Queer Duck

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• Queer_Duck
• Queer_Duck:_The_Movie

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Queer Duck
A Queer Duck episode opening splash screen
Format	Animated series
Created by	Mike Reiss
Directed by	Xeth Feinberg
Starring	Jim J. Bullock Kevin Michael Richardson Billy West Maurice LaMarche Estelle Harris Tress MacNeille
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Production
Running time	ca. 3 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	Showtime
Original run	2002 – 2004
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Queer Duck is an animated series that originally appeared on Icebox.com and later moved to the American cable television channel Showtime in 2002, where it aired as a followup feature of the American version of Queer as Folk. Although far from being the first gay cartoon character, Queer Duck was the first animated TV series to have homosexuality as its predominant theme. Like several later television cartoons, Queer Duck was animated in Macromedia Flash.

Characters

Queer Duck

The title character, full name Adam Seymour Duckstein (voiced by Jim J. Bullock), is a gay anthropomorphic duck who works as a nurse.

Queer Duck has cyan-colored feathers, a little spiky fringe, and possible purple eye shadow to represent his femininity. He wears a sleeveless rainbow top and, typically like mostly everyone else in the series, does not wear trousers. This follows the tradition of semi-nudity on cartoon characters exemplified by Porky Pig, Donald Duck, etc. Note: He is often shown to have two fingers and one thumb on each hand, but they change to having the "usual" three fingers and one thumb on occasion.

Queer Duck is known to gossip on about anything and everything in the series, especially on the phone while watching TV as shown on ‘Oh Christ!’ and ‘A Gay Outing’. He is promiscuous in his own way as well, but not as obsessed with sex as his boyfriend Openly Gator as he often brings the word ‘cock’ into mind but swiftly changes the word as an excuse like cocktails in ‘The Gay Road to Morocco’. Queer Duck is often known to be cold-hearted like in the episode ‘Queer as Fowl’, and also “mistakes” almost anyone and anything involved with homosexuality.

His nemesis is known to be Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who is pictured as a haggard and ugly old woman. The trouble often starts from there just like in ‘Queer Doc’.

Queer Duck has also been a victim of gay bashing as shown in ‘Ku Klux Klan & Ollie’ as Ku Klux Klan members attempt to burn his house down. When his disguise attempt fails, he kisses the unveiled Jerry Falwell, only to get shot down by the other homophobics. Then in Heaven he finds out that the other famous icons like Socrates and Leonardo Da Vinci are also gay much to the chagrin of Jerry Falwell.

Throughout the series, the audience finds that Queer Duck has an in-denial mother, a diabetic father (whose name is revealed to be Morty in the episode ‘Quack Doctor’), a straight brother named Lucky (who is revealed to have bullied Queer Duck when they were younger), a nephew named Little Lucky and a lesbian sister named Melissa. Queer Duck is not the most beloved child in his family and there are strong hints that his older brother Lucky is the one most favored for being the odd one out because he is desirably straight and that is possibly most pleasing for Mrs. Duckstein.

Queer Duck is afraid to show his sexuality to his nephew Little Lucky (who first appeared in ‘Fiddler on the Roofie’), especially when they were out camping with two other campers who are Little Lucky’s friends when they took out one of his magazines with personal ads such as GBM, S&M and B&D. And in ‘Fiddler on the Roofie’, Little Lucky unwittingly stumbles upon his uncle’s gay pornographic videos which he mistakes for popular cartoons. E.g. Pokémon = Poke-A-Man, Rocky & Bullwinkle = Rock Hard & Bull Sprinkle. (Lucky is already aware: when his fellow campers think "Your uncle is Gay", Lucky answers, "Well, DUH!")

Other characters

Queer Duck's boyfriend, the indigent artist Steven Arlo “Openly” Gator (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, in the style of Harvey Fierstein), is shy and insecure and is usually the voice of reason whenever Queer Duck gets himself and anyone else into any trouble and possibly the closest one to common sense than anyone else in the show. Their friends throughout the series are Bi Polar Bear (voiced by Ren & Stimpy and Futurama actor Billy West, in the style of Paul Lynde) and the urbane Oscar Wildcat (voice actor Maurice LaMarche).

Recurring supporting characters include Queer Duck's in-denial mother (played by Estelle Harris, George's mother on Seinfeld) and the group's nemesis, Dr. Laura Schlessinger (played by voice actress Tress MacNeille). One character, a large, well-built horse, portrays different characters in each episode. He starts out as a gay-converting Christian minister but later portrays more gay-sensitive characters, such as a flight attendant on TWGay

The show was created, written and executive produced by Mike Reiss, executive producer of network cartoons The Simpsons and The Critic. The animation was directed and designed by Xeth Feinberg.

Recurring themes

Although each three-minute episode stands by itself rather than being part of a larger narrative, several themes and events occur through the 20-episode series. Queer Duck reveals his homosexuality to his parents in the first episode. In the course of the series, Queer Duck and Openly Gator get married, and it's revealed that Queer Duck has a lesbian sister. In another episode, he has a brother and a nephew. Queer Duck also meets Santa Claus and attends Mardi Gras. A episode parodying Disneyland featured a turkey who is in the navy named Gobble - the salty sea man.

Much like The Critic, Queer Duck features numerous cameo appearances by celebrities, whose voices are impersonated by the cast. In addition to Dr. Laura, the Queer Duck gang encounter Bob Hope, Jack Nicholson, Cary Grant, and in particular Barbra Streisand, with whom Queer Duck is obsessed, as well as noted ultra-conservative preacher Jerry Falwell. These celebrities are the only human characters. All other characters are anthropomorphic animals like Duck and his friends, except for the woman Queer Duck sleeps with in the final episode.

Openly Gator meets Conan O'Brien in Queer Duck - The Movie (2006)

Episodes

Queer Duck: The Movie

Queer Duck: the Movie, an all-new feature film, was released on DVD July 18, 2006. The film reunites the original creators and cast of Queer Duck, plus special guest stars Conan O'Brien, Tim Curry, Jeff Glen Bennett, Mark Hamill, Bruce Vilanch, April Winchell and David Duchovny as "Tiny Jesus".[1] Gay-themed channel Logo premiered the film on July 16.

External links

• Official site at Showtime
• Queer Duck at the Internet Movie Database
• Mishmash Media
• The Nutley Brass