DAFFY DUCK IN HOLLYWOOD (1938) Directed by Tex Avery (billed as Fred Avery). Starring Daffy Duck, I. M. Stupendous, Rooster Actor (all voiced by uncredited Mel Blanc), Von Hamburger (voiced by uncredited Herman Bing), Katherine Hepburn Chick (voiced by uncredited Sara Berner). A Merrie Melodies animated feature.
After producer I. M. Stupendous of Wonder Studios refuses Daffy Duck an acting position, Daffy wreaks havoc on the set of a film overseen by director von Hamburger, reportedly a cartoon parody of Josef von Sternberg. Later, in the film room, Daffy begins cutting and pasting together random film clips, switching von Hamburger’s motion picture with his own. Stupendous approves highly of Daffy’s movie; consequently Daffy becomes a director similar in voice and characteristics to von Hamburger.
A Merrie Melodies feature from Warner Bros., Daffy Duck in Hollywood marked the final time Tex Avery supervised a Daffy Duck cartoon. The eight-minute Technicolor animated short also provided Daffy his first solo appearance without the accompaniment of another of Warners’ established animated characters, such as Porky Pig or Egghead. Released to theatres on December 12, 1938, Daffy Duck in Hollywood featured, as part of Daffy’s mad movie, the title card of Gold Is Where You Find It, albeit underscored with substituted music, rather than Max Steiner’s original stirring score. Having debuted earlier in February 1938, Gold Is Where You Find It, which starred Claude Rains, Olivia de Havilland, and George Brent, was Warner Bros.’ second feature film, after 1937’s God’s Country and the Woman, to be photographed in the improved three-strip Technicolor process; select Merrie Melodies animated shorts had been produced in colour