A Pest in the House
Encyclopedia
A Pest in the House is a 1947 animated short film directed by Chuck Jones
starring the characters of Daffy Duck
and Elmer Fudd
. The title is an appropriate play on "a guest in the house." Voices are performed by Mel Blanc
The film is notable for featuring a sort of "in-between" interpretation of Daffy. He is not necessarily the zany, impish interpretation used famously by Tex Avery
and Bob Clampett
, nor is he the greedy, self-centered version that Chuck Jones
later popularized in the 1950s. As Paul Dini
said in the DVD
audio commentary
for this cartoon: "[In this cartoon, Daffy] is really kind of almost like a sprite
. He's just a little, almost elf
in creature who's not really out to hurt anybody or has any ill will or malice toward anybody. He's just completely out of his mind."
It was only one of three non-Bugs Bunny
cartoons from 1947 not to be reissued. The others were Catch as Cats Can
and Mexican Joyride
.
The cartoon was followed up in 1948 by Daffy Duck Slept Here
, wherein Daffy (this time as a fellow guest) again doesn't let a hotel patron sleep - in this case Porky Pig
.
. Every time he is awakened again, the increasingly irritated man trudges to his station, to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel
", and at the moment where the song would say "pop", he busts him in the face. Here are the following gags that make the man awake:
When Daffy says it is too cold, he decides to fix the radiator. fearing getting beat up again, chases after Daffy. Daffy makes the heat vibrate to the room. He hears whistling and covers it with several pillows. Daffy, thinking that he is blowing whistles rants to him by saying "So, a fine kettle of fish! Here I work myself down to the skin and bones trying to keep this guy asleep and what do you do? Blow whistles! Just when I got things so quiet you can hear a pin drop, you bust in here and bust out with a whistle and you snafu the whole works! How in the name of all things reasonable do you expect a guy to get his slumber when a goof like you goes around making noises like a one-man 4th of July
celebration?! He needs peace and quiet! It's positively outrageous!". His screaming obviously wakes the man, so he hurries downstairs and he and Daffy switch places through a promotion in an effort to fool the man. Unfortunately he gets hurt anyway. Daffy concludes the cartoon with another Jerry Colonna-like aside: "Noisy little character, isn't he!"
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
starring the characters of Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
and Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
. The title is an appropriate play on "a guest in the house." Voices are performed by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
The film is notable for featuring a sort of "in-between" interpretation of Daffy. He is not necessarily the zany, impish interpretation used famously by Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
and Bob Clampett
Bob Clampett
Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil...
, nor is he the greedy, self-centered version that Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
later popularized in the 1950s. As Paul Dini
Paul Dini
Paul Dini is an American writer and producer who works in the television and comic book industries. He is best known as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros./DC Comics animated series, including Star Wars: Ewoks, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated...
said in the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
for this cartoon: "[In this cartoon, Daffy] is really kind of almost like a sprite
Sprite (creature)
The term sprite is a broad term referring to a number of preternatural legendary creatures. The term is generally used in reference to elf-like creatures, including fairies, and similar beings , but can also signify various spiritual beings, including ghosts. In Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books,...
. He's just a little, almost elf
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
in creature who's not really out to hurt anybody or has any ill will or malice toward anybody. He's just completely out of his mind."
It was only one of three non-Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
cartoons from 1947 not to be reissued. The others were Catch as Cats Can
Catch as Cats Can
Catch as Cats Can is a 1947 animated cartoon featuring caricatures of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby as birds, and a cat that resembles Sylvester the Cat.It was only one of three non-Bugs Bunny cartoons from 1947 not to be reissued...
and Mexican Joyride
Mexican Joyride
Mexican Joyride is a Looney Tunes cartoon starring Daffy Duck. It was directed by Arthur Davis. It was only one of three non-Bugs Bunny cartoons from 1947 not to be reissued...
.
The cartoon was followed up in 1948 by Daffy Duck Slept Here
Daffy Duck Slept Here
Daffy Duck Slept Here is a 1948 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Robert McKimson, starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. All voices are by Mel Blanc...
, wherein Daffy (this time as a fellow guest) again doesn't let a hotel patron sleep - in this case Porky Pig
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
.
Synopsis
The cartoon starts with a brief narration (Blanc, in his natural voice) describing a labor shortage that "became so bad" that compels employers to hire "anybody or anything". Daffy (also voiced by Blanc) is a hotel bellboy and Elmer Fudd (voiced by Bryan) is the manager. A tired man (also Bryan, in his natural voice) demands peace and quiet, and threatens violence against Elmer if disturbed ("Just one more thing. I'm a tired man. I gotta have my sleep, plenty of it. So see to it that I get lots of peace and quiet. Because if I'm disturbed at any time, I'm gonna bust you right in the nose!"). Daffy, in a Jerry Colonna-like, sarcastic aside to the audience, remarks: "Likable chap, isn't he!" Daffy does many stunts that keep the man awake, complete with escorting him to room 666Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
. Every time he is awakened again, the increasingly irritated man trudges to his station, to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel
Pop Goes the Weasel
"Pop! Goes the Weasel" is an English language nursery rhyme and singing game. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 5249.-Lyrics:There are many different versions of the lyrics to the song...
", and at the moment where the song would say "pop", he busts him in the face. Here are the following gags that make the man awake:
- Daffy pounds a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and wakes the exhausted man up, and when the man opens the door, Daffy accidentally pounds his face.
- Daffy opens a window which releases a loud gail which frightens the man to the ceiling, and when Daffy leaves the room, the man comes down, closes it and retuns to his sleep, and a drunken man in the other room sings "How Dry I Am". Just when he was going to beat the drunk, Daffy says that he'll "muzzle that inebriated canary", only for the naive duck to get drunk and sing along.
- Daffy is singing and cleaning a window and finds a small speck and the scratching wakes the man. He calls him by telephone and punches him through the phone!
- Daffy hears a funny story and wakes the man to tell the story and the man nonchalantly walks down with Elmer protecting himself with a knight's helmet only for the man to punch him. Then, it is revealed that Daffy doesn't even remember how his joke ends, but still laughs, and then the manger comes in and orders Daffy to be quiet, only for the manager to be beaten.
When Daffy says it is too cold, he decides to fix the radiator. fearing getting beat up again, chases after Daffy. Daffy makes the heat vibrate to the room. He hears whistling and covers it with several pillows. Daffy, thinking that he is blowing whistles rants to him by saying "So, a fine kettle of fish! Here I work myself down to the skin and bones trying to keep this guy asleep and what do you do? Blow whistles! Just when I got things so quiet you can hear a pin drop, you bust in here and bust out with a whistle and you snafu the whole works! How in the name of all things reasonable do you expect a guy to get his slumber when a goof like you goes around making noises like a one-man 4th of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
celebration?! He needs peace and quiet! It's positively outrageous!". His screaming obviously wakes the man, so he hurries downstairs and he and Daffy switch places through a promotion in an effort to fool the man. Unfortunately he gets hurt anyway. Daffy concludes the cartoon with another Jerry Colonna-like aside: "Noisy little character, isn't he!"
Cast
- Mel BlancMel BlancMelvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
as Daffy DuckDaffy DuckDaffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
, The Narrator, and The Drunken Hotel Guest - Arthur Q. BryanArthur Q. BryanArthur Quirk Bryan was a United States comedian and voice actor, remembered best for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr...
Elmer Fudd and The Tired Bussinessman (uncredited)