But What About That Buck, Alex?

What cartoon starred a duck that had to deal with a changing background behind him?

Duck Amuck, you say? Well, that’s one answer. But 25 years before it was released, Walter Lantz’s staff pulled the same thing in Happy Scouts.

In this 1938 short, the little duck is terrified that the forest background has become scribbles and notes.



As for deciphering the background, I will defer to Devon Baxter who has looked into the Lantz studio of that era more than I have. I can only guess at who was painting Lantz’s backgrounds then; Fred Brunish was the vice-president of Royal Revues at the time and I don't know where Edgar Kiechle was working.

At the bottom, “Fred” likely refers to Fred Kopietz, who directed this cartoon. I suspect Alex Lovy designed the characters (Oswald the Rabbit was re-designed for this short). At the top, “Ed” is possibly Ed Benedict. “Forkum” could well be Roy Forkum, who was credited on Lantz’s commercial film Boy Meets Dog (1938). You’ll have to guess the identity of “Edna” and why she was being called (Roy Forkum’s wife was named Eileen). And perhaps an animator can explain the diamond-shaped drawing with numbers around it.