The Scarlet Pumpernickel The Scarlet Pumpernickel The Scarlet Pumpernickel is an animated Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" theatrical cartoon short released in 1950, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The title is a play on "The Scarlet Pimpernel". In 1994 it was voted #31 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. The cartoon is a story within a story. Daffy Duck is fed up with comedy and wants to try a dramatic act instead. He offers a script to Warner Bros.' chief Jack L. Warner - whom he addresses, as most people did, as
The Scarlet Pimpernel to her horror (and simultaneous delight) that "he" is the Pimpernel. He had hidden behind the persona of a dull, slow-witted fop to deceive the world. He had not told Marguerite because of his worry that she might betray him, as she had the Marquis de St. Cyr. Desperate to save her husband, she decides to pursue Percy to France to warn him that Chauvelin knows his identity and his purpose. She persuades Sir Andrew Ffoulkes to accompany her, but because of the tide and the weather, neither they nor Chauvelin can leave immediately. At Calais, Percy openly approaches Chauvelin