Cracked Quack

Flying south in a heavy blizzard, Daffy Duck hits a house, wherein he spots a fellow black duck on the mantle piece. When he eventually works out that the duck is actually stuffed, he decides that it would be easy to dump the stuffed duck and replace him until the spring. However, the dog that belongs to the house's owner smells a rat and tries to get Daffy - despite not being able to convince Porky that his stuffed duck is now real.

I'm a really big fan of Daffy Duck, but I like his crazy persona much more than his later greedy and selfish act. This cartoon sees him just leaving his crazy period but not yet manically greedy - here he is a little dry but still has a bit of the attitude that I love about him. The cartoon is pretty funny throughout as the poor dog thinks he is going nuts; a situation not helped by Porky's disbelief of his story. The material is good and the film finishes on a great little punchline that has a lot to take in in a short shot.

Daffy may not be the best I've seen him but he still works for me; here and there his attitude shines through and that was just about enough to do the job. Porky is good but has limited presence, it is his dog that makes the short work in key sequences - he is a hapless, luckless pup who is sympathetic but still funny. The black ducks towards the end are a nice addition and it's good to see Daffy isn't the only crazy one in the species!

Overall, fans of Daffy might be a little put off by what is a slightly dry role for him, but this short is still pretty funny and well worth a look. The other characters pick up some of the slack and the material throws out some good scenes.

I have made no secret of loving Looney Tunes, and I am a huge fan of Daffy Duck, so this was a match made in heaven. It is very funny, but is it quite Daffy's best? Not really, but it is very entertaining and definitely worth watching for many reasons. The animation is excellent, very crisp and smooth, and the music is a lot of fun. The sight gags work as Daffy outwits the dog, as does the dialogue which is razor sharp as always. The characters also help elevate, with Daffy still his manic yet somewhat greedy self, while Porky while his screen time is small is good and the dog almost stealing the show. Mel Blanc of course as always is brilliant. Overall, this Looney Tunes cartoon is nothing less than quackin' good fun! 10/10 Bethany Cox

Enjoyable Daffy and Porky short, directed by Friz Freleng with a story by Warren Foster. Daffy's flying south for the winter and finds himself flying straight into a bad weather. So he lets himself into a warm mansion and takes the place of a stuffed duck sitting atop the fireplace. When the mansion's owner, Porky Pig, returns home with his dog Rover, hijinks ensue. Typically excellent voice work from Mel Blanc. Whimsical music from Carl Stalling. The animation is nice and colorful; really love the backgrounds. The dog Rover is one of the weirder looking dogs I've seen in a WB cartoon. Fun but fairly standard stuff with Porky being exasperated by everything the dog does and Daffy being wacky and annoying. The ending is probably the best part.

While flying south later than he should have, Daffy Duck accidentally crashes into Porky Pig's house. Inside, he meets an uncommunicative duck. One thing leads to another until Daffy vows to beat the stuffings out of the duck. The only thing is, he literally does, at which point he realizes that it was a stuffed duck. Taking the duck's place, he has to hide from the dog, while Porky doesn't believe the dog's stories that there's a new duck around.

OK, so this probably wasn't the best Looney Tunes cartoon ever produced, but it definitely had the wit prevalent in all their cartoons from that era. In "Cracked Quack", Daffy goes into his totally wacky persona, as opposed to playing second banana to Bugs Bunny (whose integrity he always tried to undermine). But either way, this is still a great cartoon.

I guess that the end was the opposite of Independents' Day!