"Dodgers, Duck Dodgers" by Troy H. Cheek on Jan 21, 2008
As a child, I usually preferred Daffy Duck over Bugs Bunny. Oh, not that I wouldn't sit through an entire Saturday morning cartoons featuring either of them, or any other animated character, but if I had a choice between watching a Daffy cartoon or a Bugs cartoon, I'd choose the little black duck every time. And if the cartoon happened to feature both of them, I'd be cheering on Daffy, even though I knew he'd probably lose.
Daffy, you see, wasn't a winner. He was, at best, a human and fallible hero. At worst, he was a cowardly bully of a villian. Unlike Bugs, who almost always maintained his cool and seldom looked very foolish or for long, Daffy could and would look silly, make mistakes, lose his temper, and even downright lose a conflict. Which means that I, as a child, wished I could be Bugs but knew in my heart that I was Daffy.
One of my favorite Daffy Duck cartoons was Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half Century. Seeing as it was produced in the middle of the 20th century, that put it a good 400 years into the future. This spawned a few sequels and eventually an entire series. By the time the series came about, century 24.5 was only 350 years into the future.
So, what does the year 2350 look like? Is man still alive? Has woman survived? Can you pick your son (pick your daughter, too) from the bottom of a long glass tube? Not really. The future looks much like that seen in old Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Captain Video and the Space Rangers, and similar films. These films weren't really all that old back when Duck Dodgers was conceived, now that I think about it. They pictured a future full of flying cars, personal rocket backpacks, ray guns, interstellar travel, and an inhabited Mars.
Duck Dodgers was somehow frozen in the late 20th or early 21st century, but then thawed out some 351 years later. Little braggart that he is, he convinced the people of Earth that he was a hero back in the day, so they made him a captain (honorary, actually), gave him a crack crew (a single, untested cadet), and assigned him a ship (last year's model). The idea was that his experiences in the distant past would allow him a new and unique view of the problems of the distant future (i.e. the present). It didn't quite work out that way.
This being an animated cartoon, characterization is not always as consistent as it could be. Then again, anyone expecting consistency probably isn't watching television these days. I don't watch much television, but thanks to a digital video recorder, lots of storage space, and a well-stocked homebrew DVD collection, I do watch a lot of TV shows. With the help of a few friends and YouTube, I was able to scrounge together a (I'm pretty sure) complete collection of the recent Duck Dodgers series. Thanks to a few websites maintained by folks with even less of a life than I have, I think I managed to watch them roughly in order. In fact, in the last two weeks, I've watched them all.
I repeat: I've. Watched. Them. All. (Twitch.)
In an obvious nod to Star Trek (original recipe) stardates, each episode starts with a chapter number which has nothing to do with the order in which the episodes were produced, broadcast, or intended to be viewed. Most episodes are intended to stand alone, but there are several cases where characters or situations recur to suggest a general viewing order, and all episodes from a particular season are probably intended to be viewed after those in the preceeding one. Chapter numbers make hash of this, so I just watched them in broadcast order.
Each episode starts with Tom Jones singing the title song over the opening credits, then the chapter number and episode title, then the actual cartoon starts. The typical episode is that I.Q. Hi (if your given name was Ignaticious, you'd go by your initials, too) calling Duck Dodgers and giving him an assignment which Dodgers will immediately try to weasel his way out of. The eager young space cadet Porky Pig will eventually talk Dodgers into doing his job. Dodgers will then blunder into the situation, initially make it worse with his bumbling, come up with some kind of harebrained (well, duckbrained) scheme which can't possibly work, and in the end somehow save the day.
In spite of his bragging, Dodgers was apparently not a big hero back in the 20th century and isn't much of one in the future. He's portrayed as everything from an illiterate idiot who survives due to blind luck to an actual tactical genius who still fails because of an overinflated ego and an impulse control problem. Eventually, those around him come to realize that while he's not exactly a hero, through happenstance or gall or the simple expediency of not realizing that some things are supposed to be impossible and should never be attempted, he will eventually come out on top.
I personally believe that Dodgers is neither as stupid nor as smart as he makes himself out to be. I think he plays the fool to put people off guard, though this doesn't mean that he's not actually fooled from time to time. Likewise, his brags are designed to make people think he's a much bigger hero than he actually is, which doesn't prevent him from occasionally doing genuinely heroic things. Nobody is surprised when he fails, yet all seem consistently shocked when he succeeds. "I hate to say this, but that might actually work!" is frequently heard from the cadet.
I feel the Duck's pain. Often, I attempt to impart wisdom onto my nephews. They must have vision problems, because they roll their eyes a lot. Yet, more often than not, at some point in any particular visit, I will hear the words "Wow! Uncle Troy was right about that!" come out of their mouths. This was particularly satisfying after I accurately predicted that Nephew #1 might not want to practice arc welding while holding the metal on his lap. I think we got the flames put out in time that I still have a chance of being a grand-uncle someday.
What Dodgers definitely is, is self-absorbed. This varies from an almost intentional and even intentionally vindictive "You're not me, so you're not important" vibe to a totally involuntary and sometimes apologetic "You're not me, so I forget you even exist" thing. He is seemingly incapable of love, as he has only enough love for himself. Yet, sometimes he seems to act out of love for his cadet, his boss, or even for his foes. Of course, he hides this love under crass remarks.
A new character that I love is that of the Martian Queen, Queen Tyr'ahnee (sounds like tyranny). Hubba, hubba. And that voice! I wish I knew who did the voice. Oh, I know who's in the credits, but rumor has it that she's just there for her name and another actress does the voice actually used in the episodes. It certainly doesn't sound like the name in the credits.
Another pleasant surprise is the music. The theme music is, as mentioned before, sung by Tom Jones, who also appears in an episode. Groups like Riders in the Sky and Megadeth also make appearances. And the incidental music, cues, and score are quite powerful and serious, worthy of a big screen space action flick, which makes the comedy on the small screen much funnier when you notice it.
The Duck Dodgers series is entertaining on many levels. First, there's the outright comedy stylings of Daffy Duck. Secondly, there's the parody factor, as many elements and even entire episodes are lifted from current (or not so current) movies, television shows, old serials, and the like. Thirdly, there are the serious and deadly moments, which never last because, hey, Daffy Duck is the hero, and is as likely as not to defuse the planet-destroying bomb by eating too much fast food and throwing up on the control panel.
This may just be the sleep deprivation talking, but I give Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half Century two thumbs up and strongly suggest that you watch it given the chance. Better yet, if the series ever comes out on DVD, buy it.
Next Week: ReBoot!
