Duck Dodgers first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century, directed by Chuck Jones. Jones created a spoof of the popular Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon science fiction serials of the 1930s, casting the brash, egomaniac Daffy Duck as the erstwhile hero of the story. The cartoon is widely praised as one of the greatest and funniest Warner Bros. cartoons of all time.
Porky Pig also appears in the cartoon, playing the role of the "Eager Young Space Cadet." As he does in a number of Jones' cartoons, he plays the role of the straight man, getting the job done and foiling the villain while Daffy Duck blusters and repeatedly gets himself blown to smithereens.
Considering the period in which the cartoon was produced (the Red Scare was in full swing during the 1950s era), some scholars have used the cartoon to parallel the futility of the Cold War and the arms race. They note that by the end of the cartoon, the planet that Duck Dodgers and Marvin the Martian are fighting over has been destroyed, and the remaining area claimed by Daffy at the end is barely more than a pebble in size.
Jones also produced a sequel, Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th 1/2 Century, in 1980. The plot of this sequel cartoon was nearly a carbon copy of the original, and while it was visually impressive, it was largely disappointing to Warner Bros. fans.
Duck Dodgers also made an appearance in a 1993 episode of the TV series Tiny Toon Adventures, where Daffy Duck's pint-sized protege and student Plucky Duck also visited the futuristic world of Duck Dodgers.
In 2003 the Warner Bros. studio produced a full-fledged animated series entitled Duck Dodgers, which aired on the Cartoon Network cable channel.
The original cartoon also appeared in a 1994 episode of the science fiction series Babylon 5, where it was revealed that Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2th Century was Security Chief Michael Garibaldi's "second favourite thing in the universe".Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century
Further appearances