A Luta

A great cartoon. The unpredictable set-up (Daffy backs Elmer through the marsh up into a boxing ring!) begins a hilarious pro-duck boxing match. Elmer is of course, completely over-matched and clueless (but surprisingly gets back and Daffy and Co. at the end), and Daffy has a funny line to the audience-"Ain't he a dope?". The referee is a strong, (literally) well-rounded character, too. But the best line might be from Laramor the dog, "There's something screwy about this fight, or my name isn't Laramor...and it isn't". I know that they can't have them all on the Golden Collection, but this, among other early 40s' shorts should have been included and hopefully will be available soon on DVD.

Something I've often wondered about is the term sportsman for a person who takes a powerful rifle or shotgun and fires at a defenseless creature. I'm not anti-hunting, just annoyed by that term. In this one, Daffy has had enough and decides to settle things with Elmer Fudd in the boxing ring. Daffy has a clear advantage and many cartoons that followed used some of the same bits. Elmer does get the last word.

To Duck... or Not to Duck was a very good cartoon, if not quite outstanding. The story is on the routine side, and the cartoon starts off a tad slow in comparison to what happens later. But once we are introduced to the boxing match, which is by far and away the highlight of To Duck... or Not to Duck, it picks up considerably. The animation is pretty to look at, not the most pristine looking cartoon of the Looney Tunes cartoons, but it looks handsome enough to me. The music is very good, the dialogue is great(Daffy and Elmer both have their fair share of great lines but Laramar the Dog gets the best line of the entire cartoon in my opinion) and the sight gags are interesting. Daffy and Elmer are very entertaining, Daffy being manic and witty and Elmer being a worthy if clueless foil, while Laramar is great support. Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan both do a stellar job once again with the voices. Overall, entertaining and fun, not outstanding but very good all the same. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Unlike many other reviewers on this website, I did not enjoy this short that much. Personally I found it too short, a little boring, plot-less and mediocre. I felt the animation was not worked on nearly as much as it could have been (unlike other Daffy episodes at the time) and I also found the slapstick a little overdone, especially as I expected something with hardly any slapstick in it all (like a lot of Daffy episodes at the time).

There were things I did like about it as well. The STYLE of animation for Daffy is one of my favoured ones and there also happen to be quite a few good gags on here. Also I quite like the referee, quite a nice jolly duck.

This short is mainly for those who prefer episodes with much Looney Tunes slapstick and the same sort of theme as episodes of the 50's and 60's and for people who like ALL Daffy Duck stuff.

I may have submitted quite a negative review, but don't forget some of you out there will enjoy this! ;-)

5 and a half out of ten.

Available on YouTube

To Duck or Not To Duck (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Elmer Fudd and his beloved dog Rover are out duck hunting when they com across Daffy Duck. Soon Daffy and Elmer are in a boxing ring where you know the duck isn't going to play by the rules.

If you're a fan of Daffy and Elmer then you're obviously going to want to check this early teaming out. I don't think this here is one of the best shorts together as the series would eventually get much better but there are still plenty of nice laughs here that make it worth viewing. There's no question that the highlight happens early on when there's some "duck shot" being fired at Daffy as he flies through some clouds. As you'd expect the animation is of the highest quality.