To Duck... or Not to Duck

To Duck or Not To Duck (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Elmer Fudd and his beloved dog Rover are out duck hunting when they com across Daffy Duck. Soon Daffy and Elmer are in a boxing ring where you know the duck isn't going to play by the rules.

If you're a fan of Daffy and Elmer then you're obviously going to want to check this early teaming out. I don't think this here is one of the best shorts together as the series would eventually get much better but there are still plenty of nice laughs here that make it worth viewing. There's no question that the highlight happens early on when there's some "duck shot" being fired at Daffy as he flies through some clouds. As you'd expect the animation is of the highest quality.

Something I've often wondered about is the term sportsman for a person who takes a powerful rifle or shotgun and fires at a defenseless creature. I'm not anti-hunting, just annoyed by that term. In this one, Daffy has had enough and decides to settle things with Elmer Fudd in the boxing ring. Daffy has a clear advantage and many cartoons that followed used some of the same bits. Elmer does get the last word.

A great cartoon. The unpredictable set-up (Daffy backs Elmer through the marsh up into a boxing ring!) begins a hilarious pro-duck boxing match. Elmer is of course, completely over-matched and clueless (but surprisingly gets back and Daffy and Co. at the end), and Daffy has a funny line to the audience-"Ain't he a dope?". The referee is a strong, (literally) well-rounded character, too. But the best line might be from Laramor the dog, "There's something screwy about this fight, or my name isn't Laramor...and it isn't". I know that they can't have them all on the Golden Collection, but this, among other early 40s' shorts should have been included and hopefully will be available soon on DVD.

'To Duck... Or Not To Duck (1943)' pairs the fast-talking Daffy Duck with the affable Elmer Fudd. The former wants to fight the latter mano-a-mano in a much 'fairer' setting than usual, opting for an odd boxing match that might just be rigged in his favour. The short really centres around this idea, even if it seems incredibly 'left field' when it's first introduced. Arguably, it's more entertaining before the boxing ring even comes into play, with Daffy's daft dialogue and Fudd's likeable apologies combining for a compelling dynamic. Still, the flick is constantly enjoyable and often quite funny, finding humour in both its visuals and its narrative. It ends on a nice note, too. 7/10

I guess I might have enjoyed this cartoon a lot more if it weren't for the fact that there were so many better Looney Toons cartoons that also paired Daffy and Elmer Fudd. The most famous of these later pairings also included Bugs Bunny and it was all about whether or not it was duck or rabbit hunting season. There also was another where Elmer took Daffy home after a hunt and Daffy pretended to be Santa! Both of these are classics.

As for this cartoon, the animation isn't quite as pretty as some of the cartoons from the late 40s, but it's still awfully good. The story begins with Elmer and his dog hunting. Daffy is hit and caught but he begins to verbally attack Elmer for "unsportsman-like behavior" and challenges him to a very one-sided and obviously fixed boxing match--with another duck as the referee. The laughs are there and there is a lot to like--but I never loved this or laughed like I did for the later times that I saw these two great Looney Tunes characters together.