Speedy Ghost to Town
| Speedy Ghost to Town | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Daffy Duck/Speedy Gonzales) series | |
| Directed by | Alex Lovy |
| Produced by | William L. Hendricks |
| Story by | Cal Howard |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | William Lava |
| Animation by |
Volus Jones Ed Solomon Ted Bonnicksen LaVerne Harding |
| Layouts by |
David Hanan Lin Larsen |
| Backgrounds by | Bob Abrams |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | 1967 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 6' |
| Language | English |
Speedy Ghost to Town is a Merrie Melodies 1967 animated short starring Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales. It is the first cartoon released under the newly reopened Warner Bros. Animation department, as from 1963 to 1967, all Looney Tunes cartoons were developed at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Format Films instead. It is also the first Looney Tunes cartoon to be directed by Alex Lovy.
The cartoons are more simplified by this time (a drastic departure of the cartoons created from the studio's heyday), with animation similar to Filmation and Hanna-Barbera, simplistic backgrounds and character designs, and a more limited sound effects library (including some of Hanna-Barbera's familiar stock sounds). The studio would approach a similar style again 35 years later with What's New, Scooby-Doo? (which, ironically, featured characters originally created by Hanna-Barbera.)
Plot
Speedy and his friend Miguel visit a ghost town in the desert, followed by Daffy. There, Speedy unveils what appears to be gold and a map to the location of the mine where more can be found. Daffy notices, and attempts to take the map; he is foiled by getting caught in the piano tape.
Daffy's next attempt involves setting up a phone with explosives. Speedy answers it when it rings, but quickly hands it to Daffy, saying he has a call; his plan backfires as he is blown up. Speedy teases him, "What's the matter, epa loco? You got the wrong number?" He takes off, Daffy in hot pursuit. Daffy finds him in a barrel, and throws a grenade in; however, he accidentally throws the pin, and not the actual grenade.
He then sticks his head through a hole in the fence, catching Speedy by the tail, but Miguel drops a horseshoe on him. Further antics ensue, including Daffy having a taxidermy bull head fall on him like a mask and Speedy (taking advantage of Daffy's appearance) acting as a matador, and Speedy hiding behind different-shaped bottles, only to get catsup in his eye on the last. Speedy and Miguel head to the mine, where Daffy repeatedly tries to throw dynamite in, to blow them up; it eventually blows up right next to him.
Daffy then demands that Speedy give up the cart, which he does. However, it is not gold, but cheese! Daffy then really does go crazy, bouncing away with confusion. When Miguel asks what the matter is, Speedy shrugs, "I dunno. I guess maybe he don't like cheese."