Stupor Duck

Stupor Duck
Lobby card.
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	July 7, 1956
Starring	Mel Blanc Daws Butler
Producer(s)	Edward Selzer
Music composed by	Carl Stalling
Story by	Tedd Pierce
Animation	Ted Bonnicksen George Grandpré Russ Dyson Keith Darling
Director(s)	Robert McKimson
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Title card

Stupor Duck is the three hundred and sixty-fifth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on July 7, 1956. It was written by Tedd Pierce, produced by Edward Selzer, and directed by Robert McKimson.

Cluck Dent, the alter ego of Stupor Duck, mistakenly believes that a fictional soap opera villain is a real person. He switches identities to take on the non-existent threat, only to backfire in every turn.

Memorable quotes

Witness #1: Up there in the sky!
Witness #2: It's a bird!
Witness #3: It's a plane!
Witness #4: No, it's Stupor Duck!

Ratink: You cannot stop me, Mr. Newspaper Editor! I blow up everything! Boom! Powie! Zam! Kaboom! All over country. Buildings, bridges, power plants, trains, ships; everywhere ruined and destruction, and I—Aardvark Ratink—will be supreme! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Editor: I don't know why I watch these corny soap operas.
Stupor Duck: Where is he? Where is that cowardly, little sneak? A-ha! Escaped out the window, eh?

Stupor Duck: This is a job for... Stuuuupor Duck!

Stupor Duck: Shucks! I almost had him that time. One let him have false move and I'll... THIS IS A JOB FOR... you know who.

Hiker #1: Look! Up there in the sky!
Hiker #2: It's a bird!
Hiker #1: It's a plane!
Hikers: IT'S STUPOR DUCK!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Witness #1 (voice only)	Mel Blanc
Witness #2 (voice only)	Mel Blanc
Witness #3 (voice only)	Mel Blanc
Witness #4 (voice only)	Daws Butler
Narrator (voice only)	Daws Butler
Stupor Duck/Cluck Trent	Mel Blanc
Managing editor	Daws Butler
Aardvark Ratnik (voice only)	Mel Blanc
Construction worker	N/A
Pyrotechnician	N/A
Cinematographer	N/A
Movie director	N/A
Hiker #1	Mel Blanc
Hiker #2	Mel Blanc

Organizations

• McKimson Associates
• Unnamed newspaper company
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • McKimson Associates building
    • Newspaper company building
    • Skyscraper
    • Movie location
    • Government rocket testing grounds
• Moon

Objects

• Cork pistol
• Typewriter
• Dr. Pierce's Mild Pills
• Water cooler
• TNT and detonator

Vehicles

• Submarine
• Steam train
• Rocket

Music

The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

Crew credits

• Effects animation: Harry Love
• Layouts: Robert Gribbroek
• Backgrounds: Richard H. Thomas

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: July 7, 1956 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The MPAA certificate number is 17609.
• This is the second and last theatrical cartoon to directly parody DC Comics' Superman, after Super-Rabbit.
  • Specifically, it is a spoof of the then-current Adventures of Superman television series, starring George Reeves. The opening scenes of the short also parodies the intro of that series, in addition to the Fleischer Studios animated shorts.
  • The opening scene of onlookers proclaiming, "Up there in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Stupor Duck!", is a paraphrase of "Look! Up in the Sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"; which was first used in the The Adventures of Superman radio serial from 1940-1951. A similar phrasing occurs at the end, when two hikers take a glance of Stupor Duck riding on a rocket.
  • The newspaper company that Cluck Trent works for, while unnamed, is a stand-in for the Daily Planet.
  • The unnamed managing editor boss is likely a stand-in for the Daily Planet's editor-in-chief, Perry White.

Errors

• The McKimson Associates building has "Associates" misspelled as "Assocates".
• When Stupor Duck holds onto the rocket towards the Moon, his scream is overlapped with a stock scream.

Legacy

• The cartoon was used in Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island, as part of Daffy's dream sequence by the Wishing Well. The ending was alerted so that Daffy could return to the island.
• Stupor Duck would make several appearances in later Looney Tunes media:
  • In DC's Looney Tunes comic series, Daffy appears as Stupor Duck in issues #97, #170, and #262.
  • Stupor Duck appears as a playable character in Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • November 26, 1996: Warner Home Media releases Stars of Space Jam: Daffy Duck on VHS.
  • October 30, 2007: Warner Home Media releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5 on DVD.
  • October 30, 2007: Warner Home Media releases Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5 on DVD.
  • October 9, 2018: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Stars of Space Jam: Daffy Duck on DVD.
  • April 14, 2020: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Bugs Bunny: Golden Carrot Collection on DVD.