Yankee Doodle Daffy

Despite the the title, this has nothing to do with the 1942 film biopic of George M. Cohan or the song. The plot has pushy talent agent Daffy trying to persuade producer Porky to give Daffy's client a job. The client in question is an adorable little duck with a lollipop named Sleepy Lagoon. It's not until the end of the short that we find out if Sleepy has talent or not as most of the time is spent on Daffy himself performing. This is a funny short with early Daffy, meaning more zany and silly than the later smart-mouthed foil for Bugs. Daffy's most of the show here but Sleepy is good, too, and Porky is fine as the ever-suffering straight man. The vocal talents of Mel Blanc are, as always, wonderful. The colors, animation, and music are all great. Not one of the best Daffy & Porky shorts but a good one.

This is definitely one of Daffy Duck's best. However, I wonder why the term "Yankee Doodle" was used in the title. The cartoon was released during WWII, and Yankee Doodle was used in the title of a number of cartoons at that time, e.g., Tom and Jerry's _Yankee Doodle Mouse, The (1943)_ (qv). With that term as part of the title, one could expect to see soldiers; airplanes; military maneuvers; the bashing of Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito, or Tojo; or at least something related to the war in some way. This cartoon has nothing remotely related to WWII. Perhaps 'Friz Freleng' (qv) figured it wouldn't matter to his audience.

In my opinion, this has got to be the best Daffy Duck cartoon ever....all of the songs he does are great and very hilarious...especially when he sings Laugh Clown Laugh....had me laughing through the entire cartoon...classic Daffy stuff right here.

Porky Pig is the President of Smeller Productions and he's leaving for vacation. Daffy Duck interrupts his quick exit and forces him to stay. Daffy is an agent with a young prospect named Sleepy Lagoon who may not be up to auditioning. Daffy starts doing all kinds of song and dance by himself.

I assume that they are trying to introduce this Sleepy Lagoon. I don't know why. It is not a good cartoon character. This would work so much better with Daffy representing himself. It fits Daffy's nature and would make much more sense in this short. All this needs are Porky and Daffy. Sleepy just gets in the way.

One thing that I always say about "Mister Ed", "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie", is that it sucks to be Wilbur, Darrin and Maj. Nelson, respectively. I say that because these things that they have to experience at the hands of Ed, Samantha and Jeannie, have got to be mind-numbing. In that respect, it sucks to be Porky Pig in "Yankee Doodle Daffy". In this cartoon, Porky is a talent scout to whom Daffy tries to show the skills of his nephew, Sleepy McGoof. Most of the cartoon has Daffy putting on a series of wacky skits, while Sleepy sits there sucking on a lollipops. No matter what Porky does, he can't seem to get away from them.

This one was a little bit more routine than some of the other Looney Tunes cartoons, but it's still worth seeing.