Birth of a Notion is a 1947 Looney Tunes short planned by Bob Clampett and finished by Robert McKimson.
Title[]
The title is a play on The Birth of a Nation, but there is no connection to that film.
Plot[]
Daffy doesn't feel like going to the trouble of flying south for the winter like other ducks. He manages to con the rather simple-witted dog, Leopold, into letting him stay for the winter by pretending to have saved Leopold's life. Unfortunately, Leopold's master is a mad scientist who needs the wishbone of a duck for his experiment.
Daffy, understandably, is not keen on this notion, but instead of finding another place to stay, he keeps trying to get rid of the scientist, while Leopold tries to save his master's life. At one point, Daffy throws a baseball bat at the scientist from behind, and Leopold grabs it in time to keep the impact non-lethal; however, his master misunderstands, taking the bat away and breaking it into many pieces with his bare hands, while quietly intoning "Don't you know that might make me very angry, and I would do terrible, horrible things to you!" before patting a terrified Leopold on the head and saying "I'm going to bed now, Leopold."
Daffy then attempts to kill the scientist while he's sleeping. But it backfires when the scientist wakes up and starts to go after Daffy. Meanwhile, Leopold feels all too left out of the picture.
Daffy finally leaves and Leopold left after him when his master had a sudden desire for a dog's wishbone. So Daffy goes to another house, only to find another duck (with a Joe Besser-like voice and characterization) already there. That other duck kicks him into the air (the Southern way). So Daffy decides to give in and fly south, jet-propelled. On his flight, he is surprised to find he has company: Leopold, somehow aided by a fan strapped to his back, is flying south too, to flee away from his wishbone-crazed master.
Caricatures[]
- Peter Lorre - scientist
- Joe Besser
Censorship[]
- When this cartoon aired on the now-defunct The WB! channel, Daffy's attempt to stab the mad scientist in his sleep with a knife was cut.[2]
Availability[]
Cartoon Moviestars: Daffy Duck and Company
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 2, Side 8
Bumper Edition (Woolworths Exclusive)
Further Adventures of Daffy Duck
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc One
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 6, Disc 1
Streaming[]
Production[]
"Birth of a Notion" is one of five shorts that had been scheduled for direction by Bob Clampett before he left Warner Bros. Cartoons;[3] the other four were "Tweetie Pie" (directed by Friz Freleng), "Bacall to Arms" (finished by Arthur Davis), "The Big Snooze (finished by Davis) and "The Goofy Gophers" (finished by Davis). Unlike those shorts, Clampett seemed to have very little involvement in the shorts production before the project was shifted to Robert McKimson. According to Thad Komorowski, a recording session for the cartoon, along with "Bacall to Arms" took place in April 28, 1945, shortly before Clampett left Warner Bros.[4]
McKimson initially planned to use his "Barnyard Dawg" character design as Leopold, while the scientist is a caricature—both visually and vocally—of character actor Peter Lorre.
Notes[]
- Mel Blanc voiced Daffy Duck, Leopold and Joe Besser Duck, while an uncredited Stan Freberg voiced the mad scientist.[5]
- Several older syndicated prints had the Blue Ribbon ending sequence replaced with one utilized by Associated Artists Productions, featuring Bugs Bunny busting out of the Looney Tunes drum while the 1937 Merrie Melodies closing theme plays under it; see "The Up-Standing Sitter" for more info.
- While the American Turner "dubbed version" retains the original 1946-1955 Looney Tunes ending music cue, the European Turner "dubbed version" replaces the original ending music cue with the 1941-1955 Merrie Melodies ending music cue.
Gallery[]
_-_Scientist.jpg "Birth of a Notion (1947) - Scientist.jpg (428 KB)")
