Ducking the Devil

The Tasmanian Devil escapes from a zoo and a reward is offered for anyone who can bring him back. Greedy Daffy seizes the opportunity to make some quick cash and attempts to capture Taz. This is the only Taz cartoon from the classic era where he was paired with someone other than Bugs. I'm not the biggest Taz fan and this short doesn't do much to change that. He's a very limited character who relies mainly upon the reactions of other characters to get any laughs. In all the Bugs shorts the plot is pretty much the same - Taz is running wild in the jungle, scaring all the animals until Bugs steps in and puts a stop to it. In this cartoon's favor, it does try to mix it up a little and take Taz out of the jungle and put him against opportunistic Daffy but it all feels similar to the Bugs shorts because, as I said before, Taz is such a limited character there's only so much you can do with him. Anyway it's worth a look if you happen to like Taz or if you're a Daffy completist, but it's really nothing memorable. There's also something 'off' about Daffy that I don't like. Not a great cartoon.

Having escaped from a zoo, the Tasmanian Devil gets paired with Daffy Duck, as the latter learns that there's a $5,000 reward for Taz's capture, and that Taz becomes docile at the sound of music. "Ducking the Devil" is sort of a one-joke premise, but it keeps coming up with new ways to make the premise work. Like many of the Looney Tunes cartoons, this shows Daffy's greedy side (which always prevails over his cowardice). And if absolutely nothing else, it's always great to see Taz spin around like a tornado, sawing his way through any impediment. Thank God that Robert McKimson created him! Maybe greed ain't totally bad after all.

The Tasmanian Devil was initially a one-shot Bugs Bunny villain, but Warner Brothers liked him so much he was used for a superb series of cartoons directed by his creator, Robert McKimson. The Tasmanian Devil was usually paired with Bugs Bunny, but 1957's Ducking The Devil is the series' funniest entry because here the Devil is paired with Daffy Duck.

After escaping from the city zoo - a scene done surprisingly straight and which works as such - the Tasmanian Devil finds a meal he's especially fond of - wild duck. But Daffy Duck is no coward - until the devil shows up and drinks his swimming pond to get at him. Daffy flees for his life, but upon hearing a radio newsflash that $5,000 will be rewarded for the devil's capture, and that the brute is made docile by music, Daffy gets a plan - but $5,000 for a ten-mile hike won't be so easy with Daffy's sources of music constantly failing him.

The overall cartoon is good, but the very best moment of the cartoon and of the Tasmanian Devil series comes when Daffy gets his hands on the reward, and the devil also gets his hands on the money, which proves that Daffy Duck may be a coward, but he's a greedy one.

It's also a striking and refreshing change for the Daffy character; this is the first time in years Daffy is portrayed in any kind of heroic light.

Apart from some moments when Taz is drawn a little poorly, Ducking the Devil is a fun and entertaining cartoon from Robert McKimson and featuring Daffy and Taz. Taz does work slightly better with Bugs, who can manipulate him easier than Daffy I feel, but his and Daffy's partnership is above serviceable. Daffy of course is great, and dominates the cartoon, showing both his manic and greedy side. The animation is colourful and crisp, the music is driving, the dialogue is inspired, the sight gags are imaginative and of course Mel Blanc's vocals are superb.

So overall, very entertaining that moves quickly and has a smart ending. 9/10 Bethany Cox