Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island

"Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island" is Friz Freleng's third compliation film, following his previous two successes "Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" and "Bugs Bunny's Third Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales". This third feature is a tremendous success in its' own right and it continues the winning formula Freleng introduced in his first film: he creates one humdinger of a story to place the footage in.

This time, Freleng spoofs the hit TV series "Fantasy Island" with Daffy Duck in the Ricardo Montalban role and Speedy Gonzales in the Tattoo role. It opens with a side splitting gag (Speedy tells Daffy: Ze Plane! Ze Plane!) and it never lets up for all of its 78 minute screen time. Freleng also uses the film to continue his Yosemite Sam/Bugs Bunny fight which occupies about 20 minutes of this feature.

Well, anyway, back to the story. The premise is that Daffy and Speedy are stranded on a deserted island which has a wishing well. Daffy, being the self described "greedy coward", decides to open a resort that can grant wishes. That's where the classic footage comes into play.

There are many highlights: Tweety, Sylvester and Spike in a pet hospital, Foghorn Leghorn and the womanizing rooster, Yosemite Sam will inherit several million pounds ONLY if he keeps his temper in check and Bugs is the executor of the will! And Daffy Duck is STUPOR DUCK!

As per the previous films, they work on two levels. For kids, as simple entertainment. For adults, savage satire. Most of the shorts here are shown in their entirety, although a few are trimmed for time. This is wonderful entertainment and a worthy addition to any video library.

**** out of 4 stars

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.

I personally enjoy these Looney Tunes compilation films, they aren't a patch on the original cartoons but they're are very entertaining, at least to me even with the cutting and shortening of some of the cartoons.

Daffy Duck's Movie:Fantastic Island is a good compilation film. I prefer QuackBusters and Bugs Bunny/Road-runner Movie, but Fantastic Island is better than in my opinion 1001 Rabbit Tales and Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, which I also liked.

The cartoons featured are very entertaining, especially Captain Hareblower, though I don't consider either of them masterpieces, while the Yosemite Sam trying to do good and Sylvester battling a dog in the hospital episodes are very entertaining too. However one doesn't entirely work and that is the one with Porky Pig looking for talents I agree, Porky is more a support character and the cartoon wasn't as funny as it could have been, and I can understand if Foghorn Leghorn's goes over the heads over some, I get it now, as a kid I didn't.

The story surrounding the cartoons is a good idea, and kept afloat by the characters and witty dialogue, but it didn't make me feel any different about the rather short length and the fact the story feels rather thin and often feels like filler.

The Looney Tunes characters are delightful. Daffy is the star of the show, and I liked it that Speedy was less loud and abrasive as he can be in the hit-and-miss series he was in- the ones with Sylvester I liked, not so much excepting a few the ones with Daffy(ie. See ya Later Gladiator is one of the weakest Looney Tunes cartoons in my opinion)- while Yosemite Sam is still as cantankerous and amusing as ever before.

The animation is excellent, not just in the cartoons featured but also in the links. I admired also how much effort was done into making the characters and animation style as true to the original cartoons as much as possible. The music is also rousing and energetic, the dialogue witty and funny and the sight gags fresh and inventive. The voice work is top notch, June Foray is great as Granny but once again Mel Blanc gives a bravura performance.

Overall, a good compilation film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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 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.