Muscle Tussle

Muscle Tussle is a 1953 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short directed by Robert McKimson.[1] The cartoon was released on April 18, 1953 and stars Daffy Duck.[2]

Muscle Tussle
Directed by	Robert McKimson
Produced by	Edward Selzer (uncredited)
Story by	Tedd Pierce
Starring	Mel Blanc Gladys Holland (uncredited)
Music by	Carl Stalling
Edited by	Treg Brown (uncredited)
Animation by	Rod Scribner Phil DeLara Charles McKimson Herman Cohen Keith Darling (uncredited)
Layouts by	Robert Givens
Backgrounds by	Carlos Manriquez
Color process	Technicolor
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	April 18, 1953
Running time	7:00
Language	English

Synopsis

Daffy goes to the beach with his girlfriend Melissa (voiced by an uncredited Gladys Holland), and prepares to take her picture. While posing, she sees a muscle-bound duck and turns her attention toward him. Daffy gets upset and scolds the muscle-bound duck (a soft-spoken yet still arrogant fellow) for “tryin' to muscle in on [his] chick”. He replies that he'll bob Daffy so hard he'll have to open his vest to eat if he says one more word. Daffy takes the threat as a joke, and the muscle-bound duck proceeds to hit Daffy so hard that his head sinks into his stomach. In a daze, Daffy orders "One cheeseburger, hold the onions". Melissa encourages Daffy to fight back, but he backs down in fear of another beating. Disgusted by his cowardice, Melissa goes off with the muscle-bound duck and bids Daffy farewell, calling him a "scrawny little nine pound weakling" which offends Daffy as he considers himself a "scrawny little ten pound weakling." A glad-handed traveling salesman who happens to be nearby overhears the whole thing and sells Daffy some muscle tonic to help him win back his girl, which he thinks has made him as strong as the muscle-bound duck. Daffy repeatedly falls short in his attempts to demonstrate his strength, but through a fluke (and one of the salesman's props, a "five thousand-pound" barbell), manages to dispatch his rival in the end. The muscle-bound duck lifts the "barbell" which sends him rocketing thousands of feet into the air. When he plummets back to Earth and takes on a squatted down form from the impact, he tells the couple "You all can call me shorty!", and waddles off. The couple then leaves the beach, with Melissa saying she likes her man “tall, dark and gruesome”, which describes Daffy all over.

Censorship

• The ABC version of this cartoon cuts the part where the big, muscular duck pounds Daffy's head into his shirt.

References

1. Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 247. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
2. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.

External links

• Muscle Tussle at IMDb