Robin Hood Daffy

One of the great classics of animation, Chuck Jones's 'Robin Hood Daffy' is a sumptuous and hilarious short from the late era of Warner Bros. cartoons. Based on the glorious Warner production 'The Adventures of Robin Hood', 'Robin Hood Daffy' combines subtle character comedy and broad slapstick with an astonishingly perfect balance. The famous "buck and a quarter quarterstaff" scene that opens the film is the finest example of this. Daffy's wild thrashing around is punctuated by his quiet run through of how the routine should go as he takes time out to establish just where he went wrong. It's a classic scene with some terrific animation as the chortling Porky Pig defeats Daffy Duck at a duel with very little effort. Compare this scene and the laughing fits that the characters break into afterwards with the same scene from 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' and it becomes even funnier as you realise how close to the source material it actually is.

There are plenty of other classic moments in 'Robin Hood Daffy' ("Yoiks and away"), each punctuated by the frolicking image of the weary traveller that Daffy is attempting to rob obliviously passing by the latest scene of Daffy's humiliation. Apart from the gorgeous layouts, the brilliant gags and the wonderful performance by Mel Blanc, 'Robin Hood Daffy' is also notable for how Jones uses the characters, particularly Porky Pig. Porky had long been a straight man whose star billing was contradicted by the way his co-stars upstaged him. Relegating Porky to supporting player breathed new life into him and, as is the case with all Jones's Porky and Daffy genre parodies, Porky excels himself. His laidback, overly-jolly friar is the perfect foil to inspire escalating frustration in Daffy as he tries in vain to prove he's Robin Hood, never thinking to just point out one of the many Wanted posters bearing his image. 'Robin Hood Daffy' is an exceptional piece of work that everyone of a certain age remembers fondly. It's another in an extraordinarily long line of Chuck Jones classics.

One of my all-time favorites. One hysterical gag after another, especially when Daffy tries to swing on a vine and smashes into one tree after another. Daffy is so funny as the failed Robin Hood Daffy, and Porky Pig is hillarious as Friar Tuck laughing at everything Daffy is doing. I can never stop laughing when I watch this one.

Often hilarious and nearly always sumptuous, this is a solid Daffy Duck cartoon. The animation is in general very nice, with crisp colourful backgrounds, and smooth character movements. Though there was once or twice where objects such as the tree were a tad static. The music though was fantastic, very rousing. While not perhaps the most rollicking take on the Robin Hood story, I would say the Errol Flynn film takes that title, it is entertaining, with some good visual gags and a fun script. Whereas in cartoons like The Ducksters, Porky is the butt of the joke, but here, it is Daffy and he seems to be taking it well as he makes a rollicking Robin Hood figure, and Porky is an effective Friar Tuck. I would also like to praise Mel Blanc for his brilliant voice characterisations. All in all, not the absolute best Daffy cartoon, but solid enough. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Robin Hood Daffy (1958)

*** (out of 4)

Not quite as great as RABBIT HOOD, here's another Chuck Jones directed take on the Robin Hood legend. This time out Daffy Duck is wearing the tights and after running into Friar (Porky Pig) he must convince him that he is the real Robin. Of course, with Daffy this isn't going to be too easy and he keeps making one big mistake after another. ROBIN HOOD DAFFY contains some very good animation and a rather cute story but at the same time I don't think it comes together as good as it could have. Yes, it's a good movie but it's still middle-ground in terms of Looney Tunes and some of the classics they've done over the years. Some of the highlights includes a scene towards the end where Duffy flashes past the man he's trying to "take" and we see a great scene of him going into some water up up a draw bridge. The animation here is very effective and so is the laugh. The rest of the film contains some fast action but none of it is as funny as it should have been.

This is one of the funniest Daffy Duck cartoons. I especially liked that song he sings at the beginning "To trip, to trip, to trip it up and down." I also like the part where Daffy keeps hitting all those trees, so he chops them down. Then when he tries to swing again, he hits a huge rock. This is highly recommended. Daffy is one of my all time favorite toons.