Daffy Duck

Daffy Horatio Tiberius 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.

Daffy is also one of the most difficult cartoon characters to adequately define. Virtually every Warner Bros. animator put his own spin on the duck; Daffy may be a lunatic vigilante in one short, but a greedy glory hound in the next. Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones especially made extensive use of two very different versions of the character.

Origin
Daffy first appeared on April 17, 1937 in Porky's Duck Hunt, directed by Tex Avery with Bob Clampett as uncredited co-director. The cartoon is a standard hunter/prey pairing for which the studio is famous, but Daffy (not more than a bit player in this short) represented something new to moviegoers: an assertive, combative protagonist, completely unrestrained and completely unrestrainable. When audiences left the theaters, they could not stop talking about (as Porky Pig puts it) "that crazy, darnfool duck."

This early Daffy is not a handsome creature; he is short and pudgy, with stubby legs and beak. His voice (performed by Mel Blanc and patterned after Warners producer Leon Schlesinger's) is about the only part of the duck that would stay with him.

Clampett's Daffy
Animator Bob Clampett immediately seized upon the duck and cast him in a series of cartoons in the 1930s and 1940s. Clampett's Daffy is a wild and zany screwball, perpetually bouncing around the screen with cries of "Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!" Clampett also redesigned the character, making him taller and lankier, and rounding out his beak and feet. He was often paired with Porky Pig.

McKimson's Daffy
By the early 1940s, director Robert McKimson tamed Daffy a bit, redesigning him yet again to be rounder, less elastic. The studio also instilled some of Bugs Bunny's savvy into the duck, making him as brilliant with his mouth as he was with his battiness. This era also saw Daffy teamed up with Porky Pig, the duck's one-time rival turned straight man. Daffy would also feature in several war-themed shorts during World War II. Daffy always stays true to his unbridled nature, however, attempting, for example, to dodge conscription in Draftee Daffy (1945) and battling a Nazi goat intent on eating Daffy's scrap metal in Scrap Happy Daffy (1943).

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, Drip-Along 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.



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 bill off. Jones' Daffy sees himself as self-preservationist, not selfish. However, this Daffy can do nothing that does not backfire on him, singeing his tailfeathers as well as his dignity.

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 the wascally wabbit. Duck Amuck is widely heralded as a classic of film making 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.

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.

Daffy in the 1960s
After the Warner Bros. animation studio reopened in the 1960s, Daffy would become a true villain in several Speedy Gonzales cartoons. For instance in one cartoon set in the desert, Daffy Duck is determined to keep the mice away from a desperately needed well for seemingly its own sake to the point where he attempts to destroy it after getting the water he needs, forcing Speedy to stop him. The Warner Bros. studio was entering its twilight years, and even Daffy had to stretch for humor in the period. Some fans consider this the most controversial interpretation of the duck, who is openly malicious.

Daffy today
.Daffy lives on in cameo appearances and later cartoons such as a piano duel with fellow fowl Donald Duck (from the rival Walt Disney Company) in the 1988 Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as both are playing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. In 1987, to celebrate Daffy's 50th Anniversary, Warner Bros. released The Duxorcist. their first theatrical Looney Tunes short in two decades. Daffy Duck also appeared in several feature-film compilations, including two films centering Daffy. The first was released in 1983, Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island; the second came in 1988, Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, which is considered one of the Looney Tunes' best compilation films, and featured another new theatrical short Night of the Living Duck. Daffy has also had major roles in films such as Space Jam in 1996 and Looney Tunes: Back in Action in 2003. The latter film does much to flesh out his character, even going so far as to cast a sympathetic light on Daffy's glory-seeking ways in one scene, where he complains that he works tirelessly without achieving what Bugs does without even trying. That same year, Warner Bros. cast him in a brand-new Duck Dodgers series (it should be stressed that in this show Duck Dodgers actually is Daffy Duck due to him being frozen in suspended animation in some unknown incident). He had a cameo appearance in the Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries episode, "When Granny Ruled The Earth", first airing on March 27, 1999. Daffy has also been featured in several webtoons which can be viewed online.

In the television series Tiny Toon Adventures, Daffy is a teacher at Acme Looniversity, where he is the hero and mentor of Plucky Duck. Daffy is shown as a baby in the Baby Looney Tunes show, and made occasional cameos on Animaniacs and Histeria! In the show Loonatics Unleashed, his descendant is Danger Duck (voiced by Jason Marsden), who is also lame and unpopular to his teammates. In the majority of these appearances, the selfish, neurotic and spotlight-hungry Daffy characterized by Chuck Jones is the preferred version.

More recently, Daffy has been given larger roles in more recent Looney Tunes films and series. Following Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Warner Brothers has slowly moved the spotlight away from Bugs and more towards Daffy, as shown in the 2006 video release Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, where Daffy plays the lead while Bugs Bunny appears in a supporting role.

Interestingly, more recent merchandise of the duck, as well as that featured on the official website, seem to incorporate elements of the zanier, more light hearted Daffy of the 1940s. Producer Larry Doyle noted that recent theatrical cartoons were planned that would portray a more diverse Daffy closer to that of Robert McKimson's design; however, due to the box-office failure of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, these new films ceased production. Daffy will return to Cartoon Network in The Looney Tunes Show.

Comics
Dell Comics published comic books on Daffy. First in Four Color Comics #457, #536, and #615, then contining as Daffy #4-17 (1956-59), then as Daffy Duck #18-30 (1959-62). This was continued by Gold Key Comics Daffy Duck #31-127 (1962-79).

Voices of Daffy
Daffy has been voiced by:
 * Mel Blanc (1937–1989)
 * Jeff Bergman (1990–1993, 2011-)
 * Greg Burson (1993–1996)
 * Dee Bradley Baker (1996)
 * Joe Alaskey (1996–2011)
 * Carlos Alazraqui (Baby Looney Tunes)

Other Media

 * In 1950, Mel Blanc recorded Daffy Duck's Rhapsody, a comic song written by Warren Foster, Billy May and Michael Maltese.


 * Daffy plays a piano duet with Donald Duck in the 1988 Disney and Amblin Entertainment film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.


 * Daffy made a cameo in a 1998 episode of The Drew Carey Show, in a method of live-action/animated film.


 * Daffy appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Rodiggiti" voiced by Bill Farmer. In a segment that parodies 8 Mile, Daffy's role is similar to David "Future" Porter.


 * A poster of Daffy is prominently displayed in Michael Garibaldi's quarters in the science fiction TV series Babylon 5. In one episode, Zack Allen jokingly explains to G'Kar that Daffy is the 'ancient Egyptian god of frustration'. Garibaldi is also shown entertaining Ambassador Delenn with Duck Dodgers in the 24 & 1/2th Century, which she finds difficult to understand when Duck Dodgers accidentally puts his rocket into reverse. Babylon 5 is also a Warner Bros. property.


 * In Family Guy, after holding an exploding bomb from Adam West, Meg has Daffy Duck's bill on the wrong side of her head, moves it to its proper position, and then states, “Of course, you realize this means war!”.


 * A sound clip of Daffy Duck grunting from one cartoon was reused for Linus Van Pelt fidgeting in anger in Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) (1980)


 * In the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episode "Zoobotnik", Sonic compiles a list of Mobius citizens who have been kidnapped by an intergalactic huntress. Among the names in the list is Daffy Duck.


 * In the film Gremlins 2: The New Batch, one of the gremlins is named Daffy as an homage to the 30's and 40's Daffy Duck.[citation needed]


 * In Kid vs. Kat, in episode "Something Fishy in Owl Lake" Coop and Burt accidentally grabs Daffy and Yakky Doodle.


 * In The Office episode "Diversity Day", Michael signs his diversity form with Daffy's name.

Gallery
[edit] See also