Drip-Along Daffy

The graphics set this one up. We see decked-out cowboy Daffy Duck riding on a beautiful horse and the screen reads: "Western-type hero." Following him is Porky Pig riding a donkey. It says, "Comic Relief." Then, after some Monument Valley-type scenery, we see "Lawless Small Town." The sign says, "Snake-Bite Center: population 350, which quickly changes to 349 followed by another sign that comes out saying, "sheriff wanted." The next thing we see is the cemetery where the sign reads, "Population: 23,472,987 sheriffs."

You get the picture. This is a rough town where the small ice-cream booth is called "Custard's Last Stand" and horses are even shooting each other!

Daffy is going to clean up this "one-horse town." Well, he does...... sort of. This is one of the funniest cartoons I have ever seen - just fabulous. Great artwork, too!

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.

Our favorite duck goes into an old Western town to clean it up. The number of dead sheriffs is off the charts. He and Porky come in and what follows are a series of great moments. When he confronts the bad guy, he is faced with a literal monstrosity. There are great visuals, like a place called "Custard's Last Stand." Overconfident, Daffy find himself saved by an interesting event.

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.