"Plane Daffy" is a 1944 Looney Tunes War Time Cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. It stars Daffy Duck, who tries to bring a secret message to the allied headquarters, but has to battle a Femme Fatale Spy.
"Plane Daffy" provides examples of:
- Adolf Hitlarious: In the end the military secret turns out to be "Hitler is a stinker!" To which Hitler exclaims: "That's no military secret!", while Goebbels and Göring agree: "Ja, everybody knows that!" When Hitler gives them an angry look, they both commit suicide.
- America Won World War II: The cartoons depicts the Nazis as defeatable by US forces.
- Artistic License – History: Hatta Mari is based on Mata Hari, who was actually Dutch, and was a spy for World War I, not World War II.
- Bowdlerization: When this short aired on Cartoon Network (on a late-night showing of Bugs and Daffy back in 2003), the end gag where Goerring and Goebbles shoot themselves after the line "Ja, everybody knows that!" was cut.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Near the end, when Goebbels and Göring committed suicide Daffy shouts to the audience: "They lose more darn Nutzis that way!"
- Death Glare: After being insulted Hitler looks at Goebbels and Göring this way.
- Door Roulette: Daffy tries to find the exit, but every door he opens has Hatta Mari about to kill him.
- Electric Love: Daffy gets an electric shock when he gets kissed by Hatta Mari. When she kisses him a second time, however, he manages to resist and she gets shocked instead.
- Everybody Smokes: The pigeons all smoke thousands of cigarettes, worrying about the fate of Pigeon 13. Hatta Mari herself smokes too.
- Eye Pop: Done whenever someone first catches a glimpse of Hatta Mari.
- Femme Fatale Spy: Hatta Mari is so sexy that no other carrier of military secrets has ever managed to withstand her.
- Forceful Kiss: Hatta Mari does this to Daffy twice. The first time he looks at her approaching lips in disgust and tries to pull his head back, only for her to lean in after him and plant her lips against his.
- Gratuitous German: The only actual German line in this cartoon is Hitler saying: "Ah, das ist gut".
- Harmless Electrocution: After being kissed by Daffy the effect is electrifying to Hatta Mari.
- Have a Gay Old Time: The narrator says that the military officers are "usually gay birds, tonight they are grim." Made all the more unintentionally funny by their big grins.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Daffy claims that he can resist Hatta Mari, because he "hates woman". It doesn't stop Hatta Mari from trying to seduce him (and succeeding).
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The first time Hatta Mari kisses Daffy he is electrocuted by it. When she attempts it again, she is suddenly the one electrocuted during it.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Both Pigeon 13 and Hatta Mari manage to miss their target despite being so close to it that it would be impossible.
- Impossible Hourglass Figure: Hatta Mari has a humongous chest and voluptuous hips with a very thin body in between.
- In Vino Veritas: After swearing he won't tell Hatta Mari any military secrets, one mickey later Pigeon 13 starts spilling secrets at a rapid fire pace.
- Lemony Narrator: The narrator serious tone is in sharp contrast with the wacky events that we see.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Hatta Mari manages to get the contents of the secret document after Daffy swallows it by hooking him up to an X-ray and showing it to Hitler. However, the document just has the insult "Hitler is a stinker", making it worthless to the Nazis.
- Metaphoric Metamorphosis: After telling the military secrets while being drunk, Pigeon 13 briefly changes into a jackass.
- Ms. Fanservice: For a pigeon Hatta Mari is very attractively animated and designed.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Hatta Mari is an obvious Expy of Mata Hari. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring are featured in the cartoon.
- Non-Mammalian Hair: Hatta Mari has a full head of golden blonde hair even though she's a pigeon.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Hatta Mari has a bosom, despite being a pigeon.
- Ominous Fog: The Allied headquarters are covered in gloomy mist.
- Propaganda Machine: This cartoon was obviously made for wartime propaganda purposes.
- Pun-Based Title: "Plane Daffy" instead of "plain daffy".
- Rhymes on a Dime: The narrator speaks in verse at the start.At the pigeon flight station, the steering is zero.
Inside are the flyers, every bird a hero.
Usually, gay birds, this night they are grim,
Their cup of sorrow filled to the brim.
No wonder these flyers are feeling blue,
For one of their buddies is long overdue.
He had flown off so gaily, cutting a caper
To fly to the front with an important paper.
That his buddies are worried is really a shame,
Because pigeon 13's AWOL with a dame!
Not doing his duty, 13 relaxes
With a gal who's a spy for the enemy axis.
With slinky grace, she goes for a drink.
Even on ice, this dame would slink.
This sneaky spy plays the game tricky.
13's about to be slipped a Mickey!
13 starts babbling and before he's through,
He told all he knows to you-know-who!
13 comes through with a haunting fear
That he's poured information in an enemy ear!
He suddenly realizes what he's said
And cries, "Duh, I need a hole in my head."
Matta Hari: Now that's an idea, you little souse,
But do it outside. I've just cleaned the house.
Back at the flight station, with an air of gloom,
They reluctantly concede he has met his doom.
The captain turns to his men and cries,
"That's 28 men and 28 tries!
It looks like the work of the queen of the spies!"
In this moment of crisis, out of the ruck,
Steps the squadron woman-hater, Daffy Duck!
Daffy: I'll do the job! I'm a woman hater!
She won't get to first base, this Hatta Mari tomater! - The Scottish Trope: The narrator doesn't mention Hitler's name, but calls him "you know who...".
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Hatta Mari wears one of these.
- Shaking the Rump: When the pigeons are shown a poster of Hatta Mari, the poster shakes as if the drawing of her is shaking its hips.
- Shout-Out:
- Pigeon 13's voice is similar to Mortimer Snerd, a puppet used by Edgar Bergen at the time. His voice was also used for the Looney Tunes character Beaky Buzzard.
- Hatta Mari's voice seems to be a parody of Marlene Dietrich
- When Daffy kisses Hatta Mari back he exclaims: "Aha, something new has been added!", which was the slogan for the "Old Gold" cigarettes commercials.
- Daffy's regret that he has only "one secret to swallow for his country" is a paraphrase of American soldier Nathan Hale who was executed during the American War Of Independence with the sigh: "My only regret is having only one life to give for my country."
- Show Some Leg: Hatta Mari attracts Daffy's attention by just showing her leg outside her home.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: When Daffy initially stops Hatta Mari from stealing his document, swiping it out of her hands, she just tells him "Don't be like that," and plants another kiss on him.
- Simpleton Voice: Pigeon 13's voice sounds very moronic which is intentional since it's based off of Mortimer Snerd.
- Smoking Is Glamorous: Hatta Mari smokes with a cigarette holder.
- Spoonerism: Hatta Mari is a spoonerism of Mata Hari.
- Standard Snippet:
- When Pigeon 13 decides to commit suicide Fryderyk Chopin's "Funeral March" is quoted.
- Stocking Filler: In addition to wearing leggings, a close up shows that Hatta Mari also wears a red garter with the Nazi emblem on it.
- Suicide as Comedy: When the first pigeon realizes he told the military secret to the enemy he decides to shoot himself, though he misses the first time. Near the end Goebbels and Göring also shoot themselves after confirming to Hitler that he is indeed "a stinker."
- Supermodel Strut: Hatta Mari walks in a very provocative way when she goes to get a drink. This does not go unnoticed by the narrator.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Daffy fights off a Nazi spy throughout the majority of the cartoon.
- 13 Is Unlucky: Pigeon 13 accidentally tells the military secret and commits suicide as a result.
- Time Marches On: This cartoon is obviously very dated today.
- War Is Glorious: Daffy fulfills his military mission successfully, despite all the odds.
- War Time Cartoon: Duh!
- Wolf Whistle: The pigeons all let out a wolf whistle when they see Hatta Mari, even when she's just an image on a poster. Daffy does the same while just seeing her leg.
