One after another of a company of carrier pigeons fall prey to the seductive wiles of "Queen of the Spies" Hatta Mari (a play on Mata Hari). The alarm is raised at pigeon headquarters when pigeon 13 goes AWOL with the female Nazi spy bird, to whom he reveals all his secrets (after she plies him with a mickey). Self-described woman-hater Daffy volunteers for the next mission. She tries to seduce him by hiking up her skirt to reveal her shapely leg and kissing him full on the bill twice. The first kiss electrocutes Daffy and melts him like butter, but the second kiss electrocutes Hatta Mari having the same effect on her. Daffy eventually resists her charms. He has to swallow his secret message when the temptress corners him as well. After a frenetic battle at slinky Mari's pad, she x-rays Daffy and broadcasts the secret ("Hitler is a stinker") to Hitler. Goebbels and Goering have to shoot themselves in the head after agreeing with it.
Gallery[]
Lobby Cards[]
Screencaps[]
Cultural references[]
According to DVD commentary on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4, Hatta Mari's blond hair and cartoonishly top-heavy body figure would later become a reality in the 1950s with actress and sex symbol Jayne Mansfield (who, in turn, was one of many inspirations for Who Framed Roger Rabbit's femme fatale, Jessica Rabbit).
The quote "Something new has been added" was a catchphrase by Jerry Colonna and a slogan for Old Gold cigarettes.
Censorship[]
The ending when Hitler's henchmen agree with the "military secret" that Hitler is a stinker cuts to Daffy saying "They lose more Nutzis that way!" to remove the part where the henchmen shoot themselves in the head when shown on Cartoon Network and TNT.[1]
It should be noted that, despite editing that scene from the short proper, Cartoon Network once showed a clip of the offending part on the animation history anthology show ToonHeads, on an episode centered on World War II cartoons. It was featured in a montage near the end, where narrator Leslie Fram explains that a lot of the outdated references and outrageously offensive stereotypes of Germans, Italians, and Japanese people have prevented a lot of wartime cartoons from being shown on TV and, in some cases, distributed on home video (and those that do are usually edited to remove them, especially on television airings).
Notes[]
The cartoon still uses WARNER BROS. on opening titles. This is also the first cartoon to have Daffy's face on the opening titles without Porky. The drum ending has produced by WARNER BROS. CARTOONS INC. still with the released by WARNER BROS. PICTURES INC. on the bottom. Out of eight cartoons that have the credit PRODUCED BY WARNER BROS. CARTOONS INC., four are Looney Tunes and three were given Blue Ribbon reissues. Plane Daffy is the only Looney Tunes cartoon of the four (Odor-able Kitty, Booby Hatched, and The Stupid Cupid) to survive with the PRODUCED BY WARNER BROS. CARTOONS credits as it was not reissued.
The European dubbed version has A WARNER BROS. CARTOON instead of PRODUCED BY WARNER BROS. CARTOONS as they only wanted to produce three types of versions, the Looney Tunes rings 1947-48, the Leon Schlesinger drum ending, and the 1944-46 drum ending. It is unknown if a USA dubbed version exists.
Availability[]
VHS, Laserdisc - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons
Laserdisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes: Vol. 2, Side 3: Frank Tashlin
DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4, Disc 2