Duck Dodgers (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The show's theme song, arranged by the Flaming Lips, is sung by Tom Jones in a style reminiscent of the theme from the James Bond film Thunderball.
• Duck Dodgers once played a caricature of Tom Jones, who was his singing voice in the second-season episode 'Talent Show A Go-Go', singing 'It's Not Unusual'.
• The complete series was released on Blu-ray on March 28, 2023, including the original 1953 short Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century as a bonus feature.

Concept

The series is primarily based on the original Duck Dodgers short set in roughly 2318 AD, but also takes visual and thematic cues from other Looney Tunes shorts. Characters appear adapted to the show's universe: Yosemite Sam becomes K'chutha Sa'am, a parody of Klingons; Elmer Fudd becomes The Fudd, a parasitic mind-altering alien disease; and Wile E. Coyote appears as a Predator-like alien hunter. Other characters appear in 24½th Century forms and aliases.

Accolades

The series earned a 2004 Annie Award for its music, composed by Robert J. Kral. It also received Emmy nominations in 2004 and 2005 for sound editing and special class animated program, and later won an Emmy for Joe Alaskey’s performance. Production ended after the third season in 2005.

Characters

Duck Dodgers, voiced by Joe Alaskey, is a hapless soul accidentally frozen for over three centuries and revived by Dr. I.Q. Hi in the 24½th century. He is arrogant, lazy, gullible, and not particularly intelligent, though he occasionally displays surprising heroism and competence, usually succeeding through dumb luck and the work of the Eager Young Space Cadet. He cares deeply for the Cadet despite demeaning him. The Eager Young Space Cadet, voiced by Bob Bergen, looks up to Dodgers as a father figure, is utterly loyal, and is much smarter than Dodgers, yet lets him give orders. The Cadet graduated summa cum laude from the Protectorate Academy and is successful with women. Dr. I.Q. Hi, voiced by Richard McGonagle, is the overweight scientist who revived Dodgers; he is serious and hard-working, often frustrated by Dodgers' incompetence, and wears gloves that stretch up his arm leaving a gap between fingertips and glove tips. Captain Star Johnson, voiced by John O'Hurley, is a rival captain in the Galactic Protectorate with a Flash Gordon-like personality, who once took Dodgers to court over incompetence and later freed Mars from a military coup.