Don't Axe Me

Don't Axe Me is a 1958 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Plot ==
When Elmer Fudd, who is a farmer, brings out a pan of food for the duck's breakfast, Daffy swallows the pan and all of the food. Elmer calls him a greedy pig and Daffy oinks at him. Then when Elmer brings out Rover's breakfast, Daffy barks and sits up and begs like a dog. Elmer shoos him away, but when he goes back in the house, Daffy eats Rover's breakfast anyway, hence angering Rover which results the dog getting scolded by Elmer and get told off to go inside the house for chasing Daffy.
Mrs. Elmer Fudd is expecting company from Reverend Brown and asks Rover what she should make for dinner. Seeing an opportunity to get even with Daffy, he plays charades to suggest roast duck; though unsuccessful at first (she often guesses it wrong), Rover made it clear that he wants her to make roast duck (when she guesses "roast dog", he indignantly outright tells her "Roast D-U-C-K! Duck!"). She hands Elmer an axe and tells him to prepare the black duck. Daffy uses psychology to talk the axe out of Fudd's hands and throws it down the well. Rover retrieves it for Elmer, but Daffy lassos it out of his mouth.
Fudd decides to use a straight razor instead, thinking it easier to conceal than an axe. Daffy quickly tricks him out of it, but Rover brings Elmer the axe again. Daffy volunteers to sharpen the axe and grinds it all the way down to the handle. Fudd gets his shotgun and finally wins the battle.
Mrs. Fudd tells her guest, Reverend Brown, that the duck dinner will be ready soon, but he announces he's a vegetarian ("Never eat duck!"). A plucked Daffy spits the apple out of his mouth and indignantly says, "Now he tells us!" before hopping out of the roasting pan and taking his leave, somewhat ungrateful about the fact he had been spared of his fate.
== Availability ==
lt vs7 uk.jpg|(1982) VHS The Looney Tunes Video Show Volume 7
Daffy Duck (1990) (UK VHS).jpeg|(1990) VHS Daffy Duck (1990)
DAFFY DUCK'S SCREEN CLASSICS.jpg|(1993) LaserDisc Daffy Duck's Screen Classics: Duck Victory
ELMER FUDD'S SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.jpg|(1993) VHS Elmer Fudd's School of Hard Knocks
Bumper01.jpg|(1994) VHS Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 1)
Bumper04.jpg|(1996) VHS Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 4)
Ghw45nmjhopi54wjy.jpg|(1996) VHS Looney Tunes Collection - Further Adventures of Elmer Fudd
51Rir IkqCL.jpg|(1997) VHS Classic Bumper Collection
lt ccmns.jpg|(1997) VHS Looney Tunes Classic Collection (Marks and Spencer UK VHS)
=== Streaming ===
lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App (2017 - )
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored)
== Notes ==
* Beginning with this Merrie Melodies short, it uses the 1957-59 blue Color Rings at both beginning and end times.
*This is the final cartoon of the Golden Age Era to have Daffy Duck and Barnyard Dawg against each other.
* The unseen character, Reverend Brown, sounds like Marvin the Martian. He has only one line of dialogue at the end of the short.
* This is the only time where Elmer Fudd is married; as all other cartoons depict Elmer (like other major characters) as a bachelor.
* Barnyard Dawg from the Foghorn Leghorn series is known as "Rover" in this cartoon.
** Barnyard had previously appeared outside the Foghorn Leghorn series twice: "One Meat Brawl" (with Porky Pig) and "Daffy Duck Hunt" (with both Daffy Duck and Porky Pig). Barnyard would appear one more time in a non-Foghorn cartoon later that year in "Gopher Broke" (with the Goofy Gophers).
*** Although, "Birth of a Notion" and "A Bone for a Bone" however do not count because those two shorts use the likeness of the character in terms of name (such in the case of "A Bone for a Bone", which uses a different-looking dog with Barnyard's name George P. Dog) or physical appearance (such as in the case of "The Birth of a Notion", which uses a dog resembling Barnyard Dawg but with brown fur and different voice known as Leopold).
* The gag where Elmer's face is disfigured (in this case pulled off like flypaper) from a hot towel by Daffy in this cartoon is a partial reference to a similar gag from "Wise Quackers".
* This cartoon is unusual for its time period (1958), as the short depicts Daffy as both a greedy, self-centered characterization and the "screwball" characterization, similar to "You Were Never Duckier" and "Daffy Dilly", which were released about ten years before.
* This short aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang with a horribly faded print as on The Looney Tunes Video Show VHS tapes in the PAL format (in both NTSC and PAL countries) since 1999.
* This was the first ever short animated by Tom Ray, who would animate McKimson's shorts until 1960.
* This cartoon was originally slated to be included on the Looney Tunes Super Stars' Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl DVD, but was replaced early in development due to executive backlash from Warner Home Video.https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/whv-announcement-looney-tunes-super-stars.290816/#post-3537991
== Gallery ==
Don'tAxeMeCredits1.png
Don'tAxeMeCredits2.png
Mrs. Elmer Fudd & Barnyard Dawg.png
Don'tAxeRESTORED.jpeg|Screenshot of 2020 restoration
DontAxeMeRestored.jpeg|Cropped screenshot of 2020 restoration
Vlcsnap-2020-06-28-15h27m39s501.png
Mrs. Elmer Fudd.png
StuporDuckProductionBackground&Don'tAxeMeDaffyDuckCel.jpg|Production cel with a production background from "Stupor Duck"
File:1666300994-522-5931-color-model-01.jpg|Color guide (Circa May 1957)
Don'tAxeMeLeadSheetSmallPartial.jpg
== References ==
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:Daffy Duck Cartoons
Category:Elmer Fudd Cartoons
Category:1958
Category:Shorts
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons animated by Ted Bonnicksen
Category:Cartoons animated by George Grandpré
Category:Cartoons animated by Tom Ray
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by William Butler
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 characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by June Foray
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer
Category:Barnyard Dawg Cartoons