMDb
* Screenshots from Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
* Duck Dodgers: A Dragon Con Tribute [dragoncontv]

* v
* t
* e

Duck Dodgers

Theatrical|

* Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953)
* Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century (1980)

Television|

* TV series (2003-05)
* episodes

Video games|

* Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions
* Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck

Characters|

* Duck Dodgers
* The Eager Young Space Cadet
* Martian Commander X-2
* Commander K-9
* Gossamer

* v
* t
* e

Daffy Duck in animation

* List of Daffy Duck cartoons

Looney Tunes
short films|

| 1930s|

* Porky's Duck Hunt (1937)
* What Price Porky (1938)
* Porky & Daffy (1938)
* The Daffy Doc (1938)
* Scalp Trouble (1939)
* Wise Quacks (1939)
* Naughty Neighbors (1939)

|

1940s|

* Porky's Last Stand (1940)
* You Ought to Be in Pictures (1940)
* A Coy Decoy (1941)
* The Henpecked Duck (1941)
* Daffy's Southern Exposure (1942)
* The Impatient Patient (1942)
* The Daffy Duckaroo (1942)
* My Favorite Duck (1942)
* To Duck or Not to Duck (1943)
* The Wise Quacking Duck (1943)
* Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943)
* Porky Pig's Feat (1943)
* Scrap Happy Daffy (1943)
* Daffy – The Commando (1943)
* Tom Turk and Daffy (1944)
* Tick Tock Tuckered (1944)
* Duck Soup to Nuts (1944)
* Plane Daffy (1944)
* The Stupid Cupid (1944)
* Draftee Daffy (1945)
* Ain't That Ducky (1945)
* Book Revue (1946)
* Baby Bottleneck (1946)
* Daffy Doodles (1946)
* The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)
* Birth of a Notion (1947)
* Along Came Daffy (1947)
* Mexican Joyride (1947)
* What Makes Daffy Duck (1948)
* The Up-Standing Sitter (1948)
* The Stupor Salesman (1948)
* Riff Raffy Daffy (1948)
* Wise Quackers (1949)
* Daffy Duck Hunt (1949)

1950s|

* Boobs in the Woods (1950)
* The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950)
* The Ducksters (1950)
* Rabbit Fire (1951)
* The Prize Pest (1951)
* Thumb Fun (1952)
* The Super Snooper (1952)
* Fool Coverage (1952)
* Design for Leaving (1954)
* Sahara Hare (1955; cameo)
* Dime to Retire (1955)
* Stupor Duck (1956)
* A Star Is Bored (1956)
* Deduce, You Say! (1956)
* Boston Quackie (1957)
* Show Biz Bugs (1957)
* China Jones (1959)

1960s|

* The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961)
* Daffy's Inn Trouble (1961)
* Good Noose (1962)
* The Million Hare (1963)
* The Iceman Ducketh (1964)
* It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House (1965)
* Moby Duck (1965)
* Well Worn Daffy (1965)
* Suppressed Duck (1965)
* Tease for Two (1965)
* Chili Corn Corny (1965)
* The Astroduck (1966)
* Daffy Rents (1966)
* A-Haunting we will Go (1966)
* A Squeak in the Deep (1966)
* Swing Ding Amigo (1966)
* Quacker Tracker (1967)
* The Spy Swatter (1967)
* Rodent to Stardom (1967)
* Fiesta Fiasco (1967)
* Skyscraper Caper (1968)
* See Ya Later Gladiator (1968)

1980s|

* The Duxorcist (1987)

1990s|

* Box-Office Bunny (1991)
* Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (1992)
* Carrotblanca (1995)
* Superior Duck (1996)
* Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension (1996)

2000s|

* Attack of the Drones (2004)

2010s|

* Daffy's Rhapsody (2012)

Merrie Melodies
short films|

| 1930s|

* Daffy Duck & Egghead (1938)
* Daffy Duck in Hollywood (1938)
* Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (1939)

|

1940s|

* Conrad the Sailor (1942)
* A Corny Concerto (1943)
* Slightly Daffy (1944)
* Nasty Quacks (1945)
* Hollywood Daffy (1946)
* A Pest in the House (1947)
* Daffy Duck Slept Here (1948)
* You Were Never Duckier (1948)
* Daffy Dilly (1948)
* Holiday for Drumsticks (1949)

1950s|

* His Bitter Half (1950)
* Golden Yeggs (1950)
* Drip-Along Daffy (1951)
* Cracked Quack (1952)
* Rabbit Seasoning (1952)
* Duck Amuck (1953)
* Muscle Tussle (1953)
* Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953)
* Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953)
* Quack Shot (1954)
* My Little Duckaroo (1954)
* Beanstalk Bunny (1955)
* Stork Naked (1955)
* This Is a Life? (1955)
* The High and the Flighty (1956)
* Rocket Squad (1956)
* Ali Baba Bunny (1957)
* Ducking the Devil (1957)
* Don't Axe Me (1958)
* Robin Hood Daffy (1958)
* Apes of Wrath (1959; cameo)
* People Are Bunny (1958)

1960s|

* Person to Bunny (1960)
* Quackodile Tears (1962)
* Fast Buck Duck (1963)
* Aqua Duck (1963)
* Assault and Peppered (1965)
* Corn on the Cop (1965)
* Go Go Amigo (1965)
* Mucho Locos (1966)
* Mexican Mousepiece (1966)
* Snow Excuse (1966)
* Feather Finger (1966)
* A Taste of Catnip (1966)
* Daffy's Diner (1967)
* The Music Mice-Tro (1967)
* Speedy Ghost to Town (1967)
* Go Away Stowaway (1967)

1980s|

* The Night of the Living Duck (1988)

1990s|

* (Blooper) Bunny (1991)

Other short films|

* The Yolk's on You (1980)
* The Chocolate Chase (1980)
* Daffy Flies North (1980)
* Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century (1980)

Feature films|

| Theatrical|

* The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
* The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981)
* Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982)
* Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island (1983)
* Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988; cameo)
* Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988)
* Space Jam (1996)
* Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
* Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
* The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024)

|

Direct-to-video|

* Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000; cameo)
* Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure (2003)
* Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)
* Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run (2015)

TV series|

* Tiny Toon Adventures (1990–1995)
* Baby Looney Tunes (2002–2005)
* Duck Dodgers (2003–2005)
* The Looney Tunes Show (2011–2013)
* New Looney Tunes (2015–2020)
* Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020–2024)
* Bugs Bunny Builders (2022–present)
* Tiny Toons Looniversity (2023-present)

TV specials|

* Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies (1972)
* Carnival of the Animals (1976)
* Easter Special (1977)
* Bugs Bunny in Space (1977)
* Howl-oween Special (1977)
* Battle of the Music Video Stars (1988)
* Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)
* Overtures to Disaster (1991)

* v
* t
* e

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

Studios|

* Harman-Ising Productions (1930–1933)
* Leon Schlesinger Productions (1933–1944)
* Warner Bros. Cartoons (1944–1964)
* DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (1964–1967, 1979–1980)
* Format Films (1965–1967)
* Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969)
* Chuck Jones Enterprises (1976–1980, 1994–1997)
* Warner Bros. Animation (1980–present)

People|

* Tex Avery
* Bea Benaderet
* Mel Blanc
* Bernard B. Brown
* Arthur Q. Bryan
* John Burton
* Daws Butler
* Bob Clampett
* Cal Dalton
* Arthur Davis
* David H. DePatie
* Earl Duvall
* Milt Franklyn
* Stan Freberg
* Friz Freleng
* June Foray
* Ben Hardaway
* Hugh Harman
* Ken Harris
* William L. Hendricks
* Cal Howard
* Rudolf Ising
* Chuck Jones
* Jack King
* William Lava
* Abe Levitow
* Michael Maltese
* Frank Marsales
* Norman McCabe
* Robert McKimson
* Tom Palmer
* Hawley Pratt
* Virgil Ross
* Leon Schlesinger
* Rod Scribner
* Edward Selzer
* Norman Spencer
* Carl W. Stalling
* Frank Tashlin
* Ben Washam

Characters|

| Major|

* Bugs Bunny
* Development
* Daffy Duck
* Duck Dodgers
* Elmer Fudd
* Foghorn Leghorn
* Granny
* Lola Bunny
* Marvin the Martian
* Pepé Le Pew
* Porky Pig
* Speedy Gonzales
* Sylvester the Cat
* Tasmanian Devil (Taz)
* Tweety
* Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
* Yosemite Sam

|

Secondary|

* Babbit and Catstello
* Barnyard Dawg
* Beaky Buzzard
* Beans
* Bosko
* Buddy
* Cecil Turtle
* Charlie Dog
* Claude Cat
* Clyde Bunny
* Colonel Shuffle
* Conrad the Cat
* Cool Cat
* Egghead Jr.
* Foxy
* Goofy Gophers
* Goopy Geer
* Gossamer
* Henery Hawk
* Hippety Hopper
* Hubie and Bertie
* Hugo the Abominable Snowman
* Inki
* Marc Antony and Pussyfoot
* Merlin the Magic Mouse
* Michigan J. Frog
* Miss Prissy
* Nasty Canasta
* Penelope Pussycat
* Petunia Pig
* Piggy
* Playboy Penguin
* Quick Brown Fox and Rapid Rabbit
* Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog
* Sniffles
* Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier
* Sylvester Jr.
* The Three Bears
* Willoughby
* Witch Hazel

Shorts|

* 1929–1939
* 1940–1949
* 1950–1959
* 1960–1969
* 1970–present
* Featuring Bugs Bunny
* Featuring Daffy Duck
* Featuring Elmer Fudd
* Featuring Marvin the Martian
* Featuring Porky Pig
* Featuring Speedy Gonzales
* Featuring Sylvester
* Featuring Yosemite Sam
* Blue Ribbon reissues
* Censored Eleven

Feature films|

| Compilations|

* The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
* The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
* Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales
* Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island
* Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
* The Looney Tunes Hall of Fame

|

Feature-length theatrical animated|

* The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Live-action/animation|

* Space Jam
* Looney Tunes: Back in Action
* Space Jam: A New Legacy
* Coyote vs. Acme

Direct-to-video|

* Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation
* Tweety's High-Flying Adventure
* Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure
* Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
* Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run
* Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam
* King Tweety
* Taz: Quest for Burger

Documentaries|

* Bugs Bunny: Superstar
* Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons
* Chuck Amuck: The Movie

Television
series|

| Compilations|

* The Bugs Bunny Show
* The Porky Pig Show
* The Road Runner Show
* The Merrie Melodies Show
* Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends
* Bugs 'n' Daffy

|

Originals|

* Tiny Toon Adventures
* Taz-Mania
* The Plucky Duck Show
* Animaniacs
* Pinky and the Brain
* The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
* Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
* Baby Looney Tunes
* Duck Dodgers
* Loonatics Unleashed
* The Looney Tunes Show
* Wabbit/New Looney Tunes
* Looney Tunes Cartoons
* Animaniacs 2020
* Bugs Bunny Builders
* Tiny Toons Looniversity

Television
specials|

* Meet the Groovie Goolies
* Carnival of the Animals
* Easter Special
* Bugs Bunny in Space
* Howl-oween Special
* Thanksgiving Diet
* Looney Christmas Tales
* Bustin' Out All Over
* The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special
* Battle of the Music Video Stars
* Overtures to Disaster

Music/songs|

* "Camptown Races"
* "Dance of the Comedians"
* "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)"
* "Merrily We Roll Along"
* "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"
* "Powerhouse"

Attractions|

* Looney Tunes River Ride
* Road Runner Express (Six Flags Fiesta Texas)
* Road Runner Express (Six Flags Magic Mountain)
* Road Runner Rollercoaster
* Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!

Other|

* Private Snafu
* Who Framed Roger Rabbit
* Animaniacs
* Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
* Video games

* Category

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