The Scarlet Pumpernickel

The Scarlet Pumpernickel
Lobby card.
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	March 4, 1950
Run time	7:05
Starring	Mel Blanc Marian Richman
Producer(s)	Edward Selzer
Music composed by	Carl Stalling
Story by	Michael Maltese
Animation	Phil Monroe Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Ken Harris
Director(s)	Charles M. Jones
Series navigation
← Previous	Next →
Title card

The Scarlet Pumpernickel is a two-hundred and sixty-eighth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on March 4, 1950. It was written by Michael Maltese, produced by Edward Selzer, and directed by Chuck Jones.

Daffy pitches a new idea to J.L. Warner for a dramatic epic about a swashbuckling hero.

Memorable quotes

Daffy: You're killing me! I'm being murdered! I can't stand this torture anymore! I'm dying, you're killing me! I'm telling you, J.L., you're typecasting me to death - comedy, always comedy. Ha ha, woo-hoo, woo-hoo, yuk yuk! Honest, J.L., you just gotta give me a dramatic part.

Sylvester: And who might you be, thsirrah?
Daffy: (in disguise) Mayhap, perchance, foppish that I am, I might be the Scarlet Pumpernickel?
Sylvester: You, the Thscarlet Pumpernickel?
(Sylvester and the Chamberlain burst into hysterical laughter)
Sylvester: That's thsilly! That's ridiculouths!

Daffy: That's funny. that never happens to Errol Flynn.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Daffy Duck/The Scarlet Pumpernickel	Mel Blanc
J.L. Warner	Mel Blanc
The Lord High Chamberlain	Mel Blanc
Fair Lady Melissa	Marian Richman
Mama Bear	N/A
Henry Hawk	N/A
Grand Duke Sylvester	Mel Blanc
Elmer Fudd	Mel Blanc

Locations

• Earth
  • Hollywood
    • Warner Bros. Studios
  • England
    • Ye King's Nostril Inn
      • The Lord High Chamberlain's castle

Objects

• The Scarlet Pumpernickel screenplay
• Ye Giant Size Box of Wipex
• Snuff
• Ye Little Olympic High Jumper

Production

Casting

While the voice of Elmer was usually provided by Arthur Q. Bryan, he is instead voice by Mel Blanc in this short. Blanc imitated Bryan's performance despite his reservations of impersonating another actor.

Music

The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

The music cue for the Scarlet Pumpernickel is "The Jolly Robbers," composed by Franz von Suppé.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: March 4, 1950 in theatres; May 17, 1958 in theatres (Blue Ribbon reissue)

Behind the scenes

• The MPAA number of this short is 13373.
• This short is a parody of The Scarlet Pimpernel, a historical adventure novel written by Baroness Orczy.
• J.L. Warner is likely an allusion to Jack L. Warner, the co-founder and then-CEO of Warner Bros. Studios.
• This was the only Chuck Jones-directed short to depict Sylvester as a more anthropomorphic character, compared to his appearances in other Jones shorts, in which he is silent house pet to Porky.

Errors

• When Daffy is reading the script to J.L., his position changes between shots.

Legacy

• The premise of the short was would inspire Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Toons Take Over."
• A small clip from this short would be used in the TV Special, Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special
• The portrayals of Daffy, Porky, Sylvester and Melissa are used as playable characters in Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • October 28, 2003: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 on DVD.
  • November 15, 2011: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 on Blu-ray.