Dodgers undertakes a perilous journey to Planet X, where a powerful alien
force awaits.
Daffy Duck as Duck Dodgers.
Sub-genre: Intrigue
G5 rating: Second-favorite thing in the universe
Original air year: 1953
Story by Michael Maltese
Directed by Chuck Jones
- Shaving cream is made using Alludium Phosdex.
- Earth has used up valuable natural resources and must look elsewhere
in the universe for certain mineral needs.
- How are people able to breathe at an altitude of approximately 32 miles
(17,000 stories)?
- How did Marvin Martian manage to land on Planet X immediately after
Dodgers did? Has Mars run out of Alludium Phosdex as well?
- What biological function is responsible for the glow emanated by Dodgers
when he shouts out his name?
- Are Duck Dodgers and the infamous Sinclair's Duck one and the same?
- Was the actual matter of Planet X destroyed, or was its mineral content
dispersed throughout the galaxy, where it might be found at some future
date?
- How do Duck Dodgers, Porky, and Marvin, ever leave the remains of the
planet?
- When Dodgers falls several stories during the first act, he suffers only
minor injuries. Perhaps Dodgers, by being DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24-1/2TH
CENTURY, has powers greater than the average mortal. Further evidence
corroborates this when it is considered that Dodgers survives several
lethal blasts, including one that decimates an entire planet.
- Marvin Martian's ship, the "Martian Maggot" looks suspiciously like a
Vorlon cruiser. And yet, Ambassador Kosh is suspected to actually be
Duck Dodgers. So perhaps The Martian Maggot was actually stolen
Vorlon technology.
- Duck Dodgers, representing the Earth Alliance, and Marvin Martian,
representing Mars, do seem to share a great deal of technology. (Both
sides use machines with brand names such as "A-1" and "Acme" and have
similarly designed secret weapons.) It is thus logical that this
storyline takes place after "A Voice in the Wilderness," in which the
Mars colony secedes from Earth. However, this conflicts with the
timeline in "Midnight on the Firing Line" in which Garibaldi and
Delenn view this episode, several episodes before the
revolution on Mars. Perhaps they just weren't paying attention to
the signs and portents of an upcoming Mars revolution.
- JMS has stated that there is no Trek-like "transporter" technology in
the B5 universe; however, Dodgers uses the Evaporator to transport
himself to the airport. This may be an inconsistency in the B5 setting.
- It is reasonable to assume that the "unknown" area displayed by Dr. I.Q.
Hi is equivalent to "the rim" (of known space) that the Icarus had been
exploring when Sheridan's wife dissapeared (c.f. "In the Shadow of
Z'ha'dum"). Could Planet X be near Z'ha'dum, or perhaps be controlled
by the Shadows? Its markings indicate a long-dead civilization, perhaps
one of the oldest civilizations in the Galaxy.
- This is the only Babylon 5 episode to be entirely animated, and using
absolutely no CGI for special effects. Considering how well
the episode turned out, Ron Thornton may have to start working on his
resume.
- This episode features no regular B5 cast members. (Except, perhaps,
Kosh.)
- Though the character's name is common knowledge, the name Marvin Martian
is not actually uttered on-screen.
- Strangely, this episode was broadcast before the birth of
JMS. How this happened is not clear, but it's probably just one of
those things.
- I *love* "Duck Dodgers." I have virtually all of the WB cartoons on
tape or disk, and from where I sit, that's wonderful stuff that'll
be around for a long, long time. No omens, just something I thought
would be fun. (Again, connecting past/present/future, sort of our B5
theme.)
- I don't understand...what does Sinclair's duck have to do with
anything? We weren't even planning on introducing the duck until late
in season two. I suspect a leak. Nothing worse than a leaky duck.
- "How did Sinclair's duck thing get started?"
Probably by watching an attractive woman walk across the room.
- Me, I'm just waiting for somebody to refer to "The Long Dark" as "The
Long Duck"....
- It's a duck. Yes, why, of course it's a ducky. Why would I think
anything else? What a silly question.
It's a duck.
A texture mapped metallic
duck coming out of a jumpgate.
A duck. Of course. A duck.
AAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
(I wanna see it...and I wanna see it now.)
- Of the options you listed, only D poses a real problem; A-C are
more or less okay. The problem comes not so much from speculating on
elements already introduced, as introducing *new* plot elements that
have not been seen in the show to back up speculation or conjecture,
which may or may not approximate what we're doing. "The Minbari
surrendered because in some episode we'll see someday the Earth had
developed a giant killer space duck hidden on the dark side of the
moon that would nibble the Minbari homeworld to destruction." That is
kind of the dividing line between what's safe and not-safe.
