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June 14, 2017July 12, 2020

Bugs and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals

“Wait’ll you hear MY arpeggios!”

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Produced, written, and directed by Chuck Jones; Production Design by Herbert Klynn. A TV special released in 1976.

The first television special for the Looney Tunes! Bugs and Daffy are going to play parts from Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals,” And quote the poems Odgen Nash wrote about said music. I love animals, I love animation, and I love music. Throw chocolate and video games in there, and you’ve got my nirvana. Things start rather rocky as Bugs and Daffy argue on the pronunciation of the man’s name. Bugs says it correctly, while Daffy insists it be pronounced phonetically. Porky (making a quick cameo) arrives to tell that the show is starting and Bugs walks out on stage, getting tons of applause. Daffy gets none as he enters. The conductor begins and the two take their places each playing a piano. (Not all of the pieces are here, but they got a good number of them. Besides, pianists don’t belong at a carnival of animals anyway.)

Lions: This part is drawn in a simplified style as we see a pride of lions heading off into a cave. Inside, only their eyes and roaring mouths can be seen. (Kinda creepy to be honest.) These are also some pretty lively lions. You’d think they’d be sleeping in the day.

Roosters and Hens: Daffy and Bugs introduce this part by wearing gloves as combs. (Daffy still not get any any love) It’s a shame Foghorn couldn’t have made a cameo at this part. The chickens peck and crow.

Wild Jackass: (Daffy throws in the the mule couplet Ogden wrote as well. Which is kind of weird. Camille made a part about donkeys AND mules? Why not include horses, ponies, quaggas, zebras, hinnies, zedonks, zorses and unicorns as wells? Carnival of the equines.) Instead of showing any animals at this part, we just see a carousel with color changing donkeys. (Did you know that female donkeys are called Jennys? When I first heard that, I told the only Jenny I knew. Luckily, she wasn’t really offended, and years later, she gave me a ride home from school.)

(Passing by the elephant for now and skipping the tortoise altogether)

Kangaroos: (I should mention that Bugs and Daffy don’t admit they are quoting Mr. Nash and instead act like they are making up the rhymes on the spot. Daffy challenges the rabbit to rhyme boomerang. It’s a good thing Australians enjoy kangaroo-meringues.) Represented by a couple of kangaroo silhouettes jumping to the music. (They have to jump because they are incapable of walking)

(More skipping around to…)

Birds: (Wait, we already had chickens. Which by the way, are BIRDS! Luckily Bugs and Daffy don’t play the parts of the cuckoo and the swan. I guess Camille just meant Passerines. Songbirds to you commoners) Daffy likes this part, as he himself is a bird. (His neck stripe is orange in this special) The birds sing in a piece that looks like it came from “Yellow Submarine”

(Backing up a bit)

Aquarium: Bugs and Daffy seem to be having fun together now. (Bugs is speaking with Daffy’s voice for some reason) The music perfectly conveys the idea of submerging under the sea. (For the longest time I thought this was the “Harry Potter” theme. I’m glad I never told anyone they were the same.) Since they didn’t claim to only be fish, we are also treated to an image of a (demon) whale, a sea star, and a jellyfish.

(Now we get to the…)

Elephant: (What’s with Nash’s words here? How are the elephants teeth upside down? Teeth can grow upwards) This part looks like it came from a schoolhouse rock video. (For some reason, a few of the elephants have purple eyes that stare into my soul. More creepyness)

(Back in order…)

Fossils: How nice of Camille to include extinct animals as well. No reason they should be left out of a carnival saluting them. Nash’s poetry is actually kinda scary here. Imagine being alone in a museum at midnight, and suddenly all the fossils start to sing and make music with their bodies. (Even Daffy is hiding during this part) The animation here is just some rough images of dead things. Not just dinosaurs either. I spy a hominid skull, a mastodon, and a plant fossil. (Why is that there? Carnival of the ANIMALS! The botany parade is next week.)

Finale: My favorite part! Something one can dance to! (Still my favorite part of “Fantasia 2000” Heck, I’d like a whole movie set to this music. But I suppose that would take a lot of the fun out of things. The music here kind of outright tells you what to picture, as opposed to letting you come to your own conclusions.) It’s like a Rhythm Heaven Remix with the animals of the previous pieces returning to strut their stuff one more time.

The two pianists finish and leave. Daffy is still not getting any of the attention he deserves. Why ever not? Seems the audience is comprised of nothing but rabbits. (Who better to perform “The carnival of the Animals” to, than animals?)

Personal Rating: 4. (Beautiful music. Beautiful animation. It’s like “Fantasia” with a fraction of the budget.)

May 9, 2017July 5, 2020

Wise Quacks

“I’m a poppa four times over!”

Supervision by Robert Clampett; Animation by I. Ellis; Story by Warren Foster; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1939

Sorry for not posting until later in the day. Things came up, but unless otherwise noted, updates WILL happen every “Tunes-day.” And here’s some news worth celebrating: Daffy’s gonna be a father! (He’s so excited, he’s gone back to that cross-eyed design he had in “The Daffy Doc” It would be used one more time in “Porky’s Last Stand”) His wife is something else all together. Other than looking just like him, save for the pair of glasses on her bill, she sounds a lot like someone trying to imitate Donald Duck and not doing a great job at it. (At least they’re doing better than I would.) I’m calling her Daphne, seeing as how Daffy is married to a Daphne in a later short, and this duck is no Melissa. The good news is put out in the paper. (Seems a bald eagle is also expecting an heir) It’s spotted by Porky, who is happy for his old childhood pal. (I wish there was a short where the two of them were kids together. That would have been interesting) I also love the reaction from the dog Porky tells the news to. A flat “Amazing.” That’s how I would react to someone I didn’t know awaiting kids. While Daffy is excited, he is also nervous and has taken to chugging large amounts of corn juice to steady his nerves. (I first saw this short on Cartoon Network, and maybe they left the label off, but I swear that they changed it to maple syrup. That really made me ask questions. I may have only been five at the time, but I knew what being drunk was and I couldn’t figure out why my pancake topping of choice would effect Daffy that way.) Daphne finally gets the ducklings to hatch, by threatening to put her boiling rump on them. They emerge just in time for Porky to come witness the event. One egg has not hatched completely yet. Porky grabs it to keep the unborn from hurting itself and it hatches at last. This duckling is…special. I can’t help but just watch him uncomfortably. He nods his head when saying no, and shakes it when saying yes. He moves his neck around like he’s struggling to hold his head up. It’s a shame too, as he might be the funniest part of the short. Daphne meanwhile, has become aware of her husbands alcohol consumption. (Partly because Daffy bluntly admits it) The youngest during this time has just accepted a ride from a strange bird. (Maybe he just is playing. Most predators don’t allow their prey to ride on their backs.) Despite being up in the sky when he whispers goodbye to his mother, she hears him and begs Daffy to rescue their child. Tipsy he might be, Daffy is not a father to be messed with and catches up to the raptor. He takes his son back, but the bigger bird has friends that are happy to help and they chase Daffy. The poor duckling is dropped (although this does lead to the best line of the short: “I’m flying.”) With Daphne too busy being hysterical, It’s up to Porky to save the day. (He does of course. Porky is amazing) The accipiters chase Daffy back home and lock themselves in with him. Porky gets a club and opens the door to save his pal. But Daffy is in no danger. He’s shared his liquor with the others and they are all happily wasted.

Personal Rating: 3

April 11, 2017July 5, 2020

Scrap Happy Daffy

“What I’d give for a can of spinach now”

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Supervision by Frank Tashlin; Animation by Art Davis; Story by Don Christensen; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1943.

Another one considered to be one of the 100 greatest Looney Tunes. This was also the first cartoon Tashlin directed upon coming back to Warner Bros. after leaving Columbia Studios.

We open on Daffy climbing his giant scrap pile. He’s got plenty of American pride! (And cans whose insides change colors.) Would you like to make your own scrap pile? It’s easy! Their is plenty of items you can donate to help the troops, and Daffy is happy to list them all! (Although he will take a quick break to whistle at the bathing suit model painted on his fence.) This will surely get the ire of Hitler. And it does indeed. Daffy’s pile is known the world over and Hitler is furious. He wants that pile destroyed and sends one of his subs to do so. The sub has a secret weapon. The perfect way to get rid of metal in a cartoon: a goat. (I would like to point out how scientifically inaccurate this is, but I hope you already know it) The goat happily chows down, but soon comes down with a case of hiccups. A patrolling Daffy hears the noise and attempts to intimidate the intruder, before realizing he’s looking at his reflection. Finding the real source of the noise, he takes pity on the ungulate and mixes him up a hiccup cure. Not long after this, he spies the swastika on the goat’s collar and realizes what it is there for. (And calling it one of the best names I’ve ever heard: a tin termite. Brilliant.) The goat tries to strike, but Daffy takes advantage of its moral compass by wearing glasses. (Nazi goats have limits to their cruelties) All too soon though, he loses this protection and is sent flying. He wants to give up, but the apparitions of his ancestors remind him that Americans don’t give up. (Did you know Lincoln was a duck? A duck that somehow grew a beard even) Filled with some new found pride, Daffy evolves into: SUPER AMERICAN! (Two references to cartoons from the Fleischer studios based on already existing characters in one Looney Tune? It must be my birthday! No wait, that’s this Sunday) With his new abilities, Daffy has the goat running back to the sub. The Nazis fire their cannon at him, but he punches their shots away one by one. With no other alternative, they try to escape. Daffy grabs hold of the sub’s periscope before the screen dissolves to him wrestling with a faucet back at his pile. It was nothing but a dream! However, the goat and Nazis are there too, with their sub now part of Daffy’s collection. They ask to be left out of his next dream.

Personal Rating: 3

January 24, 2017July 5, 2020

The Daffy Doc

“I gotta find a patient.”

Supervision by Robert Clampett; Animation by John Carey and Vive Risto; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1938

When this short begins we see two ducks on their way to a hospital. I only bring this up because they’re wearing pants! Ducks in pants! They don’t wear pants! That’s one of the unspoken rules of cartoons! Okay, okay. I’m calm now. Inside the hospital, (Which above the entrance has one of the best puns ever, “As we sew, so shall we rip.” Genius!) There is a surgery underway by Dr. Quack and his assistant, Daffy. (He is also a quack) Daffy in this short has eyes very similar to the first Woody Woodpecker and he’s been practicing his ventriloquy as there are several times he talks and his beak clearly doesn’t move. The doctor wants it quiet enough to hear a pin drop. (Which thanks to Daffy checking, we can confirm it is. But not for long.) He hands the doctor his tools but soon starts acting like his daffy self we know and love. Throwing the tools everywhere, and using the oxygen bag as a punching bag. He is thrown out and he lands in an artificial lung, which causes his body to inflate and deflate constantly. Believe it or not, people have taken offense to that. Why? Because some people NEED artificial lungs. (Pathetic) Daffy is angered and vows to show that he is as competent as any doctor. All he needs to prove it is a patient. He grabs a mallet and begins his search. (I love his methods.) Meanwhile, Dr. Quack is pointing out that his operation is too serious for any wackiness. He’s stitching a football. (Hey! That’s insensitive. Some people NEED stitches!) Back with Daffy, he has found a perfect patient: Porky. He knocks him out and carries him to his room. Daffy is clearly not the best doc. His thermometer is just a lollypop. (Labled in case you didn’t get it.) He smacks himself with his mallet which causes him to vibrate so he can consult with his ghostly selves. They agree that an operation is the only solution and he prepares to carve Porky open. (This seems to happen to the poor guy whenever he is near a hospital.) Porky runs for it, but in the resulting chase, the two of them fall into that lung again, and once more inflate and deflate.

Personal Rating: 3

January 10, 2017July 5, 2020

The Wise Quacking Duck

“Buck up, B-B eyes!”

Supervision by Robert Clampett; Story by Warren Foster; Animation by Phil Monroe; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1943

Hope you weren’t expecting me to keep trying to tie the week’s featured short into something related to the time of year. I’m past that. Here’s another short with a one of those one time appearing characters that Termite Terrace loved so much. This is Mr. Meek. His voice annoys me to no end, but he isn’t Red Hot Ryder so he’s not all bad. Today, his wife wants roast duck for dinner. He doesn’t really have the heart for it, but what Sweetie-Puss wants, Sweetie-Puss gets. Luckily, there is a duck who is casually resting his head against a tree stump. Just begging to be chopped off. Unluckily, it’s Daffy. (Oh, like you couldn’t tell.) He doesn’t take too kindly to the near decapitation and decides to really mess with Meek. (He looks like a Marvin. Let’s call him Marvin.) He starts by shoving his head into his neck and spraying ketchup around. (Geeze!) This does not help Marvin’s case at all and he slumps back to his house. There’s a kind soul inside willing to lend an ear to his woes: Daffy again. He offers Meek a cup of coffee, but finds that Sweetie-Puss already beat him to the “giving lumps” joke. This doesn’t stop him from adding more. And cream! AND DANCING IN THE FOOD! (This might be Daffy at his craziest) Meek catches on that it’s the same daffy duck as earlier and chases, running into a drawing Daffy put up on the wall. The duck then drops an egg on him from high up in the air. (Is there no roof?) But Meek has reached his boiling point. (If the fried egg on his head is any indication) He points a gun at Daffy. What else can he do? Strip! No, really. Daffy starts taking off his feathers rather seductively, causing the poor man to blush. (It’s a good thing his wife doesn’t come in at this point. In fact, we never see her. She’s probably really beautiful) Don’t worry, he stops once he reaches his boxer shorts. Next he dresses up as a swami with a Jerry Colona-esque voice. Not only does he read the bumps on Marvin’s head, (The one’s from earlier have healed, so he thoughtfully adds more) but he offers him his palm red. (This is such a great joke. I’ve used it on my friend before. He luckily thought it was funny too.) Meek grabs his gun again in a bit of animation that looks just like the one earlier. (Even Daffy points out this is the second time it’s happened in the same picture.) Meek shoves him in the oven and turns it up full blast! But he can’t bear to hear Daffy screaming from inside and opens the door. Is this the end of Daffy Duck? Nah. He’s still alive and well and happily basting himself. (It ends like that, leading me to believe that they didn’t have much of a story in mind and just wanted to have Daffy be daffy for the sake of being daffy. And God bless them for it.)

Personal Rating: 3

June 6, 2016April 6, 2025

Some commercials aired during “The Bugs Bunny Show”

Directed by Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, and Bob McKimson.

#1. A promo for the show. Besides mentioning that Bugs and Daffy are in it. The only characters they mention are Oscar winners: Pepe, Tweety, Sam, Sylvester and Speedy. C’mon, where is the love for Porky? Never letting him win is why I can’t trust their opinions.(On another note, Porky still hasn’t forgiven me for showing his breakdown reel.)

Personal Rating: 2

#2. Bugs is eating Post Alpha-bits but runs out. He needs more because they are made of oats, and oats give you energy. So he blows up a balloon to hop the fence of Elmer, who shoots him down. (That’s Mel voicing Elmer. He hasn’t quite got the hang of it yet.) Bugs ends up landing in the man’s kitchen and dazes Fudd. Sending Elmer out the door, saying he’s going home, Bugs enjoys his ill gotten gains. Elmer comes back to his senses and throws Bugs out. Bugs comes back and takes the cereal. He’s going to need all their energy to escape the gunfire.

Personal Rating: 3

#3. While eating Post Alpha-bits, Bugs hears Elmer approaching. Seems someone robbed him of his bits. Disguised as a cop, Bugs hears Elmer blame him before asking him to describe the bits. Elmer describes them as only one can in a commercial. (It’s cereal…er surreal hearing a commercial mentioning their product has sugar. That won’t fly today.)

Personal Rating: 3

#4. Bugs (in disguise) hops on Elmer’s tandem bike with him. Seems Post Alpha-bits are now brown sugar frosted. (Which lets be honest, brown sugar tastes better than plain.) Bugs takes them for himself. (Somehow splitting the bike in two) and digs in. Elmer brought his gun with him though, but it doesn’t matter as Bugs ate them all. But he makes up for it and brings Fudd more. Distracted by the generosity, Elmer bikes off a cliff.

Personal Rating: 3

#5. Enough with the bits. Bugs shows off how strong he has gotten by eating Post Sugar Crisp. The whole wheat makes him invulnerable to the hammers Daffy tries to smash him with.

Personal Rating: 2

#6. Seeing Sam coming his way with Post Sugar Crisp, Bugs disguises himself as a guy at a hunting lodge. Sam tells how he is hunting Bugs because he steals Post Sugar Crisp to make him strong. Bugs demonstrates, but is kind enough to invite Sam to join him. Since he can’t beat him, Sam does.

Personal Rating: 2

#7. Sam is panning for gold. Watching from the bushes, Bugs comes out in prospector garb and tells him that Cactus Canyon has just had a gold rush. Sam leaves asking Bugs to watch his claim. Bugs was really only after his Tang. He gets it and escapes from the angry Sam.

Personal Rating: 3

#8. Bugs is running a carnival game. Shoot a duck and win Tang. (Which he mentions is orange flavor. Isn’t that the only flavor it comes in? Even a good 50 years later?) Daffy hates to hurt a potential relative but really wants the Tang. (Sound reasoning.) He misses and finds out that Bugs was hampering his chances. Being the one holding a rifle, Daffy takes over the game. Hit Bugs and win the Tang! (It’s refreshing to see Daffy win for once. So is Tang!)

Personal Rating: 4

#9. Bugs as a bartender in a saloon faces a customer. It’s Sam who demands a drink. Bugs only has Tang which Sam begrudgingly takes. He likes it! Turns out he’s a wanted criminal though. (No! Really?) He makes Bugs dance, but the rabbit uses a rope to tie him up. Sam requests just one more glass of Tang. Bugs refuses.

Personal Rating: 3

#10. Bugs is going into space as the first rabbit to land on Jupiter. Elmer launches him. It was all a ruse to keep Bugs from stealing his Tang. Removing one’s Tang supply is the best way to get even. Upon landing Bugs finds that not only is there air on Jupiter, (I mean, why else would he take the helmet off?) but the planet gets its orange color from all the Tang there. At least he won’t bother you anymore, Elmer.

Personal Rating: 3

#11. Bugs and Daffy squabble over a Post cereal 6-pack. Nothing more.

Personal Rating: 1

#12. Bugs tells of Post cereal. Nothing less. (They remembered Porky existed!)

Personal Rating: 2

(Those grades are me basing on how well I think they advertised their products.)

May 30, 2016March 30, 2025

You were never Duckier

“Brother, could I use 5,000 sthmackereenies!”

Directed by Charles M. Jones; Story by Tedd Pierce; Animation by Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, Ben Washam, and Lloyd Vaughan; Layourts by Robert Gribborek; Backgrounds by Peter Alvarado; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1948

Daffy is at a Poultry judging. The best rooster wins $5,000, and the best duck wins $5.00. (Sorry duck farmers, but best ducks are still just food.) Daffy is angry but figures that all he has to do is disguise himself as a chicken and he’s on the road to cash. He slips on a red rubber glove as a comb (If it’s good enough for penguins…) and then grabs some cock tail. (And by that, I mean he takes the tail feathers off of one of the cockerels there, thank you very much.) His disguise complete, Daffy goes to snooze while he waits for the judging.

Up in a tree meanwhile, a little chicken hawk is going to bed himself. His dad is reading him his favorite bedtime story, “The book with pictures of various different breeds of chickens and no words.” (I hear it’s getting a movie soon.) It’s Henery and his dad, George. For once in my blogging career I have to come up with a middle name for a character rather than a first one. His middle initial is K, so the only logical name is ‘Ketuckyfried’. Henery is just amazed at how much his dad knows about chickens. He’d love to get him one. So he heads off to the show.

Finding a sleeping Daffy, he tries to take him home for dinner. When Daffy demands an explanation, Henery tells him that he’s being taken to his dad: the greatest judge of chicken flesh. Well, Daffy wants to be judged right? He happily comes with. Once at home, he finds out the name of his would be judge: George K. (entuckyfried) Chickenhawk. (Red-tailed, that is.) In a refreshing twist, Daffy doesn’t do the ‘ole “repeat the name and then realize what’s been said. He immdiately realizes that he’s pretty much a goner. While George prepares the pot, Daffy tries to prove that he is really a duck. I don’t care which answer is right. Both are tasty.

But giving a swimming demonstration doesn’t cut it, and he can’t get his disguise off. When he tries to just flee, George grabs hold of his “comb” and when it snaps back, George now has it on. So you can’t really blame Henery for accidentally hitting his old man with a hammer in the ensuing chase. Daffy leaves and remembers that he still has a contest to win. Donning a new glove he gets to the podium with dollar signs in his eyes. But he loses to George of all birds. (Still wearing the comb.) Well, 5.00 is five bucks and Daffy strips down to try and win something. (With cent signs in his eyes.) He loses once more, this time to Henery in duck disguise.

Personal Rating: 3

May 23, 2016March 23, 2025

Hollywood Daffy

“The sthity of the sthinema at lastht!”

A cop isn’t just beer and skittles, you know.

Directed by I. Freleng; Story by Michael Maltese; Animation by Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy, and Manuel Perez; Layouts and Backgrounds by Hawley Pratt and Paul Julian; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1945

Well folks, a new job is going to make it difficult for me to post on Wednesdays anymore. So the only logical thing to do is move to Mondays. (Which my previous job prevented me from doing.)

Our story today takes place in Hollywood. (Naturally) There are plenty of wolves here as it’s a perfect environment for them. Plenty of hot babes, nice climate, and delicious toons to eat. Daffy has just arrived and much like his Disney counterpart did in “The Autograph Hound”, wants to see some celebrities. Despite the fact there are plenty of signs saying he can’t, he waltzes into the studio anyway. He is thrown out by a studio guard dressed like a klassic keystone kop (Or a kkk member for short.) Considering Daffy is a black duck, that could be part of the reason why Rolly, there (that’s what I’m calling him) refuses to let him in.

The chubby cop (portrayed hysterically by Mel) may be fat enough to snack on two popsicles at once, but he isn’t an idiot. He does his job well. (You know Daffy’s apprentice, Plucky, would also have a hard time getting past Ralph the guard in Tiny Toons to get in the studio years later.)Daffy tries various disguises. Charlie Chaplin, Jimmy Durante, and Bing Crosby don’t get him in. But he is able to slip by as an Oscar. Even though Rolly can’t tell what he’s supposed to be, he does have a button that is to be pressed when gatecrashers disguised as Oscars come in. His disguise revealed, Daffy flees into the lot.

He pretends to be a tour guide and shows Rolly some of the stars dressing rooms. Abbot and Costello’s are fat and skinny, and Durante’s has extra space for his nose. He even shows off the studio guard and shows that his head is so thick, you can repeatedly hit it with a stick and he won’t feel anything. (Physically; mentally he will feel angry.) He chases once more as they run past Jack Benny trying and failing to get an Oscar out of a claw machine. “I’ll never get one of those.” And he didn’t. (A regular Nostradamus.)

Daffy pretends to be a director and flatters Rolly into being in his film. He gets him to jump off a cliff. The chase continues (and Daffy is saying his trademark laugh, strangely quietly) and the cop tries to stop him with a painted backdrop of a path. (Daffy runs into it, and Rolly runs through it.) The duck thinks he’s finally rid of him, but Rolly grabs him anyway. Daffy says that he is not leaving because he wants to see stars. Rolly asks why he didn’t say so. He can show him stars. He beats him on the head and tosses him out. But Daffy is happy. He’s seeing more stars than Carl Sagan ever did.

Personal Rating: 3

May 18, 2016March 16, 2025

The Up-standing Sitter

“I’ll face the world alone!”

Directed by Robert McKimson; Story by Warren Foster; Animation by Phil DeLara, Manny Gould, John Carey, and Charles McKimson; Layouts by Cornett Wood; Backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Musical Direction by Carl Stalling. Released in 1947.

Daffy works for a babysitting service. (Are those still around?) Not only that, but apparently he’s the best sitter the place has. He has just gotten a job and heads off. As he goes, he sings about how this job is full of abuse but he puts up with it as the pay is pretty good. He arrives at his location. The mother is a hen and she wants Daffy to keep watch over her unborn child. (With birds, the term babysitter is literal.) He sits and the chick almost immediately hatches. That’s gotta hurt. Not having your mom around to witness your birth. (You and Dr. Doofenshmirtz are kindred spirits kid.)

He tries to guess Daffy’s relation to him, but runs out of relatives and deduces that Daffy is a stranger. Since kids shouldn’t talk to those, he runs off. Sitter or not, Daffy is technically still a stranger. (He’s plenty strange.) I don’t know what this kid’s problem is, but he now goes out of his way to make Daffy suffer. He hides in the mouth of a bulldog named Spike. (Bulldogs are always named Spike. It’s an unspoken rule.) He leaps out as Daffy reaches into the beast and it wakes up. He won’t let go of Daffy’s arm/wing, until he’s backed him up a ladder and off the barn’s roof. The chick (who needs a name. How about Spencer?) finds another hen and goes under. Daffy reaches once more only for the hen to spot him. Trying to play it cool, Daffy pretends he was miming a train the whole time. (Don’t you hate being in those situations?)

Spencer hops out before Daffy spots him and comes back for more hen groping in a barrel disguise. She puts a TNT stick under a feather duster for him to find. Spencer meanwhile has now run onto a wire high above the farm. Daffy tries to tightrope walk over but the chick blows him away. (Rooster’s are known to have really strong lungs, regardless of age.) A slingshot launches him into the side of the barn, and a rocket ends up taking him on a ride that ends up crashing into Spikes house. After it explodes, the dog spanks Daffy with what’s left of his domicile. Spencer gives Daffy a phone, and he calls his employers. A sitter he may be, but he’ll be standing from now on.

Personal Rating: 3

May 11, 2016March 9, 2025

The Super Snooper

“What’s on your mind? Besides your hat?”

Oh, so he’s working THAT side of the street.

Directed by Robert McKimson; Story by Tedd Pierce; Animation by Herman Cohen, Rod Scribner, Phil DeLara, and Charles Mckimson; Layouts by Robert Givens; Backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. Released in 1952

In this short, Daffy is Duck Drake. Which is like if my name was human man. (Why does that actually sound cool?) He’s a private eye, ear, nose, and throat. And he could really use a new case. His old one is full of empty bottles. (I hope you enjoy puns. There’s a lot of them here.) Good luck for him! A phone call informs him that there has been a murder at the J. Cleaver Axehandle Estate. And they are willing to give up plenty of cash. Which they prove they have by sending it through the phone. (Even bus fare.)

Daffy (literally) hops out of the building and heads off. Upon arriving he starts interrogating the butler, before stopping to admit it’s never the butler and follows him inside. (Doing the classic “walk this way” gag.) He demands to see the body, and boy does he get it. The woman claiming to be the body is a combination of Melissa from “The Scarlet Pumpernickel,” and Jessica Rabbit. She has the hots for Daffy, who doesn’t let hormones get in the way of business. (I’m impressed.) She also claims to be innocent. Daffy can’t believe it, she has guilt written all over her face. (Nothing a little make-up can’t cover.)

He begins his accusations of her shooting her husband with her playing her part. Could she have grabbed a handgun from her handbag and shot him? (The demonstration leaves Daffy’s bill full of holes.) Or maybe she took the rifle off the wall and killed him that way? (Possibly. She has quite the aim as she proves in her Daffy themed shooting gallery.) Perhaps it was the ole’ dropping a piano on his head? (Has anyone ever been offed this way?) Or the extremely over complicated rerouting the train tracks to the front door scenario? (A classic.)

Nope and nope. As she stated, there was no murder here. Daffy has gotten the wrong location! But she is guilty. Guilty of being head over heels for Daffy. Seeing her pupils have turned into ball n’ chains, Daffy bolts. Melessica takes off after him, the silhouettes they make crashing through the door form a couple walking down the aisle. Isn’t it romantic?

Personal Rating: 3