Duck Soup to Nuts

One of my favourite Daffy Duck episodes, this is very good. Both Daffy and Porky (who is the hunter here) make a good team and as Daffy did in the old days (the good old days) he fools his companion by use of clever tricks. Instead of insults and hurting in the later future, Daffy proves that he has talent and does not deserve to be shot (which is what Porky is trying to do). He shows that he can act, that he can sing and dance and a number of other clever tricks.

So, that's basically the plot. I also greatly enjoy this episode for the animation, the plot and the feelings expressed (the ending is also quite good, but surprising). Daffy's best line in this episode is: "I kind of stand out from the crowd, don't I?" as he does what looks like doing his nails (even though of course ducks do not have nails) among normal mallard like ducks bobbing up and down and eating duckweed.

I recommend this to people who like the old Daffy Duck, do not like too much fighting in Daffy Duck episodes and for people who would like to see a pairing of Daffy and Porky where Porky does not win over Daffy, really. Enjoy! :-)

For years, many of us have been entertained by the Looney Tunes. Part of those lovable cartoon characters' repertoires has been the stuttering Porky Pig's endless efforts to trap the sneaky Daffy Duck. In "Duck Soup to Nuts", Porky is hunting Daffy, but of course Daffy keeps figuring out ways to mess up Porky's attempts.

I guess that these cartoons are meant to remind us that hunting will not net you desirable results (think Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd). And it's so great to watch slender Daffy play tricks on overweight Porky (think of them as Laurel and Hardy, or Gilligan and the Skipper). Marvellous.

Funny Daffy and Porky short, directed by Friz Freleng. The plot's simple: Porky's duck hunting and sets his sights on Daffy. As you can imagine, Daffy finds one way after another to outsmart Porky. The gags and lines are all pretty good. This is still in the early Daffy era when he was especially wacky. Not everybody likes this version of Daffy. I admit I prefer the way he was later on a bit more but I do find a lot of these earlier shorts fun. Mel Blanc's voice work is flawless, as usual. Carl Stalling's music is full of pep. The animation is very nice and colorful. There's really very little to say about this that is negative, except that it's fairly routine, even with Daffy being so eccentric. The eagle/pig bit and the ending with Daffy's family are the highlights. It's a good cartoon, particularly if you like the zanier Daffy.

Here's the recipe: take one duck who stands out amongst more realistic acting ones (preferably one filing his nails and prone to wearing a bathing cap). We simply cannot be satisfied with any ordinary every day meat on the table duck. This one must be gifted and eager to give us a taste of his entire resume: sing, dance, act (contract with Warner brothers optional). The specimen we have here earns an extra point by grabbing a wig from someone below screen (belonging to a member of the audience we suspect) to put on Porky. Yes that's right, the most evil, disgusting and intimidating character Warners could hire, Porky Pig, is the second ingredient. When the little black duck is not offering Shakespearean asides to viewers, he should be insulting the weight challenged curly tail. Start of with 'fat stuff' and work up from there. Then have these two spices try to outwit each other and sit back to watch sparks fly for seven minutes:

When mixed together the combined ingredients should taste somewhat like this: Old Fatso following this 'gremlin like' duck into the lake wearing a diving helmet, only to find himself sidetracked by 'The sellerbrush man'. Adding water to the wine, that Pig drains the entire lake one bucket at a time. This leaves Daffy flapping like a fish (please make sure all the other lake dwellers have been removed beforehand). Daffy counters with the tried and true 'telling the future by reading the bumps on your head' bit before the two of them get into the great eagle/pig debate. Now the Porkster adds gravy by pulling out bigger and better firepower. In a final act of desperation Daffy brings out the old wife and kids: Celia, Sylvester, Lathrop and Stanislaus (who spits at Porky, making his daddy proud). Which one of them will be the main course and who will be desert?

10 out of 6

Bon appetit

Friz Freleng's 'Duck Soup to Nuts' is one of the great Daffy-terrorizes-Porky cartoons. The quality of these simple scenario shorts depend entirely on the quality of the antagonist's heckling and in 'Duck Soup to Nuts' it is top notch. Tedd Pierce's script is hilarious giving Daffy plenty of inventive pranks and bits. Unlike Robert McKimson's weak take on this premise in 'Boobs in the Wood', 'Duck Soup to Nuts' is beautifully animated (just watch Daffy's impression of a fish) and extremely funny. Energetic and witty, the laughs keep on coming throughout, right up to the climax in which Daffy says goodbye to his hysterically named "children". There's not much to say about 'Duck Soup to Nuts' really, other than it demands to be seen. It's a basic, bare-bones scenario done 100% right and while it might not have the inventiveness to set it apart as a true classic, it sure makes for a rib-ticklingly entertaining seven minutes