Daffy Duck
In some respects, Daffy deserves top billing over his arch-rival, Bugs Bunny. Not only does he have seniority over Bugs (his first cartoon being Porky's Duck Hunt (Avery, 1937), coming a few years before A Wild Hare), but the little black duck has demonstrated an amazing range, thanks to the fact that he was directed by a wide variety of WB directors. From the wild hoo-hoo hysteria of Bob Clampett (e.g., The Daffy Doc), the shifty-eyed scheming of Chuck Jones (best exemplified by the so-called Hunters Trilogy, q.v.), and a range of superb Freleng, Tashlin and McKimson cartoons in the middle (and even a few of the better McCabe cartoons), Daffy has proven to be one of the most enduring characters in the WB stable. Avery may have created the character, but it was Clampett who put the character on the map, and each of his colleagues added to the complexity of Daffy.
His sloppy lisp is said to have been based on that of producer Leon Schlesinger, in an act of unusual daring and defiance by the Termite Terrace staff. Schlesinger, legend has it, not only did not recognize the source, but enthused about "the funny voithe."
Daffy Pull
According to Funnyworld No. 17, this was the original title of the Chuck Jones classic Duck Amuck (1953).
Daisy June
One of the tag-lines of the Clem Kaddidlehopper character of Red Skelton (q.v.).
Dalton, Cal
Long-time animator with WB in the 1930s and 1940s, Dalton teamed up with Ben Hardaway as a co-director in the late 1930s, during the period when Friz Freleng left WB for MGM. Dalton's best-known cartoon with Hardaway is Hare-Um Scare-Um (1939), featuring an early version of Bugs Bunny. Dalton also teamed up with Cal Howard to direct two cartoons, Porky's Phoney Express and A Lad In Bagdad (both 1938). Dalton would continue animating for Tashlin, during Tashlin's second directorship, and later for Tashlin's successor Bob McKimson (e.g. Hollywood Canine Canteen (1946)).
Dalton also received story credit for The Sneezing Weasel (Avery, 1938).
Dalton is possibly the Cal referred to in the list of pigeons on the blackboard in Plane Daffy (Tashlin, 1944); Dalton animated for Tashlin during this era, receiving animating credit for Puss n Booty (1943). Dirty Dalton is one of the dogs listed in Bosko's Dog Race (Harman/Ising, 1932).
Dandridge, Vivian
African-American actress, singer and dancer, and sister of Dorothy Dandridge. Dandridge provided the voice (and perhaps was the model as well) for the character So White (labeled Coal Black on some model sheets) in Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs (Clampett, 1943). Her mother Ruby Dandridge also played a character in this film (Queenie); Prince Chawmin was played by Zoot Watson.
Dandridge, Ruby (1900-1987)
African-American actress, mother of Vivian Dandridge. Played the role of Queenie in Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs (Clampett, 1943). She also had notable roles on The Judy Canova Show, Beulah and in a number of films.
Daunch, Bill
Story writer for WB whose sole credit is a co-writing credit with Tedd Pierce for the Gerry Chiniquy cartoon Hawaiian Aye Aye (1964).
Davis, Arthur (fl. 1996)
Longtime journeyman animator who played a long-running role at WB, and even, for a brief while, had the spotlight as a director at WB. Prior to coming to WB with Frank Tashlin (when the latter took over from Norm McCabe), Davis had worked for the Columbia Screen Gems unit, working (among other things) on that studio's long-running Scrappy series. At WB, Davis first worked on a number of Tashlin cartoons; Scrap Happy Daffy and Brother Brat (1943 and 1944) are two of the cartoons for which Davis receives animation credit.
When Robert Clampett left WB in 1945, Davis took over his unit, including a few cartoons already in production (most notably The Goofy Gophers (1947), for which Clampett had already recorded the dialogue). The Davis cartoons may lack the high polish of contemporary Freleng efforts, but Davis, greatly assisted by writers Bill Scott (the future co-creator of Bullwinkle) and Lloyd Turner, turned out a number of solidly funny cartoons, particularly those starring Daffy Duck, such as What Makes Daffy Duck? (1948), whose closing gag of sign-switching for changing hunting seasons may have inspired the so-called Hunters Trilogy of Chuck Jones cartoons. Davis' sole Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bowery Bugs (1949), takes place in New York, where Davis was from, and manages to have Bugs come across very nicely as a rascally con artist duping Steve Brodie and eventually forcing him to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge (Brodie, who was a saloon keeper, was indeed a real-life character of gaslit era of New York who supposedly jumped from the Bridge in one of the most vivid legends of that city, which Davis almost certainly would have been familiar with.)
Davis, alas, fell victim to the cost-cutting that wracked Hollywood after the Paramount decrees broke up the production/distribution/exhibition integration the movie studios like WB had. Davis, the junior man of the four-director rotation, lost his unit, which was broken up. Davis later emerged as one of top animators in the Freleng unit throughout the 50s, and thus helped animate many of the classic Sylvester-Tweety battles. With the coming of the 1960s, and the gradual spreading of director jobs to top unit men, Davis got to direct one last cartoon at WB, Quackodile Tears (1962). After the closure of the WB cartoon studio, Davis did some work with Sid Marcus, with whom he had worked at Screen Gems and WB, on some of the later Woody Woodpecker cartoons for the Lantz studio.
Along with Warren Foster, Davis received story credit for Sandy Claws (Freleng, 1955). Solomon, in discussing Bob McKimson, notes the relative lack of study given to his cartoons, and notes that only Davis is studied less. Too bad; those who do not study the cartoons of Arthur Davis are missing out on some of the most consistently funny and underrated cartoons WB made.
Davis, Bette (1908-1989)
The leading lady of Warner Brothers during the thirties and forties (one nickname for her was "The Fifth Warner Brother") who was noted for having stormy relations with production head Jack Warner. Davis nearly won an Oscar in 1934 on a write-in vote for her role as the nasty waitress in Of Human Bondage, and did win for a less consequential role in the tearjerker Dangerous in 1935. She won another Oscar for her role in Jezebel in 1938, and gave a memorable performance in All About Eve (1950). Davis holds the record for Oscar nominations, according to Katz, with ten. Davis was best known for playing hard-nosed selfish women in a number of tearjerkers.
Davis herself is caricatured wonderfully, reprising her role in The Petrified Forest (1936) with Leslie Howard in She Was An Acrobat's Daughter (Freleng, 1937), and again quite well in Hollywood Daffy (Freleng, 1936). Davis is caricatured in what appears to be her role (opposite Errol Flynn) in The Private Life of Elizabeth and Essex in Malibu Beach Party (Freleng, 1940). Bugs does a tearjerker turn in The Big Snooze (Clampett, 1946), attempting to convince Elmer Fudd not to quit cartoons, briefly pausing to note to the audience that Bette Davis was going to hate him for this. Davis is also seen in The Coo-coo Nut Grove (Freleng, 1936). Daffy attempts to lure Porky away from the cartoon business by dangling the prospect of being leading man opposite Davis in You Ought to Be in Pictures (Freleng, 1940). A table for Davis is reserved at Ciro's (one of the great Hollywood hotspots of the 30s and 40s) in Hollywood Steps Out (Avery, 1941), next to the one for Kate Smith.
Dawes, Warden Lewis (Note: I have seen sources that refer to him as Lawes, not Dawes)
A well-known law enforcement figure of the 30s, Dawes was the author of 20,000 Years In Sing Sing, a book that drew extensively on his career as warden of the infamous Sing Sing prison in New York State. (The book itself is referred to at the end of Speaking of the Weather (Tashlin, 1937), when it is used to trap the villain.)
Warden Paws in Bars and Stripes Forever (Hardaway/Dalton, 1939) is a parody of both Dawes and Hugh Herbert (q.v.).
Deanna Terrapin
Caricature of Deanna Durbin (q.v.) in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937).
de Havilland, Olivia (1916 - fl. 1995)
The sister of actress Joan Fontaine, de Havilland is best known for her roles opposite Errol Flynn (e.g., Adventures of Robin Hood) and her Oscar-nominated roles in Gone With the Wind, Hold Back the Dawn and The Snake Pit. de Havilland was also the actress responsible for the lawsuit that resulted in a landmark decision that set the outside limit of a studio-player contract at seven years, including suspension periods, striking a blow to the old studio system.
de Havilland, or more properly "de Haviwwand," is one of the three guesses made by Elmer Fudd as to who is covering his eyes in A Wild Hare (Avery, 1940).
DeLara, Phil
Animator of the 40s and 50s at WB, principally in the McKimson unit. DeLara also received story credit for Quack Shot (McKimson, 1954).
Detiege, Dave
Story writer for WB starting in the early 1960s. Credits include: Birds of A Father (McKimson, 1961), Compressed Hare (Jones, 1961), Prince Violent (Freleng, 1961), Daffy's Inn Trouble, (McKimson, 1961), The Last Hungry Cat (with John Dunn for Friz Freleng, 1961), Nelly's Folly (with Chuck Jones for Jones, 1961), Wet Hare (McKimson, 1962), Good Noose (McKimson, 1962), and The Million Hare (McKimson, 1963).
Devine, Andy (1905-1977)
Supporting player on the Jack Benny radio program, especially as the deputy to the Buck Benny sheriff character. Devine was a sidekick to Roy Rogers, and had a popular children's program, Andy's Gang, in the late 50s, partly on NBC. (Devine was also an old marine carpenter character in the first season of Flipper in 1964). Devine had a distinctive off-key, raspy, off-kilter voice which was used to advantage is a number of WB cartoons, including:
One of the writers for the Benny show, Milt Josefsberg, notes that the Devine greeting of "Hiya, Buck" (used in the latter three cartoons) became a national catchphrase.
Dick Tracy
Comic strip detective created by Chester Gould who reached the height of his popularity in the thirties and forties, even to the extent of appearing in movie serials. The comic strip was famous for elaborately designed villains, such as Flattop Jones, The Blank or Pruneface (referred to by Bugs in The Old Grey Hare (Clampett, 1944 and Daffy in Porky Pig's Feat (Tashlin, 1943)), whose physiques matched their monikers. Bugs parodies this when, after causing a little accident to Sir Pantsalot of Dropseat Manor in Knights Must Fall (Freleng, 1949), he refers to him as "Accordian Head."
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Clampett, 1946) is the most prominent WB spoof, with Daffy Duck starring as "Duck Twacy" opposite a whole series of goony criminals with names (and physiques) like "Pickle Puss," "Neon Noodle," "Jukebox Jaw," "88 Teeth" [probably based on 88 Keyes, a murderous pianist in the comic strip], "Double Header," "Hammerhead," "Pussycat Puss," "Wolfman," "Rubberhead" [the one who threatens to rub Daffy out, and does], "Pumpkinhead," "The Human Fly," and "Mouseman" (one that apparently got cut from the final script was "The Nostril," who was going to say, "You mugs stay here, I gotta blow!"). In addition, Flattop Jones from the strip makes an appearance, his head being put to punning use as an aircraft carrier (or "flattop").
Other references to Dick Tracy are in Easter Yeggs (McKimson, 1947, with Fudd's Dick Tracy hat), Elmer's Pet Rabbit (Jones, 1941, with Fudd perusing the comics), and Farm Frolics (Clampett, 1941, with the farm dog also perusing the comics).
Doberman
One of the gags in Dog Tales (McKimson, 1958) involves a Doberman pincher (pun). The Doberman is the character Duane Doberman, played by Maurice Gosfield on The Phil Silvers Show.
Dr. Christian
Character on a popular radio show of the 1930s through 1950s, played by Jean Hersholt. The character is parodied in Patient Porky (Clampett, 1940), by a Dr. Chris Chun, a kindly owl.
Dr. Kildare
Popular MGM movie series featuring a crusading, caring doctor. A rather nutso cat in Patient Porky decides to take on this character, posing as Dr. Chilled Air, to operate on Porky; experience, apparently, not being necessary in what passes for his mind.
Dodds Hats
Fifth Avenue hatmaker who made the hat (size 107 1/4) worn by the Giant in Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk (Freleng, 1943). Dobbs was a real-life hat store on Fifth Avenue at this time.
Dodsworth
Even by feline standards, this cat is a lazy, stupid, fat, corrupt slob. He likes to eat, but the notion of work is too much for him (since no one in his lineage has worked for ages). Instead, he relies on a tiny, cross-eyed, airheaded kitten to get either mice or a bird for him, in Kiddin the Kitten and A Peck O Trouble (McKimson, 1952 and 1953, respectively). This is usually done by the means of teaching (ha) the kitten how to do it, usually by the experience method. (Dodsworth himself may be antiheroic, but the cartoons themselves are quite funny.) Beck and Friedwald note that he sounds like Sheldon Leonard; other sources indicate that it was, in fact Leonard who provided the voice.
Does Your Tobacco Taste Different Lately?
Tobacco advertising tag-line used by Friz Freleng twice, once as a closing gag in Herr Meets Hare (1945, when dressed as Joseph Stalin and puffing the trademark Stalin pipe), and again in Baseball Bugs, (1946), where the force of a Bugsian line drive smacks a cigar-smoking outfielder into a billboard showing the slogan. A variation is used in the Mr. Sailor Hook cartoon Tokyo Woes as well.
Don't Ever Do That!
Catchphrase of Joe Penner, usually more drawn out. A classic usage in WB cartoons is in Farm Frolics, when a weasel is startled by the sudden hatching of a clutch of chicks.
Don't Touch That Dial
Some sources have reported that this was the line supposed to be said by the mother pig to her son (?) the baby alligator in Baby Bottleneck (Clampett, 1946) as the critter is about to feed with his siblings. The reference, as well as the reason it was cut, are probably obvious. (The cut itself is quite noticeable.) This may have been a play on the well-known opening to the then-current CBS radio program Blondie, based on the comic strip.
[I/He] Dood it
Catch-phrase of the Red Skelton of character Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid. Usually said just before (or after) some bit of mayhem. Used in such cartoons as Fifth Column Mouse (Freleng, 1943), and, in Skelton-like situations, in Case of the Missing Hare (Jones, 1942), where Bugs, just before pasting Ala Bahma with a pie, says, "If I dood it, I get a whippin. I dood it!" and in The Impatient Patient (McCabe, 1942).
Doolittle, Gen. James (1896-1993)
Daring aviator who came to great public favor as the leader of a daring B-25 bomber plane raid on Tokyo in April, 1942 (immortalized in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo). Porky, while giving directions to outgoing storks in Baby Bottleneck (Clampett, 1946), makes a reference to a "Jimmy Do-Quite-a-Little." (It should also be noted that one gag cut from most prints shown today of The Blitz Wolf (Avery, MGM, 1942) has a gag showing Tokyo getting shelled, with a sign reading "Doolittle Dood It"; the cartoon also shows a newspaper with a reference to the "whippin" line.)
Dougherty, Joe (d. 1978)
The original voice of Porky Pig. Steve Schneider in his book notes that Dougherty was replaced by Blanc, in part because Dougherty could not control his stutter. A rare photo of him can be seen in Funnyworld No. 17. He was also the voice of the stuttering character in Into Your Dance (Freleng, 1935), according to Keith Scott in Animato No. 37.
Drowning
The legend about going down for the third time is used in both Aloha Hooey (Avery/Clampett, 1942) and Fresh Airedale (Jones, 1945). The characters who are going under signal with their fingers the number of times they have come up, and then make a gesture (waving a would-be rescuer to them or waving good-bye, respectively). Cecil Adams, in his book The Straight Dope, indicates that the legend is untrue, and makes a sardonic reference to the showing of the legend in cartoons, noting, "[Scientists] do not, incidentally, watch the cartoons, which are not normally regarded as a source of reliable medical insight."
Duffy's Tavern
Long-running radio show starring Ed Gardner that took place in, naturally, a tavern, where Duffy himself never put in an appearance.
The characters from Duffy's Tavern were spoofed in Hush My Mouse (Jones, 1945), in one of the many examples of borrowing from radio in cartoons. Archie, the Manager, is accurately spoofed down to the malapropisms, as is the character of the half-wit Clifton Finnegan, played by Charlie Cantor on radio. One of the motifs of the program was a visit from a star playing himself, hence the appearance by the Edward G. Robinson-type character. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling was the theme song of the show, and it is used here too, as is the famous opening with Archie speaking on the phone.
Dumbo
Flying elephant in the 1941 Disney feature. Clampett makes sure that the little elephant who is being carried off by one of the buzzards in The Bashful Buzzard (1945) will not be confused with Dumbo, by placing a large sign on the elephant indicating that he is NOT Dumbo.
Dunn, John
Story writer for WB starting in the early 1960s. Credits include: The Pied Piper of Guadalupe (Freleng, 1961), Beep Prepared (with Chuck Jones, 1961), The Last Hungry Cat (with Dave Detiege for Friz Freleng, 1961), Quackodile Tears (with Carl Kohler for Davis, 1962), Bill of Hare (McKimson, 1962), Shishkabugs (Freleng, 1962), I Was A Teenage Thumb, To Beep or Not To Beep, and Now Hear This (with Jones for Jones, 1963), The Unmentionables (Freleng, 1963), Transylvania 6-5000 (Jones, 1963), False Hare (McKimson, 1964), Senorella and the Glass Huarache (Pratt, 1964).
Prior to his work at WB, Dunn had been a writer at the Disney studio. After the WB studio shut down, Dunn worked for DePatie-Freleng, where he wrote The Pink Phink for Friz Freleng, which won an Academy Award.
Durante, Jimmy (1893-1980)
A/k/a Schnozzola, Durante had a long career in vaudeville, radio, Broadway and films. Durante delighted in twisting words into silly malapropisms, and signing in a raspy, gravelly voice. His trademark line was "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are," though "Umbriago" was another well-known catchphrase.
Durante is caricatured on the cover of So Big in Book Revue (Clampett, 1945; it is the nonpareil nose that trips the villain wolf), as one of the roosters auditioning for a job in The Swooner Crooner (Tashlin, 1944, singing Lullabye of Broadway), as "Schnauzer Durante" in Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946), and briefly twice in Hollywood Daffy (Freleng, 1946, once poking out of a dressing room built to accommodate his nose, and ruefully pointing to the bear trap on his foot [which he no doubt got from attempting to get into the Ann Sheridan dressing room shown a second earlier], saying, "Those are the conditions that prevail," and once as imitated by Daffy in an attempt to get by the studio cop at the gate). Sylvester, in Little Red Rodent Hood (Freleng, 1952), gives a Durante-ish "Everybody wants to get into the act" in a gag reprised from Little Red Riding Rabbit (Freleng, 1944), with the ersatz Granmas under the pillow.
Characters based on Durante can be seen in The Gruesome Twosome (Clampett, 1945) as the big-nosed cat, and as a drunken stork in Baby Bottleneck (Clampett, 1946). In the latter cartoon, the stork gives out with an "Umbriago," which is also used in Goldilocks and the Jivin Bears (Freleng, 1944). The boxing coach cat in Hoppy Daze(McKimson, 1961) is probably a Durante take-off, too, since Hoppy closes the cartoon with a Durante &quto;hot-cha-cha-cha."
Durbin, Deanna (1921-fl. 1995)
Youthful singer given credit for saving Universal Studios from bankruptcy in the 1930s with musicals based on her marvelous singing voice and her wholesome sweetness. Durbin is caricatured as "Deanna Terrapin" in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937), and again (singing a soprano solo) in Malibu Beach Party (Freleng, 1940). (The same solo would be used in Back Alley Oproar (Freleng, 1948).)
Duvall, Earl
One of the handful of people brought in to direct cartoons subsequent to the departure of Harman and Ising, and before the advent of Avery, Tashlin, Clampett and Jones. His work for WB is undistinguished, and has largely been forgotten; it only comprises four cartoons. He did have the distinction of directing the first color cartoon, Honeymoon Hotel, in 1934. Duvall has another distinction; when he worked for Disney prior to his tenure at WB, he produced the first Mickey Mouse Sunday comic strip page.