Design for Leaving

Design for Leaving
Design for Leaving
Directed by	Robert McKimson
Story by	Tedd Pierce
Starring	Mel Blanc; Arthur Q. Bryan
Music by	Carl Stalling
Animation by	Phil DeLara; Charles McKimson; Rod Scribner; Herman Cohen
Layouts by	Bob Givens
Backgrounds by	Richard H. Thomas
Color process	Technicolor
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	March 27, 1954;
Running time	6:38
Language	English

Design for Leaving is a 1954 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short directed by Robert McKimson.^[1] The cartoon was released on March 27, 1954 and stars Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd.^[2] The title is a parody of the Design for Living House, House No. 4 in the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition at the Century of Progress, the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago.

Plot

Daffy Duck is a persuasive salesman from the Acme Future-Antic Push-Button Home of Tomorrow Household Appliance Company, Inc. He barges into Elmer Fudd's home offering a free trial of modern household appliances, but his relentless sales pitch lands Elmer on a bus to Duluth, Minnesota against his will.

Upon Elmer's return, he finds his house transformed into a chaotic maze of malfunctioning gadgets. Despite Elmer's protests, Daffy continues to demonstrate the absurdity of the automated home, leading to comedic disasters like wallpaper removal and window bricking. Elmer finally snaps and demands the removal of the gadgets.

In a twist of fate, Elmer activates a mysterious red button which is revealed to be "in case of tidal wave", triggering a mechanism that elevates his house into the air. Daffy, now the victim of Elmer's revenge, flies by in a helicopter offering a "blue button" solution at a price.

Production notes

Design for Leaving reflects on the traditional door-to-door sales approach reminiscent of the "Yankee Peddler" era, as well as the contemporary direct-selling methods used by companies like Kirby Company vacuum cleaners and Fuller brushes. The film juxtaposes this with the post-World War II trend towards automation and modernization in U.S. homes. Acme's innovations, while two decades ahead of the 1933 Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition, predate The Jetsons (1962) by a decade with its depiction of robot maids and household gadgetry.

Home media

DVD – Looney Tunes Superstars - Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl (widescreen)

References

^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 259. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.