Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done


Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done is a 1975 British animated musical comedy film directed by Bill Melendez and designed by Ronald Searle, based on the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.
The comically convoluted plot, by Robin Miller and Leo Rost, with additional material by Gene Thompson and Victor Spinetti, is a pastiche of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, particularly Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe and The Mikado, in which the protagonist, Able Seaman Dick Deadeye, is sent by Queen Victoria on a quest to recover the "Ultimate Secret" from the Sorcerer, who has stolen it. The music is borrowed from many Savoy operas, with new or modified lyrics by Robin Miller and orchestrations updated in a contemporary popular style by conductor Jimmy Horowytz.

Plot

Queen Victoria sends Dick Deadeye, a sailor, to recover the "Ultimate Secret" from two thieves, the Sorcerer and his reptilian henchman, the Shameleon, who are trying to sell it to the Pirate King. At a military parade, Dick sees the Sorcerer speaking with the Pirate King. There, Nanki sees his evil twin brother Poo, who is picking pockets. Dick goes for backup to headquarters, the Hexagon, finding the Captain and the Major-General.
Dick proceeds to the pirates' lair, "The Queen's Nose". There, Rose Maybud, the barmaid, wants to find "a man of pure evil", so she can reform him. She and Dick have a moment, but she loses interest, since he is good. The Sorcerer and his sidekick arrive. The Pirate King finalises the deal to buy the Secret for a modest sum of pirate booty, and the Sorcerer goes to get it, followed by Dick.
Dick arrives at the Sorcerer's shop and asks for a potion to make him handsome ; he tries to grab the Secret, but it falls through the window into the basket of Little Buttercup, a buxom seller of ribbons, laces and marine supplies. Poo steals the basket; everyone chases him, including three policemen, but they mistake Nanki for Poo and arrest him. The Judge at his trial flirts with Buttercup, ignores Nanki's evidence, sentences Nanki to 200 years in the Tower of London and leaves with Buttercup.
At the Tower, Nanki muses on his lot and lost love. The spirit of Yum-Yum is trapped in Nanki's shamisen and needs Nanki "to make me a whole woman". Poo agrees to return the Secret to the Sorcerer in exchange for learning his tricks, but the pirates drag them to "The Queen's Neck". The Secret is in code, and the Sorcerer must decipher it. Since Poo is so evil, Rose decides to love him and intends to reform him. Meanwhile, at the Hexagon, Dick sees the Rear-Admiral and his sisters, cousins and aunts. He gives the Captain command of the Pinafore and allows Dick to recruit a crew from the prisoners. At the Tower, Nanki sings for the prisoners, who nearly all enlist.
The Sorcerer and Poo are on the pirate ship. Rose, disguised as a pirate, sneaks aboard. Meanwhile, with the Judge, Major-General and Rear-Admiral, the Captain takes command of the Pinafore. They pursue the pirate ship, assisted by two giant cherubs. Poo overfeeds the Sorcerer, who gets seasick and hands over the Secret. The two crews meet and greet each other warmly. The Pirate King fights the Captain, but the King's trousers fall, and the strawberry birthmark on his backside is seen. Buttercup reveals that as a wetnurse, she mixed up the infant Pirate King and Captain ; the King and the Captain swap clothes and titles.
Poo sails to the nearby island of Utopia with the Secret, now pursued by everyone. He meets the Regent of Utopia, Princess Zara and her court of singing showgirls. Zara has Poo arrested. The Sorcerer regains the Secret and is chased by Dick and the former Pirate King. They find that the Secret is in mirror-writing and says: "It's love that makes the world go round". Nanki and Poo combine into a person composed of both good and evil. The shamisen releases the spirit of Yum Yum. The Sorcerer falls in love with Buttercup, while Rose and Dick are reunited. Once the Secret is out, war and crime cease around the world and all live happily ever after.

Musical numbers

  • "Entrance of the Peers"
  • "Here's a how-dee-do"
  • "I am the very model of a modern major general"
  • "Oh, better far to live and die"
  • "Prithee, pretty maiden"
  • "My name is John Wellington Wells"
  • "Sprites of earth and air"
  • "A policeman's lot is not a happy one"
  • "All hail great Judge"
  • "Now, Jurymen, hear my advice"
  • "I'm called Little Buttercup"
  • "A wandering minstrel I"
  • "I swear to tell the truth"
  • "A Judge is he, and a good judge too"
  • "Farewell my own"
  • "Just as the moon must have the sun"
  • "I am the monarch of the sea"
  • "He remains an Englishman"
  • "The flowers that bloom in the spring"
  • "Pour, oh pour the pirate sherry"
  • "When I was a lad"
  • "We sail the ocean blue"
  • "I am the Captain of the Pinafore"
  • "Go, ye heroes"
  • "A many years ago"
  • "With cat-like tread"
  • "Hail, hail, and how-dee-do"
  • "It's love that makes the world go round"
  • "Here's a how-dee-do"
  • "Entrance of the Peers"

Cast

The following is the voice cast of the film, together with role played, and the opera from which the character originated: