Drip-Along Daffy

Drip-Along Daffy (1951)

*** (out of 4)

Daffy Duck and his comedy relief Porky Pig arrive in a lawless town so Daffy decides to become sheriff and clean the place up. Before he can do that he must deal with the ruthless Nasty Canasta. This spoof of the Western genre is a winning entry into the Merrie Melodies series and I'm sure fans of the genre will get a nice little kick out of it. It's certainly not the best the series ever offered up but it's still 7-minutes worth of nice entertainment. The best thing about the movie is of course Daffy who really goes all out in his maniac-type of way. The scene involving the mixed drinks was priceless as was another sequence when Daffy first kicks through the bar doors. Being from Jones I always look for that small little thing that some might not notice and this time out it was the great whiskers on Porky.

With an unmistakable Western theme, this Daffy Duck short is almost bursting with gags, some of them only all right, but most of them are very good! With the characters good, the plot good, the setting good and the jokes good - how else could this Daffy Duck episode live up to a good standard. Oh yes - why not the theme and the hero!?

This episode introduces Daffy Duck as a "Western Type Hero" and Porky as a "Comedy Relief". Then a "Lawless Western Town" is introduced and as we see the town-folk are not doing well at all. Just when all hope seems lost, Daffy Duck shows up on his trusty steed with his sheriff star badge and he gallops to the rescue! He and Porky have got a very funny and surprising adventure ahead of them.

Good for Daffy Duck fans interested in the little black duck's modern episodes and for people who like funny western cartoon shorts, enjoy "Drip-Along Daffy"! :-)

Of all Chuck Jones's brilliant genre spoofs featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, 'Drip Along Daffy' is one of the best loved and is only dwarfed by the classic duo of 'Robin Hood Daffy' and 'Duck Dodgers in the 24th ½ Century'. A hilarious parody of Westerns, 'Drip Along Daffy' finds Daffy all too willingly taking on the role of cowboy hero. A bewhiskered Porky, we are informed by a caption, is the comedy relief. This proves to be somewhat of a misnomer as it is in fact Daffy who provides the majority of the laughs as his heroic posturing is quickly diminished by his trademark buffoonery and a frightening encounter with villain Nasty Canasta. Despite some impeccably timed physical comedy, the biggest laughs in 'Drip Along Daffy' come from the verbal gags, a particularly on form Mel Blanc nailing every line with hysterically accurate observation. I find myself particularly floored every time by Daffy's disbelieving "You wouldn't dare", as he witnesses Nasty Canasta's horrifyingly toxic drink being mixed. 'Drip Along Daffy' is another typically classy Jones film which shows exactly why he's such a treasured director. Porky's final line is the icing on the cake.

Daffy Duck is the `western hero type' and Porky Pig his `comedy relief' sidekick. They arrive in a `typical lawless town' to find violence and lawlessness is rife. Things get off to a shaky start but Daffy soon learns that all the crime comes from one man - a man that Daffy must face up to.

I'm a really big fan of Daffy Duck and always feel that he is at his best when he is in his early persona of being manic and wacky. Even when he becomes more cynical and greedy he still manages to be one of my favourite Warner Brothers characters. Here he is played as a bit of a pompous duck, so a touch of his later side here; he is the butt of most of the gags as he tries to be heroic but really flops. The material is reasonably good as he is defeated again and again by the main outlaw; it isn't hilarious but Daffy takes it well.

He doesn't carry the film himself though; in fact Porky actually does a great deal of the hard work and manages to slowly steal the cartoon from under Daffy. Daffy is still good though, but the fact that he is the joke here takes away from him being the leading character. The outlaw is a nice bit of stereotypical animation and works on that level - but you wouldn't call him a character in that way.

Overall this isn't hilarious but it works as a nice little western spoof. As a Daffy fan it was difficult to see him being the brunt of every joke here, but he works it well. Not a great example of Daffy at his best but still worth seeing; Porky also continues his habit of stealing scenes from Daffy despite always playing a minor role.

Especially the opening of this cartoon is terrific. Daffy Duck becomes sheriff in a town where someone gets shot every second, what we see in the opening sequence. Porky Pig is his helper. There is one big villain and in a man to man duel Daffy and the villain will decide who will live and who will not. Porky has an important role in that part.

A very nice short with, like I said, an opening sequence that will make you laugh many times. The other parts of the short are nice, although not hilarious. With Daffy things do not go as planned and that gives Porky the chance to make us laugh a couple of times. A fun cartoon. Mel Blanc as the voice of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.