Superior Duck (1996)

"Superior Duck" is an American 6.5-minute cartoon from 1996, so this one is already over 20 years old, and it falls into the time when Warner Bros' Looney Toons had a bit of a revival. There is no Bugs in here, but at the center of the story is Daffy in superhero costume who basically can do nothing but fly though. As a consequence he gets beaten up by Foghorn Leghorn, is in danger to get eaten by Vile E. Coyote and also constantly argues with the narrator's comments on his not so super status as a superhero. This film is quantity over quality though. The characters are all there, but the material is just too weak. I am a fan of the aforementioned Foghorn Leghorn, but with the exception of his comment on old vs. new he was really disappointing. Taz is another character I like, but his presence alone is not enough either, even if it's maybe better than the Martian's or Tweety's turns. All in all this film directed and also written for once by the legendary Chuck Jones may not be a failure, but it is a disappointment mostly as it lacks the charm of the better old WB works. Bit of a pity, but I have to give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended as this is never close to being as funny as I wanted it to be.

. . . Wile E. Coyote's sign reads during SUPERIOR DUCK as he begins to chow down on Daffy. The Tazmanian Devil gets some licks in, too (which prompt him to become vegetarian). After being disintegrated by Marvin Martian, there's only enough Salt Water Daffy left to reconstitute him housefly size. Foghorn Leghorn had told Daffy that he'd be taken down to bullet stature, which apparently is tinier than the smallest speeding pullet. Speaking of wee, Tweety Bird calls Daffy the P-word here, which is pretty daring to place in front of the noun "duck," the latter term--of course--rhyming with the F-word. (Thick-headed viewers should try to repeat Tweety's sobriquet for Daffy out loud 10 times as fast as they can, and they'll hear the problem.) With Porky Pig, the Roadrunner, and even Superman himself making cameo appearances here, one half expects to hear from the Kitchen Sink. But that would be entering BEAUTY AND THE BEAST territory, and we all know that BEAUTY is strictly a Disney product.

I must be the only one who didn't like this. I saw this as part of Boomerang's Looney Tunes block and was excited at the prospect of a Chuck Jones I hadn't seen before. This very late cartoon from him though is full of painfully stale bits lifted from earlier cartoons.The plot is purportedly about Daffy as a superhero, but it quickly derails into "Duck Amuck" territory. It feels like a sloppy effort here, with pretty much every other Looney Toon other than Bugs making a gratuitous cameo.A never-before-seen Looney Tunes short is always something of a treat, but I was disappointed in this one. I still rate it a 4 out of 10 for even existing.

This cartoon short starring Daffy Duck is rather good. I saw it for the first time yesterday. It's one of the bonus features on the new DVD release of "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters". I liked the cartoon and it's satire on the Superman style, right down to the mangled announcing purposely did for comical intent. By mangled announcing I mean playing with the trademark lines in the Superman opening's of "faster than a speeding bullet..." and at one point "pullet" is said instead of "bullet" which brings out Foghorn Leghorn.I felt the voice acting was good...I've never really been too fond of Frank Gorshin's take on Foghorn Leghorn but his Daffy impression was right on. Bob Bergen on hand as Porky is a plus. The cartoon being a little less than 5 minutes, give or take a minute, though, made for a rushed delivery. It's almost like the people involved wanted to get the cartoon finished and screened and perhaps thought with a short cartoon there's not much time for restlessness with theater goers. After-all, modern-day movie goers aren't familiar with the theatrical cartoon experience and might wonder what's going on when a cartoon pops up on the screen. So, that's my theory why the later cartoons during the 1990's were super short by comparison to the classics from the '40s and '50s.I give it 6 out of 10 stars...if you're not too familiar with these characters like I am, the distinct change in voice in Foghorn Leghorn will not stand-out perhaps. But, given that I'm a big fan of Looney Tunes, it doesn't stand up next to the classics but this doesn't mean this "Superior Duck" isn't any good. It still has Chuck Jones' imprint all over it.