I love how you get easier access to weird animation industry ephemera like this. This may be a bit slow but rather impressive job for what was probably a budget of $1.95.
In the words of the filmmaker:
“‘The Duck’ is a “proof of concept” film which I produced and directed in 1998, almost twenty years ago. Our work on ‘Space Jam’ was just finished and I came up with an idea for a feature film about a real duck that turns into a cartoon and decides to become a super hero, rivalling and competing with existing super heroes. We projected this film at all the major studios to pitch the idea and came very close to making it. But alas, it all collapsed in the end and the film was never made.
A few weeks ago, I found a low contrast 35mm negative and a screening print buried in my cupboard. They were scanned at Cinelabs, UK, by their wonderful team of lab technicians. Looking it at it now, it is way too long and if I had the sound elements separate, I’d cut it down. I guess at the time it was too difficult to cut out footage since we put so much effort into the sets and the animation. Every frame felt precious, a mistake many young film makers make. But it is what it is. The animated woman is a blatant “homage” to Jessica Rabbit but I hope that twenty years on, I am forgiven.
The team that worked with me on this was amazing, a great bunch of people, both the Live Action and the Animation crew. Now, for the first time, ‘The Duck’ is online, uncut. I will post the end credits separately since they are almost as long again.
Enjoy!” – Uli Meyer
