Drückeberger Daffy

What can I day about this that hasn't been said by those above. After "Daffy the Commando", to "Scrap Happy Daffy" (or was that after this one?) Daffy as DRAFT DODGER? Even Daffy wouldn't.. but in (unlike much later and to the day) a very funny fashion he constantly and outrageously runs right into that little man kindly serving him ye ole draft notice, and who looks like Elmer Fudd (though his character's borrowed from a radio comic character of the day, Peavy the Druggist on the "Great Gildersleeze", right down to the "Oh well, now, I wouldn't say that!" shtick.), and does the "Tex Avery/Droopy" bit that itself is equally hard to get away from.

But this is a riot, yet if a later Vietnam or today Sept. the 11th counterpart were done with Daffy, dodging the draft..NO WAY would Daffy be this symphatetic (though I disagree that W.C.Fields "took a back seat" to ANYBODY.)

(To the tune of "Marine's Hymm"-aka "From the Halls of Montezuma") "Oh-oh, the lit-tle man from the dra-aft board/ Is comin' to see me"..then realizes what he's just singing about.

Anyone who's seen enough Daffy Duck cartoons should know that he's...well, daft. In "Draftee Daffy", he maintains that personality, only it's now like he's on steroids. In this case, he's a super-patriot until the government tries to draft him into the army. Maybe it's just me, but this reminds me of the average chicken hawk (a politician who never fought in a war - and most likely never even got drafted - but sends people to fight in wars; sound familiar?).

But that's just a side note. This is a really hilarious cartoon, and the beginning of Daffy developing his greedy side. Included in "Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons".

I'd see anything from Looney Tunes and Daffy Duck as I am such a huge fan. And Draftee Daffy from the first time I saw it has been one of my favourite cartoons of all time. The animation looks absolutely beautiful and is very detailed right from the facial expressions and Daffy's manic energy. The music is beautifully orchestrated and energetic, while the writing is witty and the gags right from the opening to even the smallest details imaginative. What is also remarkable is how the subject matter is treated, there is no glorification but personified in Daffy's slow realisation expression it is very realistically done. Daffy himself is just brilliant, manic, greedy and moving all in one. Mel Blanc gives a bravura performance. All in all, Draftee Daffy is a superb cartoon, one of my favourites ever. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This cartoon was included in one of the Warner Brothers Golden Collections of cartoons - it even included a commentary. All during the commentary the two doing the commenting only talk about the fast pace and how Daffy's personality seems so much like that of one of the animators over at Termite Terrace - which is where the WB cartoons of the era were created. Nobody mentions the 500 pound gorilla in the room - which is that Daffy in this cartoon is virtually alone in any film or cartoon I have viewed from the WWII era in that he is afraid of being drafted and stays afraid. Plus Daffy is willing to do anything - including doing severe bodily injury to the man from the draft board - to avoid being drafted.

I wonder how this went over with the audiences of the era? Maybe Daffy Duck got away with this because Daffy usually represented unbridled greed, cowardice, and self-interest to the point of being charming - he never made excuses for himself. Likewise "the little man from the draft board" looks a great deal like Elmer Fudd, so it's really hard to take him seriously too. Definitely worth a look if it crosses your path.

Daffy changes his tune from patriotic flag-waver to craven draftdodger when he learns that the little man from the draft board is coming to pay him a visit. Daffy's reaction when he learns of his induction status is the highlight of the cartoon; the implication slowly dawns on him. He spends the rest of the cartoon trying to avoid the little man, even resorting to attempted murder. (And to think, only a few years before Daffy fought the Nazis in such cartoons as Daffy the Commando [1943] and Plane Daffy [1944].) Only Daffy could get away with such brazenly unpatriotic behavior during World War II, and only a director like Bob Clampett could pull it off and still keep the duck an appealing character. This also marks the beginning of the craven, self-preserving Daffy that Chuck Jones would later develop in such cartoons as Duck, Rabbit, Duck and Rabbit Fire. Another very funny and energetic Clampett cartoon.