Quack-a-Doodle-Doo

As someone who hasn't read a Baby Huey comic book in 50 years and hasn't seen one of the cartoons in almost as long, this was interesting - almost historical - to view. It shows the beginnings of the dumb-but-lovable Baby Huey, the biggest and strongest duck to ever live (in the fantasy world).

Mom apparently has been frustrated for a long time, unable to hatch any eggs and have "children." Other moms strut by her window with their little ones following. "Children are so cute," she sighs. "I'd like to hatch a batch."

She decides the rest of the bottle of her vitamin pills and - voilà - or should I say, "boom!" - a gigantic egg appears underneath her in the nest, propelling mom up to the ceiling. She yells for her lady friends to come and see. Seconds later, another blast occurs and out comes Baby Huey!

The chick's first words are, "Duh, I'm sorry I'm late, ma; what do ya have to eat?" Later, Huey is put on a scale for his first weighing. He breaks the scale. The other hens all laugh derisively.

When it's time for a community meal, Huey rushes over, takes the table, tilts it and devours the entire meal. The other hens are not happy. "He's not a duck," they say. "He's a pig." When something else happens, they all want him out of the community. "He's a menace," they claim; "a bad egg."

Mom is in tears and wheels Baby Huey away but when the viscous fox arrives, Huey - not even trying, but because of his enormous strength which foils the fox at every turn - becomes a "hero" and is welcomed back.

Overall, this a funny in a primitive sort of way - at least all the gabs with Huey and the fox. It's always nice to see the harmless and good-hearted good guy defeat the evil villain.

Generally am not a fan of the character of Baby Huey, a rather one-joke character and especially in his later Famous Studios cartoons annoying. When it comes to Famous Studios' cartoons, there is a general preference for the Popeye, Casper and even Herman and Katnip cartoons (although they all had not so great cartoons in their later years).

'Quack a Doodle Do' for a Baby Huey cartoon is pretty decent however. It is far from great this said, when it comes to the story it is as predictable as you can get especially in the first half detailing Baby Huey's birth and being outcast. The first half is also on the slow side, with not much that can be seen as mildly amusing, let alone funny.

Every cartoon character has to start somewhere, and for a debut cartoon Baby Huey's character is fairly well-established. Thankfully, while still a bit annoying to begin with and incredibly stupid (can definitely relate to the other characters' frustrations with him), he is not as much as in his later cartoons and is the overgrown dimwit sort of character with a big heart and good intentions, which is obvious in the second half of 'Quack a Doodle Do'.

The cartoon picks up quite a bit once the fox appears. It's still predictable at this point, with an ending that is pretty obvious from the get go, but the timing is sharper and the material funnier. The entertaining chemistry between Baby Huey and the fox helps. Another thing that drives 'Quack a Doodle Do' is the loving chemistry between Baby Huey and his mother where it is easy to identify with their situation.

Voice acting is good, Sid Raymond, Mae Questel and Jack Mercer excel in the types of roles they play here (the dimwit, the sweet woman figure and the villain) and are instantly recognisable, suiting their characters perfectly. The animation is mostly rich and colourful, with very meticulous and beautifully drawn backgrounds, even if some the drawing lacks finesse in parts.

Winston Sharples provides yet another outstanding music score, even in mediocre or worse cartoons Sharples' music was never among the flaws (if anything always one of the strengths or the best asset). Also love the lusciousness of the orchestration here and how characterful, haunting and whimsical the music was without going overboard in either, even better was how well it fitted in the cartoon and how it merged with the action.

All in all, a decent debut cartoon for Baby Huey, even though it and the character himself have never been favourites of mine. 6/10 Bethany Cox

You know, I had never really liked Baby Huey much until I saw this cartoon. Baby Huey really can be appallingly stupid, which is unusual for a cartoon's protagonist. But watching poor Huey's mother try so desperately to have a child, only to end up with an enormous and doltish Huey, is somewhat endearing, as is her never-ending optimism and love for her son, even after everyone else declares him a menace and a loser. Huey's enormous size and appetite frustrates everyone in the barnyard, and they eventually banish him and his mother. As they're leaving, their fellow ducks are attacked by a wolf. Thankfully Huey's size also comes with super-natural strength and resilience, and the poor wolf proves no match for Huey's innocent "games." This cartoon is fairly well-animated and very entertaining, even if the ending is obvious from the start. It's still sweet and actually has me now rooting a bit for poor, brainless Huey.