Hollywood Daffy

I know not everyone may think so, but this is what I like... A crazy daffy, fun historical references (even if I do not understand all of them) and a very well produced mixture of sight and verbal gags. The idea is perhaps not completely original (someone trying to stop Daffy from reaching a goal of some form or another), but Daffy pulls off the episode very well.

In this episode, Daffy Duck has arrived in Hollywood and is INCREDIBLY excited. He hopes to meet all the film stars, but a policeman is preventing him from seeing anybody, as no visitors are allowed into the film sets. Will Daffy see the stars? I recommend this fantastic, exciting, hilarious and entertaining episode to people who like the crazy daffy (verging onto the more known greedy Daffy both animation-wise and personality-wise) and to people who like old cartoons in general. There is a little expected slapstick, but luckily not too much. Enjoy "Hollywood Daffy"! :-) 8 and a half out of ten

Daffy Duck had previously invaded the entertainment world in 1938's "Daffy Duck in Hollywood", but in "Hollywood Daffy" they rework it. Whereas in the previous one, he raised Cain on a movie set, here he just tries to enter Warmer Bros. studios, much to the chagrin of a guard (so it's got an element of "You Ought to Be In Pictures"). But believe you me, in both cartoons he's as wacky as can be! He really goes all out in humiliating the guard and seeing references to movie stars of the era.

This, like many of Daffy's cartoons of the 1940s, bring up the issue of whether Daffy was better being completely wacky or better with the base qualities that Chuck Jones assigned to him in the 1950s. I don't really know one way or the other. In these cartoons, there's truly never a dull moment, and it always seems as if Daffy's doing his own stuff without any effort. The idea in cartoons such as "The Scarlet Pumpernickel", "Drip-Along Daffy", "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century", "Deduce You Say" and "Robin Hood Daffy" is that these are the wrong kinds of roles for Daffy, and so he naturally makes a fool of himself (and "Duck Amuck" portrays him having trouble with reality in general). And of course the hunting season trilogy shows him trying to undermine Bugs Bunny's integrity, with poetic justice prevailing.

But no matter how you look at it, this is a really funny one. The Termite Terrace crowd always had good ideas.

Seeking fame and fortune in the picture business, the little black duck arrives in Hollywood and makes a bee line for Warmer Brothers studio where he hopes to meet the stars and land a contract. However, the studio has a guard who is determined not to let anyone in.

Starting with the little black duck in manic form, this cartoon offered real promise as Daffy is never better than when he is being crazy rather than greedy. The plot is a basic chase around the studio, with Daffy doing crazy tricks to outwit the guard; as a manic chase the film is very funny and it could have just done that and still been great fun, however it uses it's studio location a lot better than that.

The film is full of look-alike cameos and references to stars. I'll be honest and say that I didn't understand all of them, but the vast majority are recognisable and very funny. Some of them are basic spoofs, others jokes dig at the physical traits of the stars. Two of my favourite jokes were quite barbed - one I didn't totally get was digging at the then studio head's inability to win an Oscar, but my favourite was hilarious and will hopefully go over the heads of children: sweet talking the guard, Daffy says `what has Errol Flynn got that you haven't got?' before quickly turning to the audience and saying `don't answer that!' - a reference to Flynn's legendary appendage!

Daffy is really good here - I love him in full on manic role and it always saddens me to see how time changed and betrayed his character just to squeeze more cartoons out of him. The cop is quite funny, mostly down to his funny voice. The stars may not be themselves but the impressions and spoofs all work and are very funny.

Overall this is a great cartoon. If you don't know much about old movies then you should still enjoy the chase and the manic duck; if you are familiar with the movie stars of the period then there is a great deal of fun to be had here in this tremendous cartoon from the little black duck - `I like him; he's silly!'

You can always tell in the first 30 seconds when you're looking at an early version of Daffy Duck: he makes this stupid whoo-hoo noise and bounces around the scenery for a few seconds. They stopped doing that after the first few years. Even though Daffy was always "hyper," this noise must have annoyed a number of people so they stopped incorporating it in his character.

At any rate, Daffy is in Hollywood, "home of fame, fortune and Lauren Bacall!" Speaking of names, anyone who is a fan of classic movies should enjoy this cartoon as Daffy sneaks into "Warmer Brothers" studios and then has continuous battles with the security-guard cop at the gate. I think the latter is a takeoff on a famous radio character, but I can't think of his name.

In the story here are caricatures of a few stars, along with cameo appearances by them and references about them. Some of the "stars" given the Looney Tune treatment, one way or the other, include Bette Davis, Johnny Weismuller, Bing Crosby, Abbott and Costello, Ann Sheridan and Jimmy Durante.

Michael Maltese, the writer of this animated short, also pokes fun at WB executives frustrated over not winning an Oscar.

Overall, this is "fair," and not equal to the later Daffy Ducks which were funnier, still wacky but less abrasive. However, it does get an extra star for all the "stars."

I haven't been this entertained by a Daffy Duck cartoon for a while, and I have to say Hollywood Daffy is simply hilarious. So what made it so? Firstly, the dialogue, it was all very clever and funny but the best lines, most of which come from Daffy are hilarious! I especially liked the dig at Errol Flynn's appendage. Secondly, the studio guard is a great foil for Daffy, he is really funny with some wonderful delivery, almost like a childlike imitation, of some great lines. Thirdly, while I didn't get some of them first time, the movie caricatures of Bette Davis, Jimmy Durante, Johnny Weismuller(the funniest in my opinion), Abbott and Costello and Bing Crosby are very clever. Daffy steals the show though, he is wonderfully manic here. Hollywood Daffy is also elevated by some terrific animation, a fun orchestral score, even cleverer sight gags and stellar vocal characterisations from the one and only Mel Blanc. Overall, a wonderful and hilarious Daffy Duck cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox