Gangster Hideout

A streetcar carries Duck Twacy to the gangster hideout in The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946). Neon signs and search lights give him some directions. A quick pan across a background shows the hideout is so close, the signs and lights aren’t necessary.

Here is the scene snipped together.



Phil De Guard is the background artist in this cartoon. Layouts are by Tom McKimson.

This wild effort of the Bob Clampett unit was officially released July 27, 1946 but, as usual, it appeared on screens before then. At one theatre in Burlington, North Carolina, it was shown starting the 23rd, as advertised in the local newspaper. What’s funny about the ad is it leaves the impression Porky Pig is the star of the cartoon. He’s not. He appears in disguise in two scenes taking up less than 10 seconds.

The Showmen’s Trade Review rated the cartoon “Good” and gave as a summary: “Daffy Duck, who follows Dick Tracy with great avidity, decides to look into the mystery of the stolen piggy banks. After many horrifying encounters with macabre characters and animals like you’ve never seen before, he locates the banks in a cave. It is all a dream, but don’t worry—Daffy is as Daffy as ever. Good anywhere, although there is some doubt about it for over-impressionable children.

This was the second-last Clampett cartoon at Warners. He got through part of Bacall to Arms and left the studio. Whether he quit or was fired is something only Dick Tracy could solve.