Shrunken Cinema/Termite Terrace/Dripalong Daffy
From Eccentric Flower
Drip-Along Daffy
1950
Summary: A "Western-Type Hero" and his trusty "Comedy Relief" ride into town and encounter Nasty Canasta.
Director: Chuck Jones
Writer: Michael Maltese
Featuring: Daffy Duck; Porky Pig.
Onreel
0:17 Sound cue: "The Flower of Gower Gulch" was written for the cartoon, lyrics by Maltese. "Gower Gulch" was a Hollywood intersection frequented by cowboys hoping to be cast in Western films. The melody is used several more times throughout the cartoon.
0:37 Our "Western-Type Hero"'s palomino has an unmanageably long tail and mane. (In fact it's so long that, as shown at about 2:23, when his horse is running, Daffy can't see a thing.) His "Comedy Relief" rides a donkey. (Some people think it is a mule. Looks more like a donkey to me.)
0:54 Sound cue for establishing shots of our "Lawless Western Town" (Snake-Bite Center): "Cheyenne." See also Bugs Bunny Rides Again. For the cemetery, a little of Chopin's classic funeral march.
1:10 "Pawnee Bill" is both a reference to Pawnee Indians and to the fact that he's a pawnbroker (notice the pawnbroker's sign).
Sound cue during the robberies: Liszt's "Symphonic Poem #3."
1:16 The custard (ice cream) stand is named after Custer's Last Stand.
1:22 The crime is so bad that not only is a horse stealing horseshoes from the blacksmith, but a clothier's dummy is holding up a wooden cigar Indian. The sign on the wall behind the Indian is an advertisement for plug tobacco, a form of chewing tobacco. It probably says "Chew Outhouse Plug."
1:23 Sitting Bull was a real Indian. (See also Custer's Last Stand.)
1:27 In Bugs Bunny Rides Again it was the bullets that had to yield to the traffic signals.
1:33 "Old Girdle Saloon: Come In and Get Tight." I don't know but one day this joke will need explaining, not because girdles will go away or cease to be tight-fitting, but because "tight" as a synonym for "intoxicated" has all but vanished. Sound cue: "San Antonio" by Egbert van Alstyne, the guy who wrote "Cheyenne," which is why it sounds so similar.
1:55 Apparently the "Rigor O'Mortis" gag has been cut, along with some of the other gunplay, by the squeamish on occasion.
2:04 Sound cue as Daffy picks a badge: Overture from "William Tell." Daffy's badges include "chicken inspector" (someone who has an eye for the ladies) and "oh, you kid" (a term of endearment) - both definitely antiquated phrases even at the time of this cartoon ("oh, you kid" dates back to around 1909, for example).
2:19 "Hi-ho, Tinfoil!" is a joke on the Lone Ranger's "Hi-ho, Silver!"
2:25 Sound cue entering the saloon: "King Chanticleer." See Ballot Box Bunny.
2:30 "Tear up that mortgage! Unhand that rancher's daughter!" More Western clichés (in this case, typical evil deeds of villains in those films). A great deal of Daffy's spiel a bit later as he walks through the saloon is composed of similar tropes (e.g. "head 'em off at the pass").
3:38 The reward for Nasty Canasta is not for bringing him in "dead or alive." Only dead. "Rustler, Bandit, Square Dance Caller."
3:46 Unlike in Bugs Bunny Rides Again, here when you hear the sound of Nasty Canasta's spurs (or Daffy's, later), they are actually shown wearing them!
4:25 The special cabinet which contains the ingredients for Nasty Canasta's "usual" is lined with asbestos, now no longer much used as fireproofing. The bartender mixes them with a fire bucket close at hand.
5:23 Sound cue behind "Mawy Had a Wittle Wamb": "A-Tisket, A-Tasket."
6:17 Sound cue for the tin soldier: Raymond Scott's "The Toy Trumpet."
6:34 "Cheyenne" again.
7:04 The implication of the cart that Daffy pushes is that his new job is to be in charge of keeping the streets clean.
Offreel
The title is a reference to Hopalong Cassidy. The cartoon in general pokes fun at any number of clichés of Western films.
Nasty Canasta reappears in My Little Duckaroo and Barbary Coast Bunny.
