Daffy - The Commando

Daffy - The Commando is a 1943 Looney Tunes short directed by I. Freleng.
== Plot==
A German commander, Von Vultur, gets a telefunken from the "Gestinko Gestapo", threatening him with his 'ka-rear' if he lets "Vun-More-Kommando" through. The telegram in translated English reads 'vun more kommando ...'. In the original, very broken German, it reads, "Dummy! A sauerkraut potato soup isn't eaten made with veal. [Signed] The Apfen of History." From left to right, the "Apes of Wrath" are Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini. The music playing is from Wagner's opera Das Rheingold. Hearing a plane overhead, he calls in a soldier, Schultz, whom he abuses by knocking him regularly over his helmet with a mallet. Schultz and Von Vultur go outside and use a searchlight to look for Daffy, who is floating down on a parachute, whilst singing "She Was Poor but She Was Honest" in a Cockney accent.
After a quick "Put out those lights!" gets the lights out, allowing him to land unseen, Daffy uses his fingers to make shadow puppets and dancing chorus girls. When Von Vultur chases Daffy behind a curtain of asbestos, Daffy makes a stereotypical Japanese face, causing Von Vultur to run off frightened.
Back at his bunker, there is a semi-nude photo of a woman on the wall in Von Vultur's bunker. Daffy addresses Von Vultur as "Liederkranz", after the smelly cheese, is presented with a bomb from Daffy, ticking down. Von Vultur hands the bomb off to Schultz, who is blown through the roof. When Schultz falls back, Daffy stops Von Vultur from hitting Schultz over the head with a mallet, and instead hits him. Von Vultur, pausing briefly to salute a skunk with "Heil Hitler!" chases Daffy to a telephone booth, where Daffy continues to make fun of Von Vultur. Von Vultur thinks he's talking to Schultz, but finds himself talking to operator Myrt.
Daffy then jumps in a plane, narrowly avoiding being shot by 'a whole mess of Messerschmitts', referring to the Nazi Messerschmitt BF 109 light fighter aircraft, when he's shot down by Von Vultur (his plane literally being blown to pieces). Daffy then runs into a howitzer, and is shot out by Von Vultur. However, Daffy flies as a 'Human Cannonball' into Berlin, where (a largely rotoscoped) Hitler is making a speech to his people. Hitler's speech is nonsense: "Haben Sie nicht Liebe? ... alle zusammen ... Ach, du lieber. Mein Herr, Mein Pupkin, Mein Milch, Mein Heineken ..." (the music used in the background is similar to an organ grinder.) Daffy jumps up and whacks Hitler on the head with a mallet, causing Hitler to yell for Schultz, similar to Von Vultur.
== Caricatures==
* Adolf Hitler
* Jim Jordan
==The Telephone Booth Scene ==
A scene where Daffy is on a pay phone as Von Vultur is trying to get into the booth has Daffy speaking to him in German, while holding cue card-like signs with the dialogue translated for the audience (a classic example of "breaking the fourth wall"). In many public domain prints, the signs are illegible (due to the poor quality of the PD prints), but read as follows:
Daffy 1: Kannst du nicht sehen diese telefunk ist busy? Bleiben sie ruhig! ("Can you not see this tele radio is busy? Stay calm!")
Sign 1: ENGLISH TRANSLATION: "Can't you see this telephone is busy? Wait your turn!"
Daffy 2: Bitte, mein herr, haben sie ein ein pfennigstück? ("Please, my lord, have they a penny a piece?") Danke schön.("Thank you.")
Sign 2 TWO MORE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS: "Got a nickel, bud?"/"Thanks."
Daffy 3: "It's all yours, Von Limburger!"
Sign 3: GERMAN TRANSLATION: "Ich bin fertig mit der telefon, Herr Von Limburger." ("I'm done with the phone, Mr. Von Limburger.")
When Von Vultur enters the phone booth, he attempts to contact Schultz, but instead gets an operator, "Ist dat you Myrt?" (Myrtle the Operator was the never-heard switchboard operator in the highly successful Fibber McGee and Molly radio show of that era. "Is that you Myrt?" was a popular catchphrase in the show, and subsequently, in many Warner Brothers cartoons, which took situations from radio dramas and comedies as their inspiration.)
== Music Cues ==
* "The Toy Trumpet" (by Raymond Scott)
** Plays during the opening credits.
* "Sobre las olas" [Over the Waves] (by Juventino Rosas)
** Plays when Daffy is performing Shadowgraphy.
* "The Old Soft Shoe" (by Carl Stalling)
** Also plays when Daffy is performing Shadowgraphy.
* "She Was Poor but She Was Honest" (by R.P. Weston Lyrics by Bert Lee) 
** Sung by Daffy Duck while falling from the sky.
* Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean (by David T. Shaw Arranged by Thomas A. Beckett)
** Plays when Daffy is flying out of the canon.
==Availability==
Golden-Age-of-Looney-Tunes-2-F.jpg|(1992) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2, Side 8: The Art of Daffy
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6.jpg|(2008) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc Two
==Notes==
*This short entered the public domain in 1971 after United Artists (successor-in-interest to Associated Artists Productions) neglected to renew the copyright in time.
**On top of that, this is the most recent Daffy Duck cartoon to enter the public domain, as every Daffy Duck cartoon released after this remain under copyright.
*Because of pervasive references to Nazis, Adolf Hitler, and World War II, this short has never aired on American television. Despite this, it is a staple in public domain videos, is on the final volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set, and aired in clips on the ToonHeads special about World War II cartoons.
==Gallery==
Fef34c06474a09250986dffca3073167.png|Lobby card
Daffy - The Commando credits.png|Credits
Daffycommando4.jpg
DaffyCommando2.jpg
Daffycommando5.jpg
Daffy the commando screenshot.jpg
Daffycommando1.jpg
DaffyCommando3.jpg
Daffy - The Commando 031 0001.jpg|Adolf Hitler is hit in the head by Daffy Duck in the end of the cartoon.
File:Commando layout drawing.png|Animation layout drawing
File:Commando layout.jpg|Animation layout drawing
==References==
fr:Daffy le héros
Category:Daffy Duck Cartoons
Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng
Category:Wartime Shorts
Category:Shorts
Category:1943
Category:Public domain films
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Owen Fitzgerald
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Paul Julian
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Caricatures of real people
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package