Looney Tunes Review: "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century"

As a kid, you think of cartoons as being wholly comedic, but as you get older, you see more depth into your favorite cartoon shorts. Yes, the comedy's there, but there's also action, there's drama, and in some cases, tragedy. Chuck Jones had a knack for being well-rounded with his creations. His cartoons spanned a number of different genres, but the comedy is often there. One such short of Jones' that stood out among many others: the heavily acclaimed Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century.

As the title suggests, the timed setting is in the heart of the 24th century, and we see the titular Duck Dodgers (Daffy Duck) emerge from his ship. He meets with his superior, Dr. I.Q. Hi, who gives Dodgers his task: their supply of Illudium Phosdex, "the shaving cream atom," is running low. The only remaining supply is on Planet X.

"And you want me to find Planet X. Is that it?" Dodgers asks.

"Can you do it, Dodgers?" Dr. Hi inquires. Dodgers says he can because "there's who knows his way through outer space like... Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century!!!"

Following that title drop (the first of many), Dodgers preps himself for the trip, with his eager, young space cadet (Porky Pig) ready to fly with him. The flight sees Dodgers give very complicated directions to get to Planet X, going every which-a-way. Despite this, the cadet understands, but he keeps it simple: just follow those planets, and they'll find Planet X. Dodgers laughs at this, but thinks up the same exact thing like it's a new plan.

After following the planets alphabetically, the duo arrived at Planet X. Dodgers takes out an Earth flag, claiming the planet in the name of the Earth, but another ship arrives, and it's Marvin the Martian, who claims Planet X in the name of Mars. Dodgers isn't impressed.

"Look, bud, I've got news for you," Dodgers quips, "I've already claimed this bit of dirt for the Earth, and there just ain't room enough for the both of us." Marvin concurs and points his disintegrating pistol at Dodgers, who boasts that he's wearing his disintegration-proof vest and tells Marvin to fire. Good news: the vest works, it remains intact. Bad news: Dodgers doesn't. The cadet revives Dodgers with an integrating pistol. Anyone else would have been grateful. Dodgers is not anyone else.

"Oh, you, huh? Just when I had him going, you had to butt in! Well, get back in that spaceship!"

The cadet acquiesces, and then, Dodgers pulls out his own disintegrating pistol ("And brother, when it disintegrates, it disintegrates!"). True to form, the pistol disintegrates. Dodgers runs off, but afterwards, the cadet gives Marvin an explosive birthday gift, and after it goes off, the martian scurries to his ship. Dodgers fires his Ultimatium Dispatcher, and once the bullet reaches Marvin, it opens and reveals a note that says, "Surrender, or blown in to 17,670,002 micro cells." How precise. Marvin fires the Ultimatum Answerer, and once that bullet reaches Dodgers, it fires at him.

Dodgers checks on Marvin in his video screen, but sees Marvin with his gun, which he fires at him. Having had enough, Dodgers unleashed his secret weapon, while Marvin does the same. Insidious chuckles and lever pulls later, an explosion occurs, blowing Planet X down to a single rock, which Dodgers shoves Marvin off.

"And now, this planet is hereby claimed by the Earth in the name of... Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century!!!" Dodgers exclaims.

"Big deal," was the cadet's reply.

Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century was released on July 24, 1953, and was clearly Daffy Duck's biggest role and best short since the film's creator, Chuck Jones, permanently changed Daffy's persona. It gave Daffy a regular starring alter-ego, and it was another way to show Daffy and Porky's kinship. In that regard, Jones' version of this dynamic saw Daffy as the lead, but Porky as a "sidekick" who often outshines Daffy and is shown to be more competent than him. We saw this dynamic in Drip-Along Daffy and My Little Duckaroo; both Wild West shorts directed by Jones.

The short was not only big for the Daffy and Porky dynamic, but also for Marvin the Martian as well. Marvin made his debut five years prior in Haredevil Hare, and had been only appearing in shorts with Bugs. This was the only time he appeared with Daffy, yet it ended up being his biggest and most notable appearance in the classic era. Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century is an homage to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which was a radio serial and a comic book series for years entering this short. Of course, this review is a tribute of sorts to Gil Girard, who played the titular Buck Rogers on the short-lived series; Girard passed away on December 16, 2025.

The acclaimed short continued on in several different forms over the many, many years. On November 20, 1980, a sequel titled, Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century, aired as part of Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving special. The sequel has Dodgers and his eager, young space cadet on a mission to acquire the rack-and-pinion molecule needed for yo-yo polish. The duo deal with Marvin again, but also have the added obstacle of dealing with Gossamer, the furry red monster who appeared in two Bugs Bunny shorts. The short is available as an extra on the Daffy Duck's Quackbusters DVD, and it's a good one that was part of Looney Tunes' return to TV during that period. I can't help but love Marvin's last line; as he appears during the "That's all folks" ending card, he breaks the fourth wall and says, "Don't worry, folks. After all, it's only a cartoon."

The 1980 sequel was the second and last Duck Dodgers project during Mel Blanc's lifetime; the next time we would see Duck Dodgers was in 1990 during an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures. The segment, titled "Duck Dodgers Jr.," featured Plucky Duck as the cadet working alongside Dodgers, who is voiced by Jeff Bergman. A brief callback was featured in the 1996 short, Superior Duck, which has Daffy as the titular superhero, but did briefly feature Porky and Marvin in their Duck Dodgers alternate roles.

2003 was a big year for Daffy Duck's alter-ego. In August of that year, the Duck Dodgers TV series premiered on Cartoon Network, usually airing on Saturdays right before the afternoon starts. The intro, which features the theme sung by the iconic Tom Jones, features how Daffy ended up as Duck Dodgers; he was cryogenically frozen for four centuries and thawed out, leading to Daffy becoming Duck Dodgers. The usual suspects are back; Porky as the eager, young space cadet, Dr. I.Q. Hi as the superior, and Marvin as the Martian Commander. Regarding the voice cast, Bob Bergen provided Porky's voice, as he has done for at least a quarter-century. Regarding Duck Dodgers, he was voiced by the late, great Joe Alaskey, who also voiced Marvin, and previously voiced Plucky Duck on Tiny Toons.

The Duck Dodgers alter-ego briefly appeared in the climax of the 2003 film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, when Daffy took on the persona to save Bugs from Marvin. In the film, Alaskey not only voiced Daffy and Marvin, but also Bugs and Sylvester as well. The most recent Duck Dodgers appearance came in the 2004 short, Attack of the Drones, with Jeff Glen Bennett voicing Dodgers, though in this short, he was working on his own.

Without question, Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century remains one of the greatest Looney Tunes shorts of all time. I absolutely love the short; it's hilarious, it's thrilling, and the sci-fi element is captivating. Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century is on all sorts of DVDs, but the main one is the Looney Tunes Golden Collection; it's the last short on Disc 2 of Volume 1. Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century is an absolute treat to watch for fans of sci-fi, fans of the Looney Tunes, and fans of cartoons overall.