Oscarless Cartoons Part 3

Oscarless Cartoons Part 3: Duck Amuck (1953)
 

This cartoon is also considered one of Daffy's best. Directed by the legendary Chuck Jones, Daffy finds himself in a cartoon in which the animator torments Daffy by constantly changing the backgrounds, the frame, his cloths, voice, and eventually Daffy himself. When the cartoon first opens, Daffy is dressed as a musketeer, but soon discovers that the next scene is blank. He breaks the fourth wall and tells the animator to complete the scenery. However, instead of painting a Medieval village like Daffy hoped, the animator paints a farm. Daffy then dresses up as farmer and starts singing 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'.
 
However, the next scene is a snowy area, so Daffy dresses up in snow gear and starts singing 'Jingle Bells', but the next scene Daffy comes across a tropical beach, and he dresses up in Hawaiian clothing and plays on the ukulele. The animator messes with Daffy again and puts Daffy in a blank background, erases Daffy himself, redraws him as a cowboy, and so on. Daffy even gets turned into whatever this is.

Basically, Duck Amuck is Daffy's equivalent of... the bad place. And the animator at the end happens to be none other than Bugs Bunny.

Chuck Jones explained that in this cartoon, he was proving that the character of Daffy was now something that existed outside his appearance, voice, or cartoon setting, as here he is transformed into many different forms and yet, still remains Daffy. Perhaps Jones was trying to show us that Daffy is now so real that he has a soul.

While Duck Amuck didn't win any Oscars, it did get registered in the National Film Registry in 1999.
That's all I have to say about this week's Oscarless Cartoon. Tune in next week when I talk one of the best cartoons ever made, this time starring Daffy's rival, Bugs Bunny. Next week is 1957's What's Opera, Doc!