Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island

Honestly, I'm not much of a fan of Daffy Duck's short films, so I was not expecting much from this movie, but I was wrong, the movie is very good, with great characters, great jokes, a great animation and a fabulous mix of sound. Highly recommend.

The biggest problem with this film is a common one in all these compilations: you can see (and probably have seen) most of this material elsewhere (mostly in Saturday-morning kiddie shows on TV). However, anyone looking for the trademark anarchic, sometimes surrealistic humor of the WB cartoons, surely won't be disappointed with "Fantastic Island". Of course, some episodes are more enjoyable than others; there is one dud (Porky Pig as a producer searching for talents), but there is also at least one short, starring a jive-talking rooster ("Crazy, man. C-razy!") that can perhaps be fully appreciated only by adults. (**1/2)

Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales are marooned on a desert island. Yosemite Sam and the Tasmanian Devil lose a sea battle with Bugs Bunny and a treasure map. Daffy and Speedy use the map to find a wishing well which grants any wish to the owner of the treasure map. Daffy creates a Fantasy Island resort which grants wishes to its visitors.

This is really an excuse to show old Looney Tunes episodes. The premise is bare-thread and unimpressive. It starts off with some odd pairings and then it becomes just an exercise in recycling. I'm a fan of the oldies and that keeps my interest. These are some of the better classics. However, it does nothing to create new material. The wishing well is no more than intermission between the old episodes.

Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983) is the fourth Looney Tunes compilation movie with this entry starring Daffy Duck and it was damn good.

Positives for Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983): I like how this movie is a parody of Fantasy Island with Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales even if I've never watched that show. It does the transitions into the various shorts very well. I got some great laughs in these shorts. This movie is very fast paced with its runtime. And finally, I really liked the ending to this movie.

Negatives for Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983): There were times where I lost track of the movie and where the story was going for the most part.

Overall, Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983) is a wonderful Looney Tunes Compilation movie and I have one more compilation movie to watch.

The Looney Tunes cartoons were always some of the most smartly written animated shorts ever. Long before robots and explosions dominated kids afternoons, the Looney Tunes staff depended on something harder: writing. Bugs Bunny being one of the more relatable cartoon characters for adults and kids. Adults laughed at his hidden references, kids laughed when he got Elmer Fudd to shoot himself. That magic of the old days is halfway featured here, in an obvious Fantasy Island spoof. It begins with perennial cartoon loser Daffy Duck stuck on a remote island with Speedy Gonazales (how the to got there is unknown). Following a fire-fight with Bugs Bunny on a ship, Yosemite Sam seeks sanctuary on the shores of said island. Daffy has discovered a map in a treasure chest that was sent airborne in the ship explosion, and it leads him to a magic wishing well. Instead of wishing to get off the island and become rich, he asks that the sand-glob be turned into a resort. Wherein he will charge tourists five-hundred bucks to wish in the well. Daffy Trump is born, and several notable Looney Tunes characters fly in to make requests of the well. The odd thing is, the well is not always forthcoming, instead screwing over the payee at the end. But, anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. What we're treated to are Tunes shorts from years ago, which are melded into people's wishes. Kids don't care if they've already seen it on Saturday morning, and just go with it. Others might be bored at stuff they saw 20 years ago. But if you have a vague memory of the shorts used, you'll enjoy it. Some clever ones like Sylvester the Cat battling a dog in a hospital room, and Yosemite Sam trying to go "good" in the presence of Bugs Bunny, who is the bearer of riches. The old material still comes off fun, but the new bits are definite filler. Daffy going through his manic motions, and Sam spending most of the film trying to match an errant feather to whomever stole his map. But if you can slog through that, you'll end up with some positive results in the "flashback" vain.