The High and the Flighty

The High and the Flighty is a 1955 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon animated short featuring Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, and the Barnyard Dawg. Released in 1956, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson. The title is a parody of the 1954 Warner Brothers film The High and the Mighty starring John Wayne.

Plot
Daffy Duck is a traveling salesman for the Ace Novelty Company of Walla Walla, Washington, when he witnesses Foghorn Leghorn and The Barnyard Dog in one of their familiar alternating scraps. Foghorn is seen awakening the dog by lifting him up by the tail and repeatedly slapping his rear end with a board which causes the dog to chase him. The dog is in pursuit but reaches a painted white line with a sign that reads "Rope Limit" which causes the dog to be jerked to a stop by the rope around his neck. Foghorn then takes a rubber ball and stuffs it in the dog's mouth, then punctures the ball with a needle causing the dog to fly away. As Foghorn leaves he walks past a wooden tower with a sign the reads "Don't Look Up". Foghorn naturally looks and sees the dog perched on the tower holding a watermelon which the dog releases, causing it to break over Foghorn's head. The dog's prank prompts Foghorn to contemplate "massive retaliation" against his nemesis.

Daffy enters with his traveling salesman suitcase of novelty joke items and offers to help Foghorn get back at the dog by selling him a trick bone that is spring-loaded. The prank works and Daffy then intervenes to help the dog retaliate against Foghorn with a gift-wrapped corn-on-the-cob that is connected to an electrical wire. Naturally, Foghorn wants to get back at the dog with an even bigger prank and Daffy sells him something called the Chattanooga Choo-Choo which ends up backfiring on Foghorn. To make up for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Daffy offers to sell Foghorn an elaborate prank called the Pipe Full Of Fun Kit Number 7, which Foghorn purchases. As Foghorn is setting up the trap, he sees the dog setting up the same trap to use against him, and they both realize that Daffy has been playing them against each other (and enriching himself in the process). Foghorn and the dog join forces to go after Daffy, who attempts to flee but is instead victimized by the Pipe Full Of Fun Kit, and Foghorn asks "You know, there might I say there just might be a market for bottled duck.".

Additional Credits

 * Written by: Tedd Pierce
 * Animation: Russ Dyson, Ted Bonnicksen, Keith Darling

Trivia

 * This is one of the few shorts in which Barnyard Dawg gets along with Foghorn Leghorn.
 * Daffy Duck's role as a traveling salesman is similar to his roles in Daffy Dilly (1948), The Stupor Salesman (1948), and Design for Leaving (1954).