My Little Duckaroo

This is an excellent example of the full development of Chuck Jones' Daffy character, Daffy's later greedy & self centred character is a much better vehicle for delivering the more sophisticated humour in this cartoon than the original manic, slapstick character created by Tex Avery in 1937.

This cartoon is an extension of an earlier classic - Drip-along Daffy, in which Daffy attempts to bring the notorious outlaw Nasty Canasta to justice, when various attempts by the Cisco Kid (aka Daffy), Super Duck (also Daffy) and the Masked Avenger fail to budge Nasty Canasta, Daffy resorts to using physical means, stating he is going to give Nasty Canasta a "fist beating, frontier style" and to "fix his little red wagon" the expression on the face of the scrawny Daffy as Nasty Cansata rips his shirt by flexing his enormous muscles is priceless.

From the classic attempt By Daffy to emulate Nasty Canasta by rolling a cigarette in his mouth (which of course fails dismally and explodes) to the classic "Cisco Kid" poker and arrest/bare knuckle fight scenes this is one big laugh for those who enjoy the 50's Daffy.

Driven by a desire to see wrongs righted (and claim the massive reward), the Masked Avenger decides to go after criminal Nasty Canasta and bring him to justice. However, Canasta proves to be more than a match for the Avenger - mask or no mask.

I'm a big fan of Daffy Duck but I vastly prefer him when he is in fully `crazy' mood, doing all sorts of manic things; I find that much funnier than his later greedy & selfish personae. Here, however he is in selfish mode - not in itself a sign of a bad cartoon, but here it is all part of the problem. Along with Porky as comedy relief, Daffy goes after a criminal but has very little response form him. Why the script decided to do this is beyond me as it means there is very little happening to really laugh at. The material throughout is pretty uninspiring and relies heavily on Daffy's delivery alone to make it enjoyable.

Sadly, for me, Daffy's greedy character just isn't that funny at times (here being one of them) and his delivery in this cartoon is average at best. It's the fault of the material of course, and I was surprised just how weak the whole thing was. Porky is named the comedy relief but he has absolutely nothing to do outside of two or three lines of dialogue. Canasta is like some of the other `old west' villains that have tangled with other WB characters, but the decision to have him do almost nothing was a daft one.

Overall this cartoon offers two big names and a mildly amusing set up, but, like me, I imagine many people will be bewildered by just how uninspiring the thing is.

Sort of a re-imagining of Chuck Jones's earlier "Drip-Along Daffy", "My Little Duckaroo" casts Daffy and Porky as a western hero and sidekick out to battle evildoers. Daffy of course can't take on their quarry.

While the cartoon mostly has a repeating gag - Daffy challenges Nasty Canasta but nothing comes of it - I noticed something. Early in the cartoon, after identifying himself, Daffy basically explains that he's totally in it for the money. Certainly under Jones's watch this lisping member of the genus Anas had become very greedy - often bragging about his avaricious side - while Porky would bring some sanity to the situation. And now Daffy giddily talks about how he hopes to collect the reward.

That's the main point that I notice in the cartoon. I figure that "MLD" was mostly intended as a placeholder. Worth seeing.

Coming from an avid Looney Tunes and Daffy Duck fan, I actually enjoyed My Little Duckaroo. One or two of the sight gags may border on predictable and the ending is rather disappointing, but the dialogue is razor sharp and funny especially from Daffy. Speaking of Daffy I too prefer him when he is manic in alternative to greedy, but I really enjoyed him here, mainly because of his dialogue and the silly clothes he wears. Porky is given little to do, but he does have a song at the beginning that is quite amusing, not because of the lyrics as such but the singing is intentionally off-key. Other than the song, the accompanying music is melodious and memorable, and the animation is impressively rendered. Although Nasty Canasta doesn't say much, he is an interesting enough foil for Daffy I think. And as always, Mel Blanc is stellar providing the vocals. Overall, a fun cartoon while not Daffy's best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

PS. The title of my review refers to one of the sight gags, that I found particularly funny if random.

I didn't know the date of the episode before I watched it and while I watched I presumed it was a 1960's Looney Tunes cartoon, almost definitely made by I Freleng and like many of his cartoons a whole bag of references to earlier classic episodes. When I saw this was a cartoon made in 1954 and it was made by Chuck Jones, I was very surprised.

Still, this is an episode all right to watch, if exceedingly similar to "Drip Along Daffy." Like in "Drip Along Daffy," Daffy Duck is a western-hero and Porky alongside him is a "Comedy Relief." There are some fun songs at the beginning, which is relatively common in Looney Tunes, but still excitingly lovely all the same. Daffy Duck is the Masked "Evenger" (that's how he pronounces "Avenger," anyway) and he sees a wanted poster for a major criminal. The Masked Avenger gallops to the criminal's house and attempts to arrest the desparado....

The episode may be predictable and cliché, but for Daffy Duck fans it is still overall worth at least one watch, as the personalities of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig are very entertaining.

Recommended to people who like Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, enjoy "My Little Duckaroo"! :-)