"Nasty Quacks" is a 1945 Merrie Melodies starring Daffy Duck and directed by Frank Tashlin (though because of Tashlin's departure, this cartoon is uncredited), being the final Daffy cartoon he directed.
Once upon a time, a father gave his daughter, Agnes, a cute baby black duck, and everybody was happy. Over the months, the little duckling rapidly grew up (with him telling the narration he was going too fast). Eventually, the little black duck, Daffy, became like part of the family, but his grating personality drives the father crazy to the point that he's determined to get rid of him, but due to Agnes protecting the duck, he's forced to use subtle methods. However, Daffy manages to outsmart him at every turn. Eventually, the father finally comes up with the idea to get his daughter a new baby duck, which Agnes fawns over in place of Daffy, leaving the father free to toss the duck out. Daffy attempts to get rid of the interloper, but can't bring himself to hurt a child, so he decides to feed the duckling vitamins to make it grow into a big duck that he can kill. This ends up leading to a surprising ending for everyone.
"Nasty Quacks" provides examples of:
- Babies Ever After: Agnes' father is happy that he finally got rid of Daffy, only to come down and find that Daffy and the new duck have hooked up and had lots of ducklings.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall:
- Daffy in response to the Exploding Calendar.
- After Daffy breaks down sobbing over how he can't go through with harming a baby duckling, the little one looks at us.Duckling: I like him. He's silly.
- After seeing the results of force feeding vitamins, Daffy looks at us and shrugs in surprise.
- Didn't Think This Through: Agnes' father didn't seem to consider that trying to get rid of Daffy by replacing him with another duck may just cause further problems. In this case, Daffy and the new duck having ducklings.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Agnes' father realizes the perfect way to get rid of Daffy: by giving Agnes a new baby duck.
- Exploding Calendar: Daffy is shown growing up to one of this. When he ends up bumping his head on the top of screen, he quips "You're going too fast, ya crazy!".
- Improvised Weapon: Daffy and Agnes' father have a fencing match with knifes.
- Late to the Realization: During one of the times Daffy tells a story of his wild escapades.Daffy: One guy was swingin' from a chandelier! Ha-ha! You'd of thought he was a monkey! Ha-ha! Come to think of it, he was a monkey!
- Misplaced Retribution: After Agnes' father throws him out after giving her a new baby duckling, rather than blame him, Daffy holds the duckling responsible for being thrown out and sets out to eliminate the competition.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Daffy gives off a nervous smile when he realizes that he no longer has Agnes to shield him from her father due to her new baby duckling.
- Agnes's father's reaction to seeing Daffy is not only back, but has a bunch of ducklings that act that same way he does.
- Off with His Head!: When Agnes' father swings an axe at him, Daffy initially looks headless, but it turns out he had ducked into his neck.
- Samus Is a Girl: Initially, the baby duckling was thought to be a boy, but after Daffy forcefed it a bottle of vitamins to make it grow up, it's revealed to be a girl.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Parodied. After realizing the father doesn't want him around, Daffy decides to leave, only to come back saying the government doesn't want any unnecessary traveling.
- Staircase Tumble: The father experiences this at one point due to Daffy kicking him down the stairs.
- Sweet Tooth: Daffy puts spoonful after spoonful of sugar in his coffee, but then he tastes it and cringes. He then adds one more spoonful and now it's just right.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Agnes' father tries to put poison in Daffy's drink, but Daffy switches glasses when he wasn't looking. One drink and smoke starts coming out of the father's ears.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: No longer a cute baby duckling, Daffy is a loud, obnoxious duck, and ends up taking all the food and drink. The narrator observes he's part of the family, but the father clearly doesn't see it that way. He wants nothing more than to get rid of Daffy, but he has to put up with him because of Agnes.
- There Was a Door: When Agnes' father runs to the bathroom for water in response to the above mentioned Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo, Daffy closes the door on him, resulting in the father smashing through the door.
- Tomboyish Voice: The new duckling's lone line of dialogue has her deliver the line with a fairly raspy voice.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When Daffy was a little duckling, he was cute and adorable, but he eventually grew up into the crazy, rude, wise-cracker we all know, with his antics driving Agnes' father crazy.
- Wartime Cartoon: Although World War II had been over for about three months by the time of the cartoon's release, at one point, Daffy puts on a military uniform and starts leaving. He returns immediately, explaining that "The government doesn't want us to do any unnecessary traveling."
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Daffy tries to kill the baby duckling, but he breaks down and refuses to go through with it. He decides to give it growth vitamins so he can kill a duck his size. It turns out to be female; the cartoon ends with him and the lady duck hooking up and having ducklings, to the father's horror.
