Muscle Tussle

Muscle Tussle is an amusing if somewhat unexceptional Looney Tunes cartoon. The ending gag doesn't quite work I agree, and the story is pretty routine, but I still liked it even with these faults. The animation is quite colourful and vibrant, the music is energetic, the dialogue is witty and amusing and the sight gags are clever. I also liked it that Daffy's protagonist role was dryer here, I do prefer him when he is manic and greedy but he is quite funny still when he is dry and subdued. Hunky Duck is a great supporting character, and Daffy's girl is cute. As usual, Mel Blanc is excellent. Overall, amusing if unexceptional cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

ONCE AGAIN WE find the "star" of a series being cast as a rival for another more "He-Man" of a guy at the beach in the "Good Old Summertime." As if it were not "ripped right out of the headlines"; but rather from an Ad for CHARLES ATLAS & his "DYNAMIC TENSION" system of physical training, which appeared in virtually all magazines and comic books.

SIMPLICITY APPEARS TO be the operative word here, as we have only three characters in any functional role here. The setting is "the Beach", any beach. with everyone stripped down to the bare necessities and one's physical attributes (or lack there of) are openly put on display. And the summertime beach does not discriminate by virtue of one's sex. Male and Female are both subject to extreme scrutiny.

SO WHAT WE have is a sort of eternal triangle, but staged at the local swimming spot. Daffy is there with girlfriend, Gladys Duck (voiced by Gladys Holland-uncredited). Enter "Hunky" Duck; whose physical development, prodigious strength and outstanding athleticism all combine to really get the attentions of this most desirable female duck in sight.

ONE BY ONE Daffy and "Hunky" compete in various tests of gymnastic ability, raw strength & power and in muscle control (that's posing, Schultz). All come out with the desired and predictable results.

AS FAR AS our ranking this DAFFY DUCK Short, it is neither nor there. It isn't among the best of the series output, but it still is worth for taking a little "LOOK-SEE!"

Daffy and his girlfriend are having a fun day at the beach when a giant muscle-bound duck (we'll use IMDb's name "Hunky Duck" from here on out) comes along and impresses his girlfriend. Not wanting his relationship to end like that, Daffy is conned by a salesman into taking "Atom-Col" (a bogus muscle-building formula). Thus begins a series of contests between him and Hunky to see who's the strongest.

At the time of this cartoon's release, Daffy was right in the midst of his transformation from crazy/loony Daffy to greedy/self-centered Daffy. Here, he's neither of the two. So as with other cartoons from this time period (Cracked Quack for example), he's given a somewhat dry role here. What this means is that the cartoon basically has to rely on its jokes to supply its humor (as opposed to its characters). Fortunately, most of them are reasonably funny. His constant defeat during Hunky's contests is funny, as is his interaction with his girlfriend. There are a couple jokes that don't really work (particularly the ending - which really doesn't make a whole lot of sense), but the ones that do work are solid.

This is by no means Daffy's best performance, but a good cartoon nonetheless and worth seeing for fans of the little black duck.

Director McKimson, with writer Tedd Pierce, had a helluva time trying to match Freleng's and Jones's quality streaks; let's face it, he just didn't possess their timing. McKimson couldn't wait for a long enough time to pass by before the visual (or verbal) punch line. When Daffy proves to the big bully duck he can tie a fishing pole into a knot, we have the camera panning just once with Daffy before he backfires. Jones or Freleng would have Daffy go back (with camera panning) at least two or three times more, for maximum impact.

Even so, "Muscle Tussle" is great entertainment. The one aspect which particularly tickles me is Bea Benaderet's vocal performance, as Daffy's girlfriend. It's almost like a "female's falsetto". The bully and the salesman are both great characters, too. This all-duck cast reminds me of a Carl Barks Donald Duck comic book (or maybe Harvey Comics' "Baby Huey" comics).

This cartoon has the added nostalgic value of those old-fashioned home cameras where you had to look down at the instrument to get a shot.

The short also has one of McKimson's best uses of his "ah-ha-ha" routine.

Looney Tunes take on the old Charles Atlas comic book ads. In those ads, there was always a weakling who gets picked on by a musclebound bully at the beach, only to return after working out and even the score. Usually there was a girl involved, too. Enter our story here, where Daffy is at the beach with his girlfriend when a big hunky duck shows up and steals his woman. The rest of the short is Daffy trying to figure out a way to win her back and put the muscle duck in his place. It's amusing stuff but never terribly funny. Mel Blanc's great, as always. Gladys Holland does the voice of the female duck and appears to be channeling Judy Holliday. The music is lively and fun. The animation is nice and colorful. Not one of my favorite Daffy cartoons but I've seen worse.