[[quoteright:303:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ScarletPumpernickel_7095.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:303:"And who might '''''you''''' be, [[SpeechImpediment t-t-th]][[AntiquatedLinguistics irrah]]?'']]

->''"Mayhap perchance, foppish that I am, '''I''' might be The Scarlet Pumpernickel?"''
-->--'''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck''', ''"The Scarlet Pumpernickel"''

"The Scarlet Pumpernickel" is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1950]] ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Looney Tunes]]'' short, directed by Creator/ChuckJones and featuring WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, WesternAnimation/PorkyPig, [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Sylvester the Cat]], and "Melissa" (a female duck), with cameos by WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd and Mama Bear from Jones's Three Bears series. Purporting to be Daffy's own film concept (which he is attempting to pitch to [[ShoutOut "J.L."]][[note]]Jack L. Creator/{{Warner|Bros}}[[/note]]), the short is a parody of a typical {{Swashbuckler}} -- including, of course, ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel''[[note]]Pumpernickel is a kind of bread, while the original Pimpernel is a flower.[[/note]]--including [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to [[Film/CaptainBlood Warners' own]] [[Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood swashbuckling]] [[Film/TheSeaHawk hero]] Creator/ErrolFlynn and much {{lampshad|eHanging}}ing and {{subver|tedTrope}}sion of the conventions of the genre.

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!!"The Scarlet Pumpernickel" provides examples of:
* AdaptationalVillainy: Porky play the role of the villainous Chamberlain.
* AnachronismStew: The setting seems to range anywhere from [[TheLateMiddleAges the late 15th Century]] (judging by Melissa's hennin) to the mid 20th Century (judging from the Lord High Chamberlain's bizarre hair dryer and Scarlet's use of a parachute), with perhaps some preference for about [[TheCavalierYears the 1680s or so]].
* AnthropomorphicShift: Sylvester, usually a TalkingAnimal, is fully anthropomorphic as the Grand Duke. Almost the complete opposite of Chuck Jones' [[PantomimeAnimal other uses of Sylvester]].
* AntiquatedLinguistics: In which the "noble visitor" (Daffy) uses [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment two separate archaicisms for "maybe,"]] and the page image, wherein "the Grand Duke" (Sylvester) calls him "sirrah" -- a term of address for social inferiors in the 17th century or thereabouts.
* AristocratsAreEvil: The Lord High Chamberlain and the Grand Duke.
* AsideGlance: From Daffy, as Milord High Chamberlain and the Grand Duke laugh at the idea of a [[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daffish Daffish]] Fop being The Scarlet Pumpernickel. With an EyebrowWaggle thrown in for good measure.
* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: The Lord High Chamberlain (Porky Pig)'s grand plan to capture the Scarlet Pumpernickel (Daffy Duck) is to marry Melissa (Melissa Duck) to the Grand Duke (Sylvester the Cat)
* BeardOfEvil: Marks Porky as the evil Lord High Chamberlain. Apparently detachable.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: The ending of the cartoon after Daffy pitches the scene in which the price of food skyrockets (where Daffy acts out the suicide of The Scarlet Pumpernickel) is almost always edited on television, but in different ways:
** On ABC and the syndicated run of ''The Merrie Melodies Show'', there is a frozen shot of the outside of the office at the point where Daffy shoots himself in the head so that the viewer doesn't see him actually doing it then cuts back to the interior of the office where Daffy says, "It's getting so you have to kill yourself to sell a story around here" before passing out again.
** On Nickelodeon, the scene is edited similarly to ABC's and the Merrie Melodies Show edit, but superimposed over the suicide gunshot visual is a repeat shot of the outside of the office, shown in reverse (whether or not this was a mistake is unknown. It makes for a great effect either way).
** Cartoon Network once edited out the suicide gag by irising out after Daffy asks "Is ''that'' all?" when the cartoon aired as part of the channel's "50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time" marathon. Every other print after that edited the scene by freezing on the shot of the kreplach costing $1000 and once Daffy says, "Is ''that'' all?", it jumps to Daffy's "It's getting so you have to kill yourself to sell a story around here" line that ends the short, making it obvious to even the most naive viewer that something was edited.
*** On a July 13, 2012 installment of Cartoon Network's ''Looney Tunes Show'' (not the sitcom; the collection of actual Looney Tunes shorts from the 1930s to the 1960s), the cartoon was re-edited. The suicide part was still cut, but it was cut the same way it was on the channel's "50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time" marathon (read: it ends after Daffy says, "Is ''that'' all?!"), only instead of an iris-out, it's a FadeOut. As of 2014, this is the version that airs whenever Cartoon Network airs its Looney Tunes block. This is also the version that airs on Boomerang.
** Creator/MeTV has aired this short in its entirety.
* TheCameo: Lots of 'em. Henery Hawk is the LHC's messenger boy, Mama Bear is Melissa's lady in waiting, and Elmer Fudd is a lowly innkeeper.
* CassandraTruth: Scarlet's SarcasticConfession makes both the Grand Duke and the Lord High Chamberlain double over and ''fall on the floor'' laughing.
* TheCavalryArrivesLate: "The cavalry rode to the rescue! ...but they were a little too late."
* ComedicHero: Despite Daffy's attempts to present his role in the story as a dramatic part, it's a very poor attempt at doing so, what with moments such as sneezing uncontrollably from sniffing some snuff.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Scarlet has Melissa stay in hiding at his room at the inn, saying they won't look for her there. Unfortunately, the Grand Duke stops off at the inn for a drink becoming continuing his search and discovers Melissa.
* DuelToTheDeath: "Ha-ha! Ya ain't got a chance! ''I'm'' the hero of this picture, and you ''know'' what happens to the villain!"
** "So what's to know?"
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** To Creator/ChuckJones' pop-culture hero series for Daffy Duck. There are bookends with Daffy telling the main story, Porky is the villain rather than a HyperCompetentSidekick and Daffy is semi-competent in his hero getup, stopped only due to [[LemonyNarrator writing difficulties during the finale]].
** Sylvester is depicted as his usual anthromorphic self despite appearing alongside Porky Pig. Later shorts had him as Porky's scared pet.
* {{Flynning}}: As punctuated by the GratuitousFrench "fencing terms"[[note]]''"En garde! Riposté! Café au lait! Champs-elysées!"'' (The last one Daffy pronounces wrong)[[/note]] the duellists employ, and the dramatic cast shadows typical of [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002031/ Michael Curtiz's]] Creator/WarnerBros. {{Swashbuckler}}s.
* FullyDressedCartoonAnimal: Except for [[BarefootCartoonAnimal Porky]], the whole cast.
* FurryConfusion: The horses are never portrayed as anthropomorphic in any way, unfortunately.
* GainaxEnding: Losing his train of thought, Daffy gives his movie a convoluted ending, complete with a bursting dam, cavalry charge, erupting volcano, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking skyrocketing inflation of food prices]]. After J.L. expresses disappointment with the story's ending (or lack thereof), Daffy ends it with the hero shooting himself in the head (which Daffy himself does after).
** The edited version that aired on Creator/CartoonNetwork during the "50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time" marathon (and an airing in 2012) is more along the lines of NoEnding, thanks to the gun-to-the-head suicide part getting cut.
* GirlInTheTower: The Lady Melissa.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: The Lord High Chamberlain's churchwarden pipe perhaps counts as "scene-setting smoking."
* TheHighwayman: The Scarlet Pumpernickel's occupation.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The Grand Duke Sylvester creeps up in prime DastardlyWhiplash style (complete with EvilLaugh) on DamselInDistress Melissa.
* LandInTheSaddle: Daffy misses the horse, causing him to muse that "this never happens to Errol Flynn".
** The second time, he uses a parachute: "Here's a rig ol' Errol never thought of!"
* MoodWhiplash: "Firtht, I am happy, for I am to marry the fair Meliththa! Then, I am furiouth, becauthe I ''dethpithe'' the Thcarlet P-p-pumpernickel!"
* NarrationEcho: Daffy Duck [[TheNarrator narrates]], "The Lord High Chamberlain was simply furious."
-->'''Lord High Chamberlain (Porky Pig):''' I'm simply furious!\\
'''Narrator''': But Milady Melissa was simply delighted.\\
'''Melissa:''' I'm simply delighted!
* NeutralFemale: Played for laughs. When Scarlet and the Grand Duke duel near the end, Melissa cowers by the wall shrieking "Eee! Ei! Oh!" as the [[{{Flynning}} rapiers clash]]. She also {{Subvert|edTrope}}s it earlier when she rescues herself by running off and carrying Scarlet with her.
* NothingLeftToDoButDie: "There was nothing left for the Scarlet Pumpernickel to do but blow his brains out, which he does."
* OnceUponATime: "Great opening, huh?"
* PainPoweredLeap: Daffy scales the castle walls with the help of Ye Little Olympic Jumper - a pin to the hindquarters.
* PenName: Daffy "[[Creator/AlexandreDumas Dumas]]" Duck
* PuppyDogEyes: Used by Daffy to convince "J.L." to give him a dramatic part.
* RedundantRescue: After Scarlet crashes into the cathedral, Melissa runs out screaming "Save me! Save me! Save me!" while holding Scarlet around the neck. As he puts it:
-->'''Scarlet:''' So what's to save?
* SarcasticConfession: Said by the Pumpernickel while disguised as a fop, which provokes derisive laughter from the Grand Duke and the Lord High Chamberlain (with Scarlet given an AsideGlance).
* SecretIdentity: The "weary young traveler" is, in reality, [[GentlemanAdventurer The Scarlet Pumpernickel]].
* SeenItAllSuicide: Though it is actually ''J.L.'' who has seen it all, and ''Daffy'' who commits the suicide.
-->It's getting so you have to ''kill'' yourself to sell a story around here!
** And, as with all [[SeenItAllSuicide seen-it-all suicides]] (or any kind of suicide) on Looney Tunes, don't expect to see this on American TV uncut and uncensored [[note]]Cartoon Network just recently had it edited so that way the cartoon ends after Daffy is asked, "Is ''that'' all?!", which makes for a nice meta-joke, but most purists who remember seeing the cartoon uncut probably won't like it[[/note]]. You're better off getting it uncut on video, DVD, or Internet.
** Actually subverted, since the bullet hole is [[HatDamage in his hat]] afterwards. Still, American TV is very touchy concerning SuicideAsComedy.
* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'' to a virtually WholePlotReference levels.
** Creator/ErrolFlynn gets THREE mentions by name.
* [[ShoutOut/ToShakespeare Shout-Out: To Shakespeare]]: Twice misquoted by Daffy -- "Vanity, thy name is woman!"[[note]]Instead of "Frailty, thy name is woman," ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', I.ii.146[[/note]] and "Parting is such sweet stuff."[[note]]Instead of "Parting is such sweet sorrow," ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', II.ii.184.[[/note]]
* ShowWithinAShow: Or rather, a character trying to ''pitch'' a show within a show.
* StandardSnippet: Several, as is typical of a Carl Stalling score, including "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcskYeT0LOE Hooray for Hollywood]]" to set the scene at the studio; the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSE15tLBdso Boccherini minuet]] to show that we are in TheCavalierYears; Ben Jonson's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoKrw-0dze0 Song: To Celia]] for the love scene; Suppé's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFylMmmT5L8 Banditenstreiche]]'' during the chase scenes; and, of course, Music/RichardWagner's [[LohengrinAndMendelssohn bridal chorus]] during the wedding.
* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: The Grand Duke after getting the Lord High Chamberlain's letter. See MoodWhiplash above for the quote.
* TheVoiceless: Despite boasting an AllStarCast, some characters appear without any lines, notably Ma Bear and Henery Hawk.
* WeddingSmashers: The Scarlet Pumpernickel crashes Melissa and the Grand Duke's wedding and "saves" her.
* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: Notably invoked by both "Scarlet" and "The Grand Duke" -- "So what's to save?" and "So what's to know?", respectively. Also, when the price of food-stuffs skyrockets, the food-stuff illustrating the trend is ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreplach Kreplach]].''
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->"''It's getting so you have to kill yourself to sell a story around here!''"