A Star Is Bored

For the umpteenth time, Daffy "hubris is my middle name" Duck tries to best Bugs Bunny, with the same success that he's had before. The hardest part here is wondering how a duck is supposed to double a rabbit. But, as has been said, anything can happen in a cartoon. This is a fun and enjoyable cartoon and Daffy gets what he deserves and what I suspect is his karmic birthright. Recommended.

It's no "Duck Amuck" (1953), but "A Star Is Bored" is a passable Looney Tunes cartoon that goes behind the scenes of a movie studio. Bugs Bunny plays an actor and, apparently, screenwriter, while Daffy Duck suffers the indignities and cartoon violence of being the rabbit's stuntman and foil. Neither the final reveal or anything else has the same effect as "Duck Amuck," where animation itself was deconstructed, but this is slightly amusing nonetheless.

The title is a play on that of the Judy Garland version of "A Star Is Born" (1954), but besides both being about filmmaking, this cartoon short doesn't have anything to do with the lengthy, live-action film. I viewed this after reviewing the Garland picture, however, and Bugs, Daffy and company are a good way to cheer one up after that emotionally-devastating feature.

If a long-eared rabbit can be a star, so can a duck," pronounces Daffy Duck as he disgustedly leaves some Hollywood dressing room area after overhearing Bugs being interviewed by a columnist. Daffy wants to be a star, too.

Meanwhile some movie producer is looking for a double for Bugs. He's on the phone asking someone, "Where can I get someone stupid enough to take the job?"

You can guess who applies! The title to this cartoon is similar to Daffy's response, "You can hang up the phone, boss, because a star is born and that star is me!"

The results are predictable when Daffy is called upon, in the middle of various scenes to be a stand-in for Bugs - he gets pulverized in various. A couple of the "stunts" were funny, like the jet plane but most were so-so, at best.

The artwork was very 1950s-ish. It's hard to explain but you know the look, more "modern" than from 1940s to the early '50s.

In what must have been the only time that Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam all starred in the same cartoon, Daffy is movie star Bugs's stunt double for every dangerous scene. Suffice it to say, Daffy always believes that he'll end up the top star but always suffers in the worst way possible. Is this his eternal doom?! Anyway, "A Star Is Bored" really shows Friz Freleng's style. While his cartoons didn't usually reach the cleverness attained by Chuck Jones's work, he always kept his cartoons funny. He certainly gives Daffy his just desserts. And he pokes fun at Hollywood just the right amount without the cartoon turning obnoxious. A good one.

I bet that the people in Middle America didn't get the part about Daffy performing at bar mitzvahs. Of course, the Termite Terrace crowd always liked to sneak in things like that (see the kreplach scene in "The Scarlet Pumpernickel").

Coming from a huge lifelong Looney Tunes fan, and as a fan of all four characters, this viewer found herself loving every minute of 'A Star is Bored'.

Sure it may be predictable, it is very clear who is going to get the worst of the violence from the very start, but that's not enough to take away from its high quality, entertainment value and sheer joy of seeing these four characters playing against one another.

The animation is very bright and colourful with everything drawn crisply and with great attention to detail, budgets may have been low at the time but luckily it does not show here. There is nothing to complain about the character designs, the colours are a feast for the eyes and the backgrounds were clearly designed with great care and love, nothing looks cheap here. 'A Star is Bored' benefits from another great Milt Franklyn score. It's beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, brings a huge amount of energy and the character not only blends so well with the action but like Carl Stalling (if not quite as ingeniously) enhances it.

Always a huge part of Looney Tunes' charm was the humour and the quality of the writing. 'A Star is Bored' does not disappoint at all in this regard. There are funnier ones definitely, but the dialogue is so sharp and witty, not showing an ounce of fatigue, especially Daffy's priceless "Oh boy, I could be sent to prison for the scenes I'm going to steal!" and the ending. All the gags work, they are very well timed and range from very funny to hilarious. The story is episodic and doesn't escape the predictability factor , but while it has the feel of a clip show, there is not a dull moment and scenes flow from one another with no obvious sense of choppiness.

Loved the expansion of the rivalry depicted between Bugs and Daffy, with Elmer and Yosemite Sam in support, amidst the show business setting. All four characters work brilliantly together, and the two producer and director characters offer some amusement. Elmer is suitably befuddled, though his appearance is rather cameo-like, and Yosemite Sam is effectively hot-headed, but Bugs and Daffy register more. Bugs is charismatic, likable, smart and somewhat arrogant (what's not to love about his final line?), though it is Daffy who has the bigger role and walks away with the cartoon. Daffy is just hilarious here with all the best lines and gags. Mel Blanc's vocal characterisations in multiple roles (all but two characters) are faultless, and Arthur Q. Bryan and June Foray are very good too though they don't have as much to do and their material is not quite as strong.

In conclusion, not Looney Tunes at their best and not quite one of my personal favourites but never less than hugely enjoyable. 9/10 Bethany Cox