Rocket Squad


Rocket Squad is a 1956 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on March 10, 1956, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as futuristic space cops who patrol the Milky Way Galaxy.

Plot

In this futuristic setting, Daffy Duck is Sgt. Joe Monday and narrator of the story. His partner, Det. Schmoe Tuesday, and himself are returning from a routine investigation of a 712-malicious mischief in the Big Dipper area, when they receive a call from the police chief. They return to headquarters and await the police chief's call. The police chief is down on his knees as he practically begs Daffy to pursue the Flying Saucer Bandit. Daffy consents to take the case, and the police chief kisses his feet.
Sgt. Monday and Det. Tuesday then report to the scene of the crime. The crime robots are already there picking up clues to aid Daffy and Porky in their ability to identify the Flying Saucer Bandit. They return to the station with a bag of clues, and empty them into the Univac clue machine, which pops out what appears to be a computer punch card. The punch card is loaded into a player piano, which plays out the song "Mother Machree", identified by Daffy. They proceed to the George 'Mother' Machree file where they begin their pursuit of the Flying Saucer Bandit.
They learn that the Flying Saucer Bandit is at a restaurant ordering a sandwich, to which they hurry because he is known as a 'notoriously fast eater'. Upon arriving, they realize they have missed the bandit, and continue their chase. Porky and Daffy are in hot pursuit of 'Mother' Machree when they lose him in a smog bank over Los Angeles. Porky points out a smog cloud flying away, when they pull up and tell Machree to come out, to which Daffy mentions that he has an elaborate alibi already cooked up.
It turns out that Machree is innocent, evident by his confession. Because of this, Daffy and Porky are sentenced by the Ultra Superior Court to twenty years in prison for false arrest.

Production notes

Rocket Squad is a futuristic parody of the television shows Dragnet and Racket Squad.
Daffy and Porky's characters first names put together are 'Joe Schmoe'
Much of the imagery, particularly entering the police station and the evaporators, is reused from Jones' previous short, Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century.
Among the names appearing on the buttons of the Criminal Detector Set are John Burton Jr., Tedd Pierce, C.M. Jones, Mel Blanc, Norman Moray and Eddie Selzer, all of whom had a hand in the making of the cartoon.
Porky and Daffy losing the Flying Saucer Bandit in a smog bank over Los Angeles is in reference to Los Angeles being considered the Smog Bank Capital of the world in the early to late 1950s.
This cartoon has been shown on the PBS special Chuck Jones: Extremes and Inbetweens—A Life in Animation as part of the section about Jones using Porky and Daffy in cartoon shorts that parody popular movie and TV show genres of the era.