Aqua Duck

{{Infobox film

|name=Aqua Duck

|director=Robert McKimson

|layout_artist=Robert Gribbroek

|background_artist=Robert Gribbroek

|animator=Ted Bonnicksen
Warren Batchelder
George Grandpre'
Keith Darling

|story=John Dunn

|starring=Mel Blanc

|music=Bill Lava

|producer=David H. DePatie

|distributor=Warner Bros.

|released={{Film date|1963|09|28|US}}

|color_process=Technicolor

|runtime=6 min.

|language=English

}}

Aqua Duck is a 1963 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert McKimson and written by John Dunn.{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=344}} The short was released on September 28, 1963, and stars Daffy Duck.{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |accessdate=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/60/mode/2up |pages=60–62}}

Plot

Daffy is wandering across a Dalí-style desert. Under the broiling sun, he is suffering from hyperthermia and dehydration. He seeks water, but finds a gold nugget instead. A pack rat wants to give him water in exchange for the gold, but Daffy refuses to trade.

The desert heat and his thirst take a toll on Daffy's sanity, as he begins imagining that he is in a bar, in a hotel, playing baseball, waiting for the bus, and dancing with a cactus. Finally, Daffy becomes so severely dehydrated that he turns to dust and agrees to surrender the gold after the rat restores him with a drop of water.

As he takes a glass of water, a storm swamps him in a flood. For the closing line, he says, "One thing's for sure, when I buy water, I sure get my money's worth!"

Voice cast

Mel Blanc as Daffy Duck

Reception

Leonard Maltin, writing in Of Mice and Magic, considered this film a low point among Daffy Duck cartoons.Leonard Maltin, Of Mice and Magic (1987), p. 275. Charles Gardner found John Dunn's story creditable but was disappointed with the animation, direction and voice characterization.{{cite web | url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/unpredictable-as-weather-part-31/ | title=Unpredictable as Weather (Part 31) | | access-date=2024-12-22 | archive-date=2024-08-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807161201/https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/unpredictable-as-weather-part-31/ | url-status=live }} The Daffy on Video page gives Aqua Duck one star out of four, finding its execution "cheap and lazy."http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/daffy/1960s.htm#aquaduck {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241214060508/http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/daffy/1960s.htm#aquaduck |date=2024-12-14 }} Daffy on Video - The 1960s and Beyond