La chasse au canard

Funny Porky & Daffy short, directed by Robert McKimson. The plot has Porky and his dog out duck hunting, which leads to Daffy deciding to screw around with them. There seems to be some debate about whether or not Porky's dog here is actually supposed to be Barnyard Dog from the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons. They look very similar but this dog doesn't sound like Barnyard at all or have his personality. Whether it's Barnyard or not, the dog's a fun character. Love his "angel & devil" bit. Really the whole show belongs to Daffy here. He's at an 11 on a 10 scale the whole time, being as wacky and kooky as possible. The animation is fluid with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Love the Technicolor. Carl Stalling's music is very nice. Mel Blanc's voice work is flawless (as usual). It's a good cartoon but, as other reviewers have noted, the first half is much better than the second. Fans of Daffy should love it.

Porky Pig and his loyal dog are out hunting duck. However, of all the possible ducks they could go after, it's just bad luck that they go after the craziest duck in the swamp - Daffy Duck! And Daffy is too much of a wise-quacker to get caught easily by anyone.

I'm a big fan of Daffy Duck but I vastly prefer him when he is in fully `crazy' mood, doing all sorts of manic things; I find that much funnier than his later greedy & selfish personae. Here he is spot on in his crazy personae and he totally makes this cartoon work. The plot is split between the hunt and Porky's house (where Daffy gets taken in an agreement with the dog). While the hunt section is funny, the stuff in the house is much better and is a perfect forum for Daffy to do his stuff. It is funny and imaginative throughout.

Daffy is great here and his manic actions and delivery are hilarious. Porky is not a great character but he is good in a solid partnership; here then, he works and reacts well to the action. The downtrodden dog is good but I must admit that I didn't like some of his voice work here in comparison to some other Daffy shorts I have seen him in.

Overall, for true Daffy Duck fans (i.e. those who appreciate him when he is daffy) this cartoon will be hilarious. For those who have yet to be won over by the little black duck, this will surely help you come round to my way of thinking. Personally, `I like him; he's silly.'

I really enjoyed Daffy Duck Hunt, even if it is a little uneven at times. The first four minutes are absolutely hilarious, with razor-sharp dialogue and hysterical visual gags. The last half or so is still entertaining, but one or jokes aren't as well timed and come off as predictable. The animation is absolutely excellent, as is the music. Plus Mel Blanc's characterisations as Daffy, Porky and Barnyard Dog are simply brilliant! Daffy himself is still his outrageous and manic self, and man isn't he hysterical here? The end line and the part with the can can especially had me in stitches. Porky once again isn't given as much to do, but he is solid, and Barnyard Dog is a worthy foil here. Overall, hugely enjoyable, uneven at times, but it is still very funny and Daffy is stellar. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Daffy Duck Hunt (1949)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Porky Pig goes hunting and ends up bringing Daffy Duck back with him. However, Porky's dog decides he has his own plans for the duck, which includes accidentally letting him out of the freezer. This is a decent short from the Merrie Melodies gang but it's certainly no classic. This is certainly fairly entertaining but when you've got Daffy and Porky together I expect a lot more. The best sequence in the film happens towards the start when the dog and Daffy come up with an agreement to make the dog look good. When the action heads back to Porky's house things get a little weak but this is still worth watching at least once.

In the late '40s and early '50s while Chuck Jones was making Porky and Daffy cartoons that had the latter the "hero" while the former the "sidekick", Robert McKimson was bringing back the adversarial relationship they originally had when they first met in Tex Avery's Porky's Duck Hunt. This short is similar to that in that Porky is once again a hunter who's looking for ducks. Daffy, of course, becomes the target but because he emptied many bullet shells of pellets, the shooting Porky does won't hurt him. At this point, the dog makes a deal with the duck for him to surrender to him so his master won't throw him out. Many funny gags involving the duck and dog follow. And dig the holiday twist that ends this short. So on that note, I highly recommend Daffy Duck Hunt.