Daffy Duck

Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Daffy was the first of the new breed of "screwball" characters that emerged in the 1930s and supplanted traditional "everyman" characters, such as Goofy, in popularity in the 1940s.

Jones's Daffy

As Bugs Bunny supplanted Daffy as the Warners' most popular character, the directors still found ample use for the duck. Several cartoons place him in parodies of popular movies and radio serials. For example, Dripalong Daffy (released in 1951 and named after the popular Hopalong Cassidy character) throws Daffy into a Western, while Robin Hood Daffy (1958) casts the duck in the role of the legendary outlaw. In Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953) Daffy trades barbs (and bullets) with Marvin the Martian.

Related Topics:
Bugs Bunny - Dripalong Daffy - 1951 - Hopalong Cassidy - Western - Robin Hood Daffy - 1958 - Legendary outlaw - Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century - 1953 - Marvin the Martian

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Bugs' ascension to stardom also prompted the Warner animators to recast Daffy as the rabbit's rival, intensely jealous and determined to steal back the spotlight. Chuck Jones would most successfully use the idea. Jones redesigned the duck once again, making him scrawnier and scruffier. In Jones' famous "Hunter's Trilogy" of Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning, and Duck! Rabbit! Duck! (1951-1953) Daffy's vanity and excitedness provide Bugs Bunny the perfect opportunity to fool the hapless Elmer Fudd into repeatedly shooting the poor duck's beak off. Jones' Daffy sees himself as self-preservationist, not selfish. However, this Daffy can do nothing right that does not backfire on him, singeing his tailfeathers as well as his dignity.

Related Topics:
Chuck Jones - Rabbit Fire - Rabbit Seasoning - Duck! Rabbit! Duck! - 1951 - 1953 - Elmer Fudd

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In fact, it is in the cartoons of Chuck Jones that this new, self-centered Daffy becomes fully realized. Many critics consider Jones' metafictional Duck Amuck (1953) to be Daffy's (and Jones') finest cartoon. In it, Daffy is plagued by a godlike animator whose malicious paintbrush alters the setting, soundtrack, even Daffy himself. When Daffy demands to know who is responsible, the camera pulls back to reveal none other than Bugs Bunny. "Duck Amuck" is widely heralded as a classic of filmmaking for its illustration that a character's personality can be recognized independently of appearance, setting, voice, and plot. In 1999, the short was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Related Topics:
Metafiction - Duck Amuck - 1953 - Filmmaking - 1999 - National Film Registry

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Friz Freleng would use the Jones idea for Daffy in Show Biz Bugs (1957) wherein Daffy's trained pigeon act is played to nothing but crickets chirping in the audience, while Bugs' song-and-dance numbers thrill the spectators.

Related Topics:
Friz Freleng - Show Biz Bugs - 1957

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