Golden Yeggs
Golden Yeggs is a 1950 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.[1] The cartoon was released on August 5, 1950, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.[2] A forerunner of the Rocky and Mugsy characters appear, with Rocky already in his present-day form.[3]
| Golden Yeggs | |
|---|---|
 The title card of Golden Yeggs. | |
| Directed by | I. Freleng |
| Produced by | Edward Selzer (uncredited) |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Stan Freberg (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Arthur Davis Gerry Chiniquy Ken Champin Virgil Ross Emery Hawkins |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Paul Julian |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 6:51 |
| Language | English |
The story was written by Tedd Pierce and animated by Arthur Davis, Gerry Chiniquy, Ken Champin, Virgil Ross and Emery Hawkins. Paul Julian painted the backgrounds and Hawley Pratt designed the layouts. Mel Blanc provided the voices (except for a goose, voiced by Stan Freberg) and Carl Stalling the music.
"Yegg" is a slang term for a burglar or safecracker. The same play-on-words was used in the title of the 1947 Bugs Bunny cartoon, Easter Yeggs. This cartoon also appeared in the magazine Time Inc. (owned by Time Warner), which would later spun off on June 6, 2014.
Plot
When Porky finds a golden egg in his henhouse, a goose reveals to the audience that he laid it. However, knowing full well what happened to the goose that laid the golden egg (a reference to Aesop's Fables), the goose tells Porky that Daffy is responsible. After reading about how much Daffy is worth, Rocky and his gang strong-arm Porky and 'talk him into' selling the duck to them. They hustle Daffy back to their den where Rocky demands he lay a golden egg. Daffy tries to stall for time, at one point asking for surroundings that would make him more comfortable. Rocky and his henchmen oblige, but when Daffy tries to get out of providing the egg, they shoot him out of the nice pool he has been enjoying and take him back to their hideout.
Daffy is given five minutes to lay the egg, or else. The duck insists on privacy, then tries various ways to escape his predicament, but is stopped at every turn. When time runs out, Rocky fires his gun at Daffy's head. The extreme stress results in him actually laying a golden egg.
Relieved he is now free to go, Daffy prances toward the door. Rocky holds him up, points into a room containing dozens of empty egg crates and orders the duck to fill them. Daffy groans, "Oh, my achin' back" and faints.
Alternative Ending
When this cartoon was used in The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, a new ending was used. Instead of Daffy fainting, Bugs Bunny, alias Elegant Mess (a parody of Eliot Ness), arrives with the police to bust Rocky and his gang. At the same time, Daffy tiredly carries out Rocky's orders. Naturally, Rocky and his gang are arrested. Daffy is taken to a hospital on a stretcher. Bugs asks Daffy if he needs anything and Daffy requests a proctologist, immediately.
References
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 213. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. p. 122. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.