The Iceman Ducketh is a 1964 Looney Tunes theatrical short directed by Phil Monroe and Maurice Noble, starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
In a trading post in the Klondike, Daffy learns that they are trading animal furs for cash. Ever eager to get rich quick, even as late in the season as it is, he decides to go off and relieve Bugs of his soft pelt. However, between the winter snowfall, Bugs' usual quick wits, and an irate bear, Daffy has a bad time trying to get Bugs' fur.
Chuck Jones was originally going to direct this cartoon, but he was fired from the studio early into production for violating his contract by moonlighting on UPA's Gay Purr-ee. Nevertheless, Jones' influence is evident, since longtime members of his team are credited with creating this short.
Tropes:
- Angrish: Daffy mutters in this way when trying to pull Bugs' carrot out of his gun barrel: "Dirtyratsenfratsencrabblefratijun..."
- He gripes the same way again at the end while shivering from the cold as he is trapped in a tree.
- AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: This exchange when Daffy first meets Bugs:Bugs: Do I understand that you bear some sort of antipathy toward me?
Daffy: Anti-PATH-y nothin'! I'm after that fur coat! - Bears Are Bad News: A Running Gag in this involves Daffy running afoul of a grizzly bear he has disturbed from its hibernation. The short ends with Daffy trapped in a tree by not just one, but several bears.
- Bowdlerization: The FOX and syndicated versions of The Merrie Melodies Show and the now-defunct WB network censored two scenes, both of which show Daffy getting shot by his own gun. The first is when Daffy tries to pull Bugs' carrot out of his gun barrel after Bugs plugs it, and the second is when Daffy, after being doused with water, which freezes into ice, forming a statue, manages to extract himself from the statue and tries to tug the gun away from the statue as well.
- It should be noted that the FOX version did not censor the second scene the same way as the syndicated Merrie Melodies or The WB! FOX cut to the next scene after Bugs calls out to Daffy, "I'll see ya after the spring thaw, pal!", at which time Daffy is still trapped in the ice. The syndicated Merrie Melodies and The WB!, on the other hand, cut to the next scene after Daffy extracts himself from the ice and starts pulling on his gun while saying, "We'll see who has the last laugh around here!"
- Characterization Click Moment: This is the short that gave Daffy the level in jerkass and misfortune he would carry on to his shorts with Speedy Gonzales.
- End of an Age: Not only is this is the final appearance of Bugs and Daffy together during the classic era, but it's also the final appearance of Daffy, period, during this time before he reemerged a short time later during the
Audience-Alienating Era as an antagonist for Speedy Gonzales. - Hair-Trigger Avalanche: At one point, Daffy chases Bugs across a mountainside, where one must keep quiet, as it's an avalanche area. Bugs shushes Daffy and the chase continues on tiptoe. After they tiptoe for some time, Daffy asks softly if it's okay to talk yet. Bugs doesn't hear him (or maybe he pretends not to hear him), so Daffy has to SCREAM the question again in order for Bugs to hear him — and is immediately buried in the inevitable snow that falls on him (but not on Bugs).Bugs: (whispering) No, not yet.
Daffy: (popping his head out of the snow, whispering) Thanks a lot! - Instant Ice: Just Add Cold!:
- Seeing Bugs hiding in a snow-covered tree, Daffy builds a fire around the tree to smoke Bugs out, only for the fire to melt the snow off the tree and rain down on Daffy. The melted snow saturating Daffy immediately freezes into ice, encasing him in an ice statue.
Bugs: (climbing down out of the tree) I'll see ya after the spring thaw, pal!- Bugs also uses this to his advantage as he pours the water out of a bucket. The wall of ice stops Daffy in his tracks.
- No Indoor Voice: On the third try: "IS IT OKAY TO TALK YET?!?"
- Oh, Crap!: How Daffy reacts when he spots a bear.
- Punny Title: The title refers to the 1939 play The Iceman Cometh, written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill.
- Sarcasm Mode: When Daffy gets shot by his own gun in trying to pull Bugs' carrot out the barrel, he sarcastically screams, "OOH, I LOVE HIM!!!"
- Shout-Out: Bugs takes his idea of creating an instant wall of ice by throwing water in the air from a 1958 Colgate commercial
. - "Take That!" Kiss: Bugs plants one on Daffy's forehead before plugging his rifle.
- Through a Face Full of Fur: Near the end of the cartoon, Daffy gets trapped in a tree by several bears. He ends up trapped up in there for so long (the bears, still there this whole time, have gone to sleep) that his whole body, feathers and all, turns a light shade of blue from the wintry chill, shivering as he does.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Daffy is depicted as even more unusually and unnecessarily horrible and more mean-spirited compared to previous Bugs/Daffy pairings, going so far as to actually try to directly kill Bugs himself for his fur (as opposed to trying to get others to kill him for the duck's own benefit). This cartoon also acts as a bit of Foreshadowing: after the Warners cartoon studio shut down later in the year, Daffy's more extremely unlikable side from this cartoon would be exaggerated further in his later appearances, when he became an antagonist to Speedy Gonzales.
