Don't Axe Me

At Elmer Fudd's farmhouse, Daffy Duck has an endless appetite, to the point that he steals Rover the dog's food too. Fed up with this situation, the dog convinces Mrs Fudd that duck would make a great dinner. She dispatches Elmer to chop off the duck's head - something that Daffy is understandably against.

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 a mix of the two personas to reasonably good effect. The plot sees him avoid the farmer's axe and, while it is never hilarious, it is still amusing.

Rover has faced up to Daffy in other cartoons and he is a good character. Here he has a limited role but he still gets some early laughs. Daffy plays almost a Bugs Bunny role as he tries to outwit and get around Elmer Fudd; it doesn't totally suit him but it works well enough. Fudd himself is a bit bland and doesn't really combine well with Daffy in this case.

Overall this is a pretty basic cartoon that doesn't really create too many laughs and almost nothing in the way of sequences. However it is still amusing as it has some good characters who are funny in their delivery of some reasonably good lines.

In one of the rare occurrences in Warner Bros. cartoons, a character is married. Yes, Elmer Fudd (who looks like an infant) has a wife in "Don't Axe Me". Specifically, he and his wife own a farm on which Daffy never misses a chance to eat more than necessary, even snatching Barnyard Dawg's meals. So when the dog learns that the Fudds are having a guest over for dinner, he's determined to make them cook Daffy.

The main interesting point with this cartoon is seeing Elmer as a husband for what is probably the only time in his career. Outside of Pepe Le Pew and Speedy Gonzales, the Looney Tunes were a pretty asexual bunch. Daffy's antics are pretty funny - especially when he removes Elmer's face - but the cartoon seems rather routine for the most part. Still, it's an enjoyable cartoon.

I don't think Don't Axe Me is the best Looney Tunes cartoon, but it is a nice and amusing one. The trouble is that the story is very very simple, and while there is some good humour, compared to other Daffy Duck cartoons it felt a tad humourless. Also as much as I like Elmer he is slightly blander than he usually is. Still, the quality of the animation is excellent, as you would expect in general with Looney Tunes. And Daffy while he has been better, is great, mixing his manic persona with his cynical one. I admit it though I prefer him when he is manic, it is so much fun when he is. Mel Blanc as always does a stellar job bringing Daffy to life.

All in all, this is nice to watch, if rather simple in comparison to other Daffy cartoons. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Elmer Fudd is a farmer and Daffy is one of his ducks. What a weird start to this cartoon. Anyway, it gets weirder. Daffy is apparently a glutton who eats not only his own food but the food left for the other animals, including Barnyard Dog. When Elmer's wife needs to cook something for dinner, Elmer decides to kill Daffy. Barnyard Dog is only too happy to help. There's something so weird about this one. Aside from the plot and the way the characters are depicted, the colors are washed-out for a 1950s Looney Tunes short. Other than that, the animation is OK. Solid voice work from Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan. Special mention to June Foray as Elmer's wife, who speaks with her own adorable version of Elmer's speech impairment. Some of the gags are funny, including the ending. The weirdness of it makes it slightly more interesting than it would be otherwise. Still, it's not one of Daffy or Elmer's best.

Daffy is just mean to Barn Yard Dog. He takes his food, hits him on the head, twice...

I would've felt more bad for Daffy about to decapitated if he wasn't written as such an instigator in this one but since he is not I have no problem with what Elmer does to him.