The Scarlet Pumpernickel is a 1950 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The cartoon was released on March 4, 1950, and features Daffy Duck, along with a number of Looney Tunes stars. The title is a play on the 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel. In 1994 it was voted No. 31 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
Plot
The cartoon is a story within a story. Daffy Duck is fed up with comedy and wants to try a dramatic act instead. He offers a script to Warner Bros.' chief Jack L. Warner – whom he addresses, as most people did, as "J.L." – called The Scarlet Pumpernickel, which he wrote himself. As Daffy reads the script to J.L., the cartoon cuts away to various scenes and then back to J.L.'s office. Each time, Daffy announces a page number. By the cartoon's end, the script has exceeded 2,000 pages. In this script, in 1903 England, a clumsy young highwayman named the Scarlet Pumpernickel constantly outsmarts the Lord High Chamberlain's men, to the Chamberlain's fury and the delight of the Fair LadyMelissa. Melissa loves Scarlet, but her happy mood is extinguished in a heartbeat when the Chamberlain orders her to "Keep away from that masked band-d-d-d-d-desperad-d-d-d-d-that masked stinker!" The Chamberlain gets a brilliant plan and decides to marry Melissa to the Grand Duke in an attempt to lure the Scarlet Pumpernickel to town and then kill him. As planned, the Scarlet Pumpernickel is drawn to town to interrupt the wedding. He arrives disguised as a noble to research and develop his plan for rescuing Melissa. Storming the wedding ceremony through the use of a "Ye Little Olympic Highjumper" as she is walking up the aisle, he is instantly successful as Melissa tears herself from the Chamberlain's arms and runs from the chapel, dragging Scarlet with her and shouting, "Help, Scarlet! Save me!" Scarlet responds, as an aside, "So what's to save?" Scarlet takes her back to the inn where he is staying, and leaves briefly. The Grand Duke, in pursuit of Scarlet, stops for respite at the inn and spots Melissa on the staircase. As he corners her, Scarlet swings in. In this segment of the plot there is a running gag in which Daffy compares his own daring stunts with those of Errol Flynn. The Grand Duke and the Scarlet Pumpernickel engage in an intense duel, but no conclusive ending is given as to who ultimately wins the battle and what happens at the end. Daffy, as the scriptwriter, either having only thought of the beginning and middle of the story or lost the rest of his script underneath a huge pile of pages, and being pressured by the enthusiastic J.L., completely ad-libs the ending as an unlikely series of random and accelerating natural disasters; a thunderstorm breaking a dam, a cavalry charge through the resulting flood, an erupting volcano, and skyrocketing food prices, to which J.L. asks, "Is that all?" At his wit's end, Daffy exclaims in defeat, "There was nothing for the Scarlet Pumpernickel to do, but blow his brains out, which he did." Daffy then grabs a gun and shoots through his hat in exhaustion, as if representing the Scarlet Pumpernickel committing suicide, commenting, "It's getting so you have to kill yourself to sell a story around here".
This Looney Tunes short has an unusually large cast of "star" characters. Mel Blanc voices Elmer Fudd, who plays the role of an innkeeper here. Elmer was originally voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan, but since the character had only one line of dialogue, Mel Blanc was told to go ahead and imitate Bryan's voice for the character. Blanc did not like imitating, however, believing it to be stealing from another actor.
Availability
The Scarlet Pumpernickel is available, uncensored, digitally restored and uncut on '. It is also available on The Essential Daffy Duck DVD, the Carrotblanca VHS and the Looney Tunes Collectors Edition: Running Amuck VHS from Columbia House. It is also available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the '.
