Recluta a la Fuerza

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".

Daffy Duck is less than patriotic. He is visited by a persistent draft board representative. He keeps escaping from the draft all the way to Hell.

At first glance, I am not sure if an unpatriotic Daffy is the way to go during a time of war. I do get the premise. Make Daffy a coward and make him suffer for his choice. To be sure, Daffy is a great coward. This probably worked for the audience back in the day, maybe. The problem is that Daffy is a great character and he could still appeal to some part of the audience even as a lowly coward. That is the central conflict. One should be enticed to join.

Daffy is reading today's paper which says, "U.S. Army announces a smashing frontal attack on enemy rear." He suddenly gets a surge of patriotism, racing around the room and waving a flag, imitating Teddy Roosevelt, singing patriot songs, saluting a picture of Douglas MacArthur and on and on.

Suddenly the phone rings and it's the draft board calling to say they are bringing him a notice. Wow, Mr. Patriot has a change of heart and now starts crooning, "It had to be me....poor me," sobbing big tears. His knees start shaking and he loses it - so much for bravado and patriotism!

I have to admit; Daffy doing everything he can to avoid being drafted sure reminds me of stories I used to hear in the late '60s concerning guys trying to get out of the Vietnam War. Daffy would have fit in with those guys. I laughed at the rocket ship on his roof with the billboard underneath that said, "Use in case of induction only."

Daffy still had that stupid laugh he had the first decade of his existence but you can see he's changing into the real wise guy he was in the '50s cartoons.

The direction in this cartoon from Robert Clampett is fantastic, so good it was more than noticeable, such as the angles in which we see Daffy racing around the house, trying to avoid the man from the draft board. The confetti-like sparks denoting speed was fun to see, too.

In all, an extremely entertaining and colorful cartoon.

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.