wait remember Duck Dodgers it was an early 2000s cartoon that plays with characters from the Looney
Tunes Universe originally spawning from a short animated film from the 1950s clearly
with a name like Duck Dodgers it's easy to see which Looney Tunes character we mainly
focus on here as a main character for the series Daffy Duck well kind of we're going to get into
all of that in today's video Duck Dodgers is a show that I really enjoyed growing up when it
comes to anything sci-fi or space related you can find me front and center of the TV Looney
tuned in to see what this week in cartoony Adventures had in store a few months back
from making this video I was really excited to revisit duckdodgers thanks to the series being
released on Blu-ray which sparked me wanting to make this video on the subject so if you're
ready to jump into this semi-short-lived show featuring some familiar faces let's do just that
foreign Dodgers wasn't a show until 2003 the first ever glimpse into these Galactic Adventures comes
from the 1953 short called Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half Century fan favorite character
of the Looney Tunes Daffy Duck leads the series where in that weird and Wacky World of the Looney
Tunes plays the role of Duck Dodgers a space traveling hero who faces off against threats
to the universe like Marvin the Martian before he was given that proper name along with his trusty
companion the eager young space cadet played by The Lovable Porky Pig the seven minute short
was a take on the comic character Buck Rogers and his space-related adventures in the 25th Century
but thanks to how well this short was received it carved a legacy all its own in fact it was so well
liked that George Lucas wanted to have this short played in front of showings for the original Star
Wars film in theaters according to Mark Hamill confirming this online a few years back as the
short directed by animation veteran Chuck Jones is listed as the fourth greatest cartoon of all
time out of a list of 50 back in 1994. so it's no wonder that eventually this concept would be
fully fleshed out in the 21st century as its own cartoon series heck you can even hear it
playing in the background of a scene in Steven Spielberg's classic alien film Close Encounters
of the Third Kind a personal favorite of mine in the genre that explores the Extraterrestrial
alongside the human element the short itself saw Duck Dodgers finding Planet X in search of a low
and resource element as our duck and pig Duo deal with all the slapstick and situational comedy that
come from just being themselves while navigating the Stars upon eventually finding the correct
Planet they begin their ongoing Shenanigans with the antagonist Marvin the Martian getting into a
battle over claiming the territory in the name of Earth or in the name of Mars these battles against
each other end with the ultimate destruction of the planet itself has the head-butting foes
continue on when all that's left is a small part of the planet that Duck Dodgers is able to claim
with a barely Holding On Marvin ultimately left undefeated giving us the knowledge that their
Space Battles will continue on Beyond this initial confrontation the short itself is genuinely great
and shows off Wyatt so well back in the 50s along with the several sequel cartoon shorts coming out
in the 80s and 90s from it showcasing why it was ripe for an eventual TV series to flesh out this
concept luckily the early 2000s was the right time to explore this concept once more leading
us to the full-on show simply titled the Duck Dodgers objects may be closer than play appear
on paper you can look at the base concept for a character like Daffy Duck as a secondary comic
relief character but thanks to the long history of Looney Tunes Daffy Duck is so much more than
that even when often fitting that mold when appearing alongside the main star of it all Bugs
Bunny we have so many examples of comic relief Side characters having their own spin-off that
fundamentally doesn't understand what makes them a side supporting character versus a more grounded
lead but Daffy is pretty special and that they never fully flanderized the character like other
shows spin-offs May often do while coming off most times as a lovable idiot that brings on
his own on-screen comedic torture who was still someone you wanted to root for he's hot-headed
ego driven and sometimes too big for his own britches but none of those would get in the way
of still wanting to see him succeed regardless of also wanting to see him constantly getting served
up a dish of disintegration this incredibly well done threaded needle graduated him to have a shot
at his own starring vessel with Duck Dodgers when the show fully came to be in 2003 this
all comes at a time where the old guard of cartoons were being phased out and where new
ideas would be tested left and right and more Legacy cartoon properties were given the chance
to find new avenues to explore to try and stay relevant with the changing Market of viewers
as the generations would go on the 2000s were a weird time my whole channel is a big Testament
to that so more experimental ideas with these Legacy cartoons were happening and I'm not just
talking about the lunatics Unleashed levels of weirdness and experimentation plus that show
is also genuinely good I did a whole video on that about a year ago this wasn't even strictly a 2000s
thing each generation these shows especially ones with a legacy as rich as Looney Tunes would try
and find something that fits that generation perfectly the 90s had the semi-babification
of the Looney Tunes with stuff like Tiny Toon Adventures which is now back by the way with
Tiny Toons luniversity but Duck Dodgers would be a fully separate thing all on its own and also
yes there was a Duck Dodgers Junior segment in Tiny Toon Adventures and I think that's
great or an even better example I guess for the continuing of the baby vacation would be the baby
Looney Tune show that started before and ran consecutively alongside Duck Dodgers but at
this point characters like Marvin the Martian had become a lot more used and fleshed out in
the Looney Tunes world making the character a lot more recognizable and loved as a fun villain so
going back to the drawing board when making Duck Dodgers a reality we have main characters that are
all established for an easy attachment for both an older audience and a newer younger audience from
there we can easily build a fun back and forth rivalry between the characters that hearkens back
to both the feuds of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd as well as the extra explosive nature of Wiley
Coyote and Roadrunner I look back at the 2000s as this nice Resurgence of sci-fi as well where sure
there was still plenty of it beforehand but I feel the mainstream adoption of it was taking
place more and more so around then so to pair all this together wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing
at least why not give it a shot the series would continue on the 24th and a half century place in
time and wouldn't be afraid to reach into their grab bag arsenal of characters from
the Looney Tunes Universe for cameos as other characters or creatures within the world of
what essentially is a show within a show it parodies other popular sci-fi media along
with cartoons of the past to give the show a place that sits in the realm of creating its
own footprint in sci-fi while acknowledging the genre it now fits in with a level of respect and
reference that only the Looney Tunes brand can do so well here Daffy Duck is once again the titular
character of Duck Dodgers a character brought into the future 24th and a half century after
being frozen for so long now being thrust into the role of a space adventure hero Duck Dodgers has
to overcome all the challenges he faces with the toughest sometimes just being himself a character
that struggles with being this greater hero for the sake of the greater good but through his
ignorance and ego initially he's not the smartest he isn't giving it his all but somehow luck seems
to be on his side no matter how much pain he usually endures within an episode of the show
voiced by Joe alaski Duck Dodgers is a character that is both relatable to many and one that can
be so different from your own set of morals that you can't help but Champion his better qualities
and yet root for his ego checks along with his trusty eager young space cadet played by Porky
Pig voiced by Bob Bergen these two share a fun and sometimes heartwarming partner Dynamic throughout
the show's run the space cadet is the antithesis of Duck Dodgers in many ways he's extremely smart
and assists Dodgers in so many ways that make him look good and save the day with him being
loyal to a fault and following basically every direction or order given to him as he looks up
to Dodgers as the hero Dodgers thinks himself as so as a side character the space cadet offers a
nice inverse for the main character to bounce off of in more situational problems and even
so during any downtime the show offers for an even more on the nose character there is
Dr IQ High voiced by Richard McGonagall who is the scientist responsible for unfreezing Duck
Dodgers believing him to be this incredible hero from the 21st century that is needed to help in
the future Century his character serves as the chief scientist for the galactic protectorate
that commands Dodgers for the missions he is sent on most times clashing with Dodgers over
his attitude he has and most times his inability to do things right the main antagonist of the
show is once again Marvin the Martian or rather Martian Commander X2 played by Marvin the Martian
and also voiced by Joe alaski the commanding Martian officer is always annoyed by both his
Galactic rival Duck Dodgers causing them to always clash as they run into one another but
as well as his queen that he takes orders from for his missions as well he is accompanied by
his trusty space Canine Companion K9 who is voiced by Frank Welker who recently took over the voice
role of Scooby-Doo in 2002 so that's pretty cool in fact Frank has voiced several dogs dynamut the
dog Wonder buttons from Animaniacs Roger and Bobby's World Sophie in the Chipmunk Adventure
freaking Cujo in Cujo the list goes on from there while the queen of Mars voiced by Tia Carrera is
the overall main Baddie of the show Marvin is always first and foremost the main focus when
looking at the direct conflict in the show despite getting some other Rogues Gallery members that get
in the way throughout it's a show with a pretty simple premise Duck Dodgers get sent on various
missions throughout the Galaxy and some sort of fun often slaps stick in situational humor as well
as conflicts all ensue it works so well for what it is because it is so simple the Looney Tunes
in general have operated under the banner of not over complicating the plots and Adventures over
giving us fun characters to see being played around with in their sandbox of sorts what I
personally love about this show is how it handles what the show is at its core it always makes sure
that fun is had so while the base of it feels simple you always get left with what feels like
a fun little adventure and a bunch of laughs along the way aesthetically the show made the conscious
decision to bring the classic look that the Sci-Fi genre had in the early to mid 1900s that being
retro futurism a gorgeous art style that blends a vision of the future once thought and fantasized
over from that time that blends together the past and imagine future perfectly to create
something so vividly realized yet unfamiliar this was brought to life thanks to the help of artist
Joel Parrott who has a background in and with no pun intended a background art with something like
the film The Iron Giant showcasing his incredible work of Designing a fleshed out setting through
back background visuals continuing to be involved in the world of Warner Brothers through films more
recently like scoob and Space Jam a new Legacy so say what you want about those films but a
lot still goes into fully bringing them to life that often get overlooked for me the characters
themselves are a big reason I enjoy watching as Daffy Duck has always been a highlight standout
character from the ltu the Looney Tunes universe that never fails to bring a smile to my face to
their consistent tropes via his attitude or all of the visual comedic torture he's been put through
and will continue to be put through giving him the main focus here was a lot of fun having Porky Pig
to play off of gave the show an extra level to the characters themselves that didn't only give
it slapstick to rely on also giving Marvin the Martian a more fleshed out role that made the
character that much more lovably evil not just being a bad guy for the sake of being a bad guy
but one who has his own personal conflict that humanizes the Martian to be more understood and
in some ways more relatable to the audience I think was just a genuinely great idea in fact
his connection to Duck Dodgers here being looked into to help explain why Dodgers was frozen in
the first place and made to look like a hero in the 21st century was a nice reveal that builds
out this world of the show in a genuine way that doesn't make it feel like they're trying to tack
on more of a story for the sake of it but to show a deeper mirrored look between characters
on both sides of the coin I genuinely love what the show had to offer from the characters
and the missions that they went on to the art direction of the backgrounds the outfits and
all the planets visited in the show but with all that being said the show ended fairly early in
comparison to other shows at the time so let's take a look into what happened to Duck Dodgers
after three total Seasons containing 39 episodes Duck Dodgers as the series had come to an end
in 2005. partially we can look at the constant Changing of the Guard of direction for what shows
worked or what shows didn't work with constant new Trials of ideas as both Duck Dodgers and
the consecutively running Baby Looney Tunes would come to an end that year with lunatics Unleashed
starting up from there and Lasting even less time but for a whole other Myriad of reasons that have
already separately went into the production of the show simply came to an end in 2005 as
the third season of The Show wrapped and while the finale to the show doesn't have a full finality to
it it does end off in a traditional way in a fake documentary about Duck Dodgers and some real and
fake heroics but as far as a concrete reason Duck Dodgers came to an end there really isn't too much
to look at aside from the show going from Cartoon Network to their sister Channel Boomerang before
the midpoint of the third season of the show the overall rating from episode to episode was still
retaining a decent response from those who did watch not losing any quality the show started
with but potentially viewership numbers were harder to maintain in such a space as booming
as the animation space in the 2000s constant shows new ideas other networks it was a booming time and
the space was getting harder to hold attention so along with that and the changing of the networks
it was seemingly easy to see the writing on the wall that the show may be coming to an
end but one thing we do know is that it wasn't for lack of being a well-made show that many
people did enjoy the show even had a fair share of recognition for what it brought to the table
being nominated in multiple categories during the 2004 Annie awards for outstanding achievement
production design music and voice acting fully winning for its composed music done by Robert J
crawl continuing from there with nominations in both 2004 and 2005 by the Emmys with Joe alaski
winning outstanding performer in an animated program in 2005. Duck Dodgers even had multiple
ties into the Video Game World as there was a Super Nintendo and Game Boy game titled Daffy
Duck the Marvin missions that came out in 1993 and 1995 for the US that didn't fully embrace
the Duck Dodgers name yet but it's clear what it was based on there's even a Nintendo 64 game that
released in the year 2000 that does embrace the actual name called Duck Dodgers starring
Daffy Duck they were so close to just embracing the Duck Dodgers name but you know I'll let them
slide aside from those titles the Nintendo Wii PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 game Looney Tunes Acme
Arsenal which released in 2007 featured the Duck Dodgers character along with another nod to Duck
Dodgers being in the 2014 video game Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham that had the playable character of
Green Lantern the Duck Dodgers play on the Green Lantern character so that's really cool it's extra
special that this was the final time Joe alaski reprized the role before he would sadly pass away
in 2016. the Legacy the show leaves is one that could be Revisited again one day for what it is
the show itself is three incredible Seasons that showcases why the show earned its spot in both
the realm of sci-fi and within the Looney Tunes Universe adding on to that the original Short in
1953 stands the test of time as a piece of comedic gold with generational lasting animation that reps
represents the era it came from so well when it became a full show it embraced the new era it was
in without feeling like it was trying to reinvent what it needed to be the opening theme song was
done by a collaborative effort from Tom Jones and the band The Flaming Lips lending together
a sound that represents the different eras from back around the original Short to the new full-on
show it's classy funky electrifying and overall the perfect tone Setter for the adventures to
come following it playing the show while having many things that relate back to the other Looney
Tunes characters never felt like it had to rely on the face of the brand never having Bugs Bunny
make an appearance in the show whether that be in a cameo rule that relates to the character
or something more random like just having him appear for the heck of it while he may have
been referenced a time or two bugs never became a crutch that the show felt that they needed to
rely on to get people to tune in going back to how it respects and pays homage to both new and
old within several Fields the show can reference something like Popeye one moment and then fully
go into a Samurai Jack parody another moment where you can have something like the fud that
references both the character of Elmer Fudd along with being a play on the enemies from the Halo
series called the flood I've already mentioned that Duck Dodgers was represented in other media
such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and even slightly bringing back the character through
Tiny Toon Adventures with Duck Dodgers Jr but the character has lived on through other pieces of
media as well with some being a bit more closely attached to the brand like in Looney Tunes back
in Action the 2003 film with Brendan Fraser where Daffy Duck Taps into his Duck Dodgers alter ego
but even in things like Babylon 5 where in the mid 90s the Sci-Fi show references it as a character's
second favorite thing in the universe and even another moment where characters in that show are
watching the original short and something I love here is that at one point the Animaniacs appear
in the show in an interesting way with the young Space Cadets nephews and niece being introduced
as Porco puerco and Sal who would be voiced by the three Animaniacs themselves Jess harnell Rob
Paulson and tress McNeil you can even look at the moment when Duck Dodgers performs It's Not Unusual
through the voice of Tom Jones as a fun nod to him as well as what made the song song re-famous again
with Carlton in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Duck Dodgers just likes to have fun within the medium
of Animation sci-fi and the entertainment space as a whole and combined with all the other reasons I
have listed in this video for why I enjoy the series makes Duck Dodgers truly a joy of a
cartoon also Dave Mustaine from the band Megadeth was fully in an episode and they even performed a
song that was on their album the system has failed released in 2004. why I don't know but it's kind
of cool and it makes me look back on all the other random celebrity and musician cameos that
happen in cartoons of the past for random tie-ins I don't know if duck Dodger viewers were the exact
audience to sell the band Mega Death to but hey it happened and that's the 2000s for you but as
far as Duck Dodgers goes the show holds a special place in my heart for how much fun I had with it
as a kid growing up in the early 2000s and now as an adult revisiting those exact feelings I think
it holds up extremely well for some cartoony fun and has a style wholly unique to itself from other
Looney Tunes related properties making it worth the watch alone if you're already a fan of the
Looney Tunes in general but gives you plenty of reasons to fully like it on its own Merit
outside of the cartoon Duck Dodgers with both Dodgers himself along with Marvin the Martian
were commemorated in 2003 as their own mission patches for the first space launch Squadron for
the Mars exploration rover mission launched in that year and that's a pretty cool Legacy make
sure to let me know in the comments your thoughts and feelings on the show I'd love to hear your
memories of it if you watched it back when it originally was on the air thanks so much for
watching follow for updates on my socials like And subscribe for more content like this later
thank you