My Favorite Duck (1942)

My Favourite Duck isn't an immediate favourite, but it is still a delightful Looney Tunes cartoon. My only minor complaint is the slightly blocky animation of Porky, but other than that I had no other problems. The animation in general is crisp, colourful and smooth, the music is stirring, the pacing is cracking and the story is engaging. The dialogue is witty and inventive and there are enough clever sight gags to amuse as well. Favourite scenes? The perfect harmonisation of Moonlight Bay and the surprise ending. Both Daffy and Porky are wonderful here, Daffy especially is superb and just carries the cartoon, and Mel Blanc is superb as always. Overall, delightful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Visually this is much more like a cartoon from the late 40s rather than 1942. It shows the way for the future, refined Chuck Jones style. The long perspective shots and the stylized backgrounds are rare for that time and the timing and nature of the dialog is unmistakably Chuck Jones (his first cartoon with writer Michael Maltese). If it wasn't for the early loony trickster characterization of Daffy this could easily be mistaken for a release from '49 or '50. Daffy also tries to exploit "duck season" as he would ten years later with Bugs in the "Duck Season/Rabbit Season" toons. Don't miss this one! It's on volume 6 of the Golden Collection and, for the first time in many years, you can really enjoy the full impact of the color scheme.

Maybe there's nothing particularly new in "My Favorite Duck", but how can you not like to see Daffy irk Porky? True, we see this so many times, that this may come across as boring, but Daffy's antics - ranging from zany to sadistic - and Porky's reactions more than make up for it. In my opinion at least, the highlight is the "down here" scene. But the surprise ending is also pretty cool. They sure must have had fun filming this cartoon."That, my friend, is a matter of opinion." Well, I don't see how someone could not consider this cartoon a masterpiece. Another great one for the crowd behind the Looney Tunes cartoons.

In this cartoon, Daffy hasn't "grown up" yet. He doesn't have the character flaws like greed and vanity we came to love; he's just a troublemaker, another tool for the artists to use to explore their craft.And explore they do! Gravity, point of view, and finally, even the "reality" of the cartoon itself are discarded, each for precise comic effect, thirteen years before the classic `Duck Amuck' did it.They even use music in unexpected ways. An often-missed gag revolves around the songs assigned to each character. For Porky, it's a peaceful "Moonlight Bay", an old song, even in the 1940's. Daffy sings the more current swing piece made popular by Cab Calloway, "Blues in the Night" (My Momma done told me, when I was in knee pants).Each song helps to define the characters, so you don't think it's unusual for them to be singing as they go about their business, but Porky accidentally starts off Daffy's song, reacts, then corrects himself. "My Momma done told me ... nghhh! ... We were sailing along". He looks directly at us to register his annoyance as he realizes his mistake, just in time for us to realize we've been set up.It's not only a hilarious cartoon; it's an example of animation stretching the limits of the medium as both an artistic and comedic exercise.