Designer Maurice Noble wins. The drafting and the sets, the props and gadgets are tremendously imagined and executed. “The world’s supply of aluminum phosdex, the shaving crème atom, is alarmingly low.” It’s just a gag, but it’s also a Jonathan-Swiftian displacement/hyperbole. The dumb things we get all excited about! Daffy and Porky make a really great team. They make witty use of jargonese. The navigation gag, leading us finally to Planet X, is delightful, with just the right mix of imagination and dumb-obvious. Daffy and Marvin’s double planet claiming also makes this a fine Marxist absurdification of super-power expansionism.
The disintegration-proof vest joke is fantastic. Porky, a bit like Sancho Panza, or Moliere’s Dorine, is there to reintegrate. “Happy birthday, you thing from another world you.” The exchange of fire is also tremendous. Also, too obviously, this is pretty great on technological escalation and arms absurdity. “Big deal,” says Porky.