1948 animated short film by Arthur Davis
The Stupor Salesman is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Arthur Davis, and written by Lloyd Turner and Bill Scott.[2] The cartoon was released on November 20, 1948, and stars Daffy Duck.[3]
Plot
Slug McSlug, a cunning canine criminal, pulls off a successful bank robbery using a bump key to gain entry. As he eludes the police, he retreats to his rural hideout. However, his peace is disrupted by the persistent Daffy Duck, a relentless salesman peddling various wares.
Despite McSlug's attempts to rid himself of Daffy, the determined duck continues to intrude, employing unconventional methods to gain entry. With each attempt, Daffy's antics frustrate McSlug, leading to a series of comical confrontations.
As tensions escalate, Daffy's cleverness prevails, ultimately causing McSlug's downfall in a fiery explosion. With McSlug defeated, Daffy revels in his victory, taunting his defeated foe with a triumphant cry.
Reception
Animation historian Mike Mallory writes, "There is not a wasted cel in The Stupor Salesman. At first glance, the story of a bank robber who cannot escape the diabolical persistence of door-to-door salesman Daffy Duck (at his stream-of-consciousness best) sounds like a conventional pest-vs.-threat cartoon, but it is not. The short zooms by with the insistent pacing of the early Warner Bros. gangster films it aggressively parodies. Rarely, if ever, has one seven-minute cartoon burst its seams so thoroughly with inventive sight gags, throwaway jokes, and visual details."[4]
