Rocket Squad
Encyclopedia
Rocket Squad is a 1956 Warner Bros.
theatrical cartoon
short produced by Eddie Selzer
. It was directed by Chuck Jones
and written by Tedd Pierce
starring Daffy Duck
and Porky Pig
as futuristic space cops who patrol the Milky Way Galaxy. It is a parody of Dragnet.
Rocket Squad appears on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 four-disc DVD box set.
. When will parents learn to keep uranium
out of their children's reach.') in the Big Dipper
area, when they receive a call from the police chief. They return to headquarters and await the police chief's call ('10:52: Back at the old desk, waiting for a call from the Chief. Half a cop's life is spent in waiting. 10:53: the Chief called.'). We then hear Daffy exclaiming that the police chief is asking him to pursue the Flying Saucer Bandit, but see the police chief on his knee's begging and crying for Daffy to take the case. Upon telling the viewer's that he consents to take the case, we see the police chief kissing his feet.
Sgt. Monday and Det. Tuesday then report to the scene of the crime. The crime robots are already there picking up clues to aide Daffy and Porky in their ability to identify the Flying Saucer Bandit. They return to the station with a bag of clues, and empty them into the Univac clue machine, which pops out a music sheet for a piano. The music sheet is placed into a piano, which plays out the song Mother Machree
, identified by Daffy. They proceed to the George 'Mother' Machree file where they begin their pursuit of the Flying Saucer Bandit.
They learn that the Flying Saucer Bandit is at a restaurant ordering a sandwich, to which they hurry because he is known as a 'notoriously fast eater'. Upon arriving, they realize they have missed the bandit, and continue their chase ('1:07: He left the Blast-Inn. 1:08: We arrived at the Blast-Inn. Our deductions later proved that we had missed him by one minute. 1:09: We set out in pursuit.') We see Porky and Daffy in hot pursuit of 'Mother' Machree when they lose him in a smog bank over Los Angeles. Porky points out a smog cloud flying away, when they pull up and tell Machree to come out, to which Daffy informs us he has an elaborate alibi already cooked up ('I didn't do nothing... I didn't do nothing! Like I said, I didn't do nothing!'). This leads into the conclusion of the cartoon in which Daffy and Porky are sentenced to tewnty years in prison for false arrest
(thirty years actually, as Porky state so afterwards).
List of cartoons featuring Porky Pig
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
theatrical cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
short produced by Eddie Selzer
Eddie Selzer
Edward "Eddie" Selzer was an American film producer, most noted for been the producer of Warner Bros. Cartoons from 1944 to 1957....
. It was directed by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
and written by Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce , was an American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at...
starring Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
and Porky Pig
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
as futuristic space cops who patrol the Milky Way Galaxy. It is a parody of Dragnet.
Rocket Squad appears on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 four-disc DVD box set.
Summary
In this futuristic setting, Daffy Duck is Sgt. Joe Monday and narrator of the story. His partner, Det. Schmoe Tuesday (Porky Pig), and himself are returning from a routine investigation of a 712-malicious mischief ('School children blew one of the rings off of SaturnSaturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
. When will parents learn to keep uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
out of their children's reach.') in the Big Dipper
Big Dipper
The Plough, also known as the Big Dipper or the Saptarishi , is an asterism of seven stars that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial...
area, when they receive a call from the police chief. They return to headquarters and await the police chief's call ('10:52: Back at the old desk, waiting for a call from the Chief. Half a cop's life is spent in waiting. 10:53: the Chief called.'). We then hear Daffy exclaiming that the police chief is asking him to pursue the Flying Saucer Bandit, but see the police chief on his knee's begging and crying for Daffy to take the case. Upon telling the viewer's that he consents to take the case, we see the police chief kissing his feet.
Sgt. Monday and Det. Tuesday then report to the scene of the crime. The crime robots are already there picking up clues to aide Daffy and Porky in their ability to identify the Flying Saucer Bandit. They return to the station with a bag of clues, and empty them into the Univac clue machine, which pops out a music sheet for a piano. The music sheet is placed into a piano, which plays out the song Mother Machree
Mother Machree
Mother Machree is a 1928 silent film, directed by John Ford, based on a novel by Rida Johnson Young about a poor Irish immigrant in America. John Wayne had a minor role in the film.-Cast:* Belle Bennett as Mother Machree...
, identified by Daffy. They proceed to the George 'Mother' Machree file where they begin their pursuit of the Flying Saucer Bandit.
They learn that the Flying Saucer Bandit is at a restaurant ordering a sandwich, to which they hurry because he is known as a 'notoriously fast eater'. Upon arriving, they realize they have missed the bandit, and continue their chase ('1:07: He left the Blast-Inn. 1:08: We arrived at the Blast-Inn. Our deductions later proved that we had missed him by one minute. 1:09: We set out in pursuit.') We see Porky and Daffy in hot pursuit of 'Mother' Machree when they lose him in a smog bank over Los Angeles. Porky points out a smog cloud flying away, when they pull up and tell Machree to come out, to which Daffy informs us he has an elaborate alibi already cooked up ('I didn't do nothing... I didn't do nothing! Like I said, I didn't do nothing!'). This leads into the conclusion of the cartoon in which Daffy and Porky are sentenced to tewnty years in prison for false arrest
False arrest
False arrest is a common law tort, where a plaintiff alleges they were held in custody without probable cause, or without an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction...
(thirty years actually, as Porky state so afterwards).
Production details
- This is a futuristic parody of the classic television shows DragnetDragnet (series)Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
and Racket SquadRacket SquadRacket Squad is an American TV crime drama series starring Reed Hadley as Captain John Braddock, a fictional detective working for the San Francisco, California Police Department....
. - Daffy's and Porky's characters first names put together are 'Joe Schmoe' (Sgt. Joe Monday and Det. Schmoe Tuesday ("He always follows me," declares Joe.)
- Much of the imagery, particularly entering the police station and the evaporators, is reused from Jones' previous short, Duck Dodgers in the 24½th CenturyDuck Dodgers in the 24½th CenturyDuck Dodgers in the 24½th Century is a Merrie Melodies cartoon created in 1952 and released on July 25, 1953, starring Daffy Duck as space hero Duck Dodgers, Porky Pig as his assistant, and Marvin the Martian as his opponent...
. - Among the names appearing on the buttons of the Criminal Detecto Set are John Burton Jr., Tedd Pierce, C.M. Jones, Mel Blanc, Norman Moray and Eddie Selzer, all of whom had a hand in the making of the cartoon (Moray was a key executive with The Vitaphone Corporation, Warner Bros'. short-subject division).
- Porky and Daffy losing the Flying Saucer Bandit in a smog bank over Los Angeles is in reference to Los Angeles being considered the Smog Bank Capital of the world in the early to late 1950s.
- This cartoon has been shown (in clips) on the PBS special "Chuck Jones: Extremes and Inbetweens--A Life in Animation" as part of the section about Jones using Porky and Daffy in cartoon shorts that parody popular movie and TV show genres of the era.
See also
List of cartoons featuring Daffy DuckList of cartoons featuring Porky Pig