Holiday for Drumsticks

Another Thanksgiving-themed Daffy Duck cartoon that's just as good as, if not better than, Tom Turk and Daffy. One of the other reviewers of this, TheLittleSongbird, may have found it predictable, but I don't usually try to figure out and guess what's going to happen next before it does, so I don't know. It's somewhat of a remake of Tom Turk and Daffy. But this time a turkey, who's redesigned and has a different voice from the titular turkey in the previous short, which I didn't know at the time when I first saw this, is given the holiday feast by hillbillies, Ma and Pa, to make him get fat enough to be made into a meal himself. But Daffy warns him of their intention and the turkey loses weight whereas Daffy gains it by over-gorging. Months later and just in time for Thanksgiving, the turkey has slimmed down and Daffy has become overweight. When this occurs to the latter, Pa sets his sights on him as part of the meal instead and now Daffy is the one begging the turkey to save him from being the main course.

There are similarities between the two turkey-themed cartoons, but there are differences as well, like the aforementioned reversal roles of Daffy and the turkey in their physiques. The art and animation are fine, the colors are just right, the backgrounds and layouts are nice to see, the music is in top-notch form as usually the case, the story is somewhat distinctive in its own right, and the voices here, all provided by the late Mel Blanc are greatly done as usual. Another reviewer mentioned ducks are female and drakes are male. If that's so, then why are both genders of waterfowl still called ducks, anyway? That aside, this is a another finely directed Merrie Melodies short by Arthur Davis.

What first surprised me about this episode was the opening: it quite obviously referenced the episode I mentioned above. In "A Feud There Was," there is a group of American Westerners in the middle of the forest constantly shooting their guns and there is a woman who makes the tea and the meals. That was the case in this episode. One minute through, however, and no more references occur. The episode then features a turkey who is going to be eaten for Thanksgiving and Daffy Duck. Daffy is annoyed that the Turkey has to eat some of Daffy's share of food, as he receives very little himself. When he sees the huge meal that the humans have given the turkey, Daffy then realises that the turkey is being fattened for Thanksgiving and he sees this as an opportunity to eat all that is being given to the turkey, while he tells the turkey he cannot fatten himself up or otherwise he will be eaten...

Another episode reference later on is "Tom Turk and Daffy", which I will not give away in this review. Overall, I thought the episode was worth watching, it gave a greedy side of Daffy you do not usually see and there were a few witty statements and all right gags. I do not think I will watch it again, but it is funny enough.

I recommend this to people who like all Daffy Duck and episode references (if they've seen at least one of the original cartoons). Enjoy "Holiday For Drumsticks"! :-)

This time, filmdom's most drake* gets a turkey to give up his food, and then eats it. This proves unfortunate for him once Thanksgiving comes around. Mostly, this cartoon is really funny because of what Daffy Duck does in trying to avoid getting eaten (a true display of his craven, self-preserving side).

The sight of a morbidly obese Daffy makes me think of the current obesity epidemic. Who would have guessed that Daffy would have become a couch potato? But otherwise, it's just a regular cartoon. Fairly entertaining.

*A duck is the female of the species, while a drake is the male. Therefore, the second most famous Looney Tune would more accurately be called Daffy Drake. But it's a bit late to change the name after seventy years.

Now I really enjoyed Holiday for Drumsticks, but is it the best Looney Tunes cartoon? No, not for me- I found it a little predictable in the story to find it absolutely exceptional. But it is still very funny, and an example of a cartoon that begins well and is nicely rounded off. The animation is impressive, and the music is pretty good too. The sight gags are plentiful and work really well especially the ones in the latter half, and the dialogue is fitfully amusing. The characters are likable too, Daffy is more greedy if anything else but this works well, but he is almost upstaged by that poor turkey. Oh, and Mel Blanc's vocals are stellar. Overall, very funny if somewhat predictable. Definitely worth watching. 8/10 Bethany Cox