You Were Never Duckier

I suppose quite a lot of Looney Tunes buffs have seen several Henery Hawk episodes already and are pretty familiar with him, but as far as I know, this is my first. I thought he was a pretty good character, although I feel his personality was not demonstrated enough in this episode for me to have an idea of his true character traits.

Ah well, Daffy and Henery Hawk's son were fab in this episode. Here, Daffy has arrived in New York City and hopes to win some money for the best duck competition. When he finds that the best duck wins 5 cents while the best rooster wins 5000 bucks, of course, he decides then and there to disguise himself as a rooster. Meanwhile, Henery Hawk is being lectured by his dad, Chickenhawk, about what kinds of chicken to eat and the little Henery Hawk decides to sneak of to the judging place of the best rooster and attempts to catch Daffy. Cartoon capers commence...

It is sometimes predictable, sometimes unpredictable. My favourite thing about this episode was Daffy, I liked his character here and the idea of disguising himself as a rooster is one of a nature I have not seen him do before. :-) I recommend this to people who want to see Henery Hawk and to people who like a mixture of crazy Daffy and sneaky Daffy. Enjoy "You Were Never Duckier!" :-)

Fun Chuck Jones short with Daffy squaring off against Henery Hawk and his father. Daffy tries to impersonate a chicken to win a contest and winds up in danger of being dinner for the two chicken hawks. It's a funny pairing with Daffy and characters he doesn't typically interact with. When we think of Henery we normally think of the classic Foghorn Leghorn shorts he was in. But he and Daffy play well off each other here quite well. Wonderful animation with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Lovely bright Technicolor is always a plus in my book. The music is whimsical and upbeat. Exceptional voice work from Mel Blanc. A well-paced cartoon with lots of laughs and a great ending.

There have been many instances of people masquerading as other individuals, but Daffy Duck brings the concept to a crazy art form in "You Were Never Duckier". Offended that a contest only pays the best duck $5 while paying the best chicken $5,000, he decides to dress up like a chicken. That's when young chicken-hawk Henery Hawk - despite his species name, he's not a warmonger who refused to serve in the armed forces - comes in search of a nice, tasty chicken to eat. Does Daffy just live a completely doomed life?! This is at the very least an early instance of Daffy's greed and egotism getting the better of him (much like in "Show Biz Bugs", where he took offense at getting billed under Bugs). If only these sorts of things could befall every greedy, narcissistic person on earth.

Anyway, a cool one.

In concept, this was a very intriguing if somewhat odd pairing, with Daffy often paired with Porky Pig, sometimes Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd and often just himself, and Henery Hawk is more closely associated with Foghorn Leghorn.

But seeing as Chuck Jones was such a talented animator and director, that did have a knack for making potential oddities or atypical things work with the right material, this reviewer as a fan of Daffy, Jones and of Looney Tunes watched it anyway and would have done regardless.

It is a great cartoon, and not only is Daffy wonderfully manic, sneaky and sometimes greedy and Henery both cute, witty and anarchic but their partnership is a lot of fun (they square off against one another brilliantly, and gel so well together) but it makes sense too. Which was great for a partnership so different, especially after seeing a couple of partnerships concerning Daffy that don't make sense and don't gel, namely with Speedy Gonzales.

What's more, 'You Were Never Duckier' is enormously entertaining, with the typical wild looniness, razor-sharp wit and sardonic bite constantly shining in the dialogue. Plus there are some beautifully timed and animated and imaginative sight gags, that contain enough surprises. Sure the story is very predictable in places, but also has its fair share of unpredictable parts like the unexpectedly cute ending.

Animation is as always bright and colourful, with lots of smooth movement, imaginative detail in the gags and rich and meticulous detail in the backgrounds. Carl Stalling's music score is as ever high in energy, liveliness, character, lushness and whimsy, and not only is dynamic and fits effortlessly with the action but enhances everything.

In summary, an example of an atypical pairing coming off brilliantly in an exceptionally well made and enormously entertaining cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Pretending to be someone or something you aren't, is never a good idea. Daffy Duck finds that out here, big-time, as greed ruins him once again.

Little "Henery Hawk" shares the billing with Daffy Duck. I've seen this opening theme in at least one other Looney Tune but I can't remember which one. It involves the main character (it might have been Bugs Bunny) being insulted because his species value at decidedly less than something else.

Here, Daffy is insulted because he's worth only $5 while a rooster is worth $5,000, in a National Poultry Show contest for "best rooster" and "best duck" in some big city. "I came all the way from Dubuque (Iowa) for this?," asks Daffy. His plan is to pretend to be a rooster so he can win the "5,000 smackeroonies."

Putting a crimp into his plans is little Henery, who wants to impress his chicken-hawk father by capturing a chicken. He heads out to the show and you know who sees first and brings home to papa!

The bulk of the story, then, is Daffy is trying to save his skin from Henerey's father. Some of the sight gags in that segment are good, and the ending is very cute, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.