The Night of the living duck: The final Looney Tune short to feature Mel Blanc

Swan song

Mel Blanc has been described as the man with a thousand voices because he lent his vocal cords to a majority of the animated shorts that have thrilled us for many generations. His final short was a 6 minute Merrie Melodies offering titled "The Night of the living duck" which paled in comparison to previous work from Blanc. This is Blanc's swan song whether we like it or not. Some Baby Boomers have said that it seems as if the cartoon shorts and other work by Mel Blanc has been dummied down over the decades and lost some of the original magic.

Controversy

The great voice actor was not without controversy over the years because some of the earlier Looney Tunes, Happy Harmonies, and Merrie Melodies he was associated with had racist overtones. In one black and white short Porky Pig drives a train past a pile of wood that falls away to reveal a black character. This is a nod to the saying: A ni$$er in the woodpile. These older racist cartoons are now being removed but obviously, they have not gotten rid of all of them.

In spite of that issue, there is no one who can voice Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, and the other lovable characters in the same way that Blanc did. His voice is unique and cannot be reproduced no matter how close someone may come to emulating his characterizations. There are times when I can tell that someone else is voicing one of my favorite cartoon characters and it changes my mood so that I cannot enjoy the animation.

Toon in

I recently watched an episode of TUNE IN WITH ME on MeTV and the host, Bill, announced that the upcoming short was the last one that Mel Blanc ever did. This was the first time I ever viewed the 1988 cartoon featuring Daffy Duck titled "The Night of the living duck." which was released to theatres on September 24, 1988. as the intro to DAFFY DUCK'S QUACK BUSTERS. This short was shown before the film in every one of its releases.

Classic Mel Blanc

When I think of Mel Blanc I enjoy recalling his classic animation where Bugs Bunny dresses up as a girl and kisses Elmer Fudd or the Tasmanian Devil tears up everything in sight as all the animals run away. I love Yosemite Sam trying to outsmart the Wascally Wabbit and Daffy and Porky pig getting into trouble. It's fun to see how many tricks and contraptions Wiley Coyote comes up with when he tries to catch the roadrunner.

These are all classics and follow a pattern with the cartoon characters. "The Night of the living duck" is somewhat different and begins with Daffy reading a horror story in a comic book titled Hideous Tales. then being knocked out by a falling clock. The kooky duck begins dreaming that he wakes up and walks onto a stage and takes the microphone.

Oh what a night

The audience is in a nightclub setting and consists of quite a cast of characters. There is Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein, and the Werewolf seated at various tables. There also is a ghoul, a few skeletons, ghosts, the creature from the black lagoon, a giant size fly, and a few others. Daffy croons "Monsters live such interesting lives" in the vein of Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra then makes a few corny jokes before waking up.

There was not any plot to this 1988 animated short and there were no other recognizable classic Looney Tune characters involved outside of Daffy Duck. I watched it several times to try and make sense of it but came away less than enthused. In my opinion, this cartoon did not do justice to Mel Blanc and his previous work.

That's all folks

The first Looney Tunes, Happy Harmonies, and Merry Melodies were slapstick, tongue in cheek, and laughing to tears funny. With each new decade, however, it seemed that something was lost. "The Night of the living duck" is not the way that I want to remember the famous animator and perhaps it is best that this is where Blanc decided, "That's all folks."