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Cartoon Evolution: Daffy Duck
He's not as dethpicable as he seems!
Daffy Duck is a complicated character. He's not like Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote, who are primarily driven by hunger. And he's not playful prey like Bugs, Roadrunner, and Tweety. And he's certainly not an outright antagonist like Yosemite Sam or Elmer Fudd. Nope, Daffy is his own weird, secret third thing. He is good, bad, and often somewhere in the middle. He is wild, zany, and out of control while also being strategic, sneaky, self-absorbed, and overly emotional. He's analytical and opportunistic, but often lacking common sense and tact. He's obscenely selfish, but would probably consider himself a self-preservationist.
We love him and we hate him, but he always makes us laugh. Each Looney Tunes director changed Daffy a little bit in their own way. Let's take a look at the evolution of everyone's favorite cartoon duck and how he's changed.
Porky's Duck Hunt - 1937
On April 17, 1937 a legend was born! Daffy Duck joined the Looney Tunes cast in Porky's Duck Hunt. This cartoon was a joint effort between Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. At this point, Porky had been the star of Looney Tunes for a few years and they wanted to spin the traditional hunter-prey pairing by having the prey be assertive and unhinged. Most cartoon characters at the time were straight man roles like Porky Pig and Mickey Mouse; the good guys who could do no wrong and, mostly, behaved sanely. This unnamed duck was a true screwball character, wild and unhinged, screeching "Woo-hoo!" and jumping around in the water. According to Clampett. "At that time, audiences weren't accustomed to seeing a cartoon character do these things. And so, when it hit the theaters it was an explosion. People would leave the theaters talking about this daffy duck."
Daffy Duck & Egghead - 1938
Similarly to Porky's Duck Hunt, this cartoon featured Daffy being hunted by Egghead. Like before, Daffy is a realistically sized duck and much smaller than Egghead, and he has the same wild, zany personality. His gags include honking Egghead's nose, jumping around exclaiming "Woo-hoo!", and he even sings the song "The Merrie-Go-Round Broke Down". While Daffy doesn't lisp while speaking, he does begin to lisp while singing. The only other difference in this cartoon is the animators made the stripe around his neck blue instead of white, and this is the only cartoon where this change happens.
You Ought to Be in Pictures - 1940
This short was groundbreaking in terms of combining live-action and animation, but it was also a big moment of growth for Daffy as a character. Under Friz Freleng's direction, we begin to see Daffy's true personality take form. He is less zany and unhinged, and much more sneaky, strategic and self-serving. Daffy tricks Porky into quitting his job as a cartoon character and then when Porky leaves, Daffy says "Now's my chance!".
Draftee Daffy - 1941
Like many of his Looney Tunes compadres, Daffy appeared in many wartime cartoons. Many of these cartoons featured Daffy battling Axis forces represented by goats and other creatures. While many of Daffy's cartoons focused on beating the enemy, Draftee Daffy stands out for highlighting issues affecting everyday people during World War Two; namely, the Draft Board. Daffy gets a call from the draft board and panics, hiding and boarding up the house in hopes of dodging the draft. Daffy's self-involved, slightly neurotic personality made him the best fit for this cartoon; Bugs Bunny and Tweety are too brave to dodge the draft whereas Daffy is just the right amount of fearful to make the cartoon work.
Daffy Doodles - 1946
Daffy finally got a makeover in 1946, nearly nine years after his premiere! Director Robert McKimson gave Daffy a much-needed touch-up, choosing to step away from a duck and making him more of an anthropomorphic character. He also made Daffy taller and rounder, making him the same height as Bugs, Porky, and Elmer, who used to tower over him. McKimson also slightly changed Daffy's personality by attempting to make Daffy as brilliant as Bugs, but still giving him loony moments like he had at the beginning.
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery - 1946
This was Bob Clampett's last Daffy cartoon where Daffy becomes obsessed with Dick Tracy and through the power of delusion become Duck Twacy. This cartoon showed that Daffy provided an entertaining parody of other characters like Sherlock Holmes and the Scarlet Pimpernel. Fun fact, John Kricfalusi, creator of Ren and Stimpy, said this was his favorite cartoon and said, "I saw this thing and it completely changed my life, I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen, and I still think it is." Nice!
You Were Never Duckier - 1948
You Were Never Duckier highlights Chuck Jones' impact on Daffy's character. In this cartoon, Daffy has to pretend to be a rooster to win $5,000 at the National Poultry Show. This cartoon is considered by many fans to be the turning point for Daffy from being a slightly neurotic screwball to a self-centered, egotistical character.
Jones' Hunting Trilogy - 1951
Daffy underwent another redesign for Chuck Jones' Hunting Trilogy. In Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning, and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! Daffy is drawn leaner, scrawnier, and scrappier. In the trilogy, Daffy tries to dupe Elmer Fudd into hunting Bugs instead of him. At the beginning of Daffy's career, he was the zany one, he was the disruptor to Porky and Elmer. Now, Daffy had someone disrupting his plans: Bugs Bunny. The pairing of Bugs and Daffy as adversaries really brought out Daffy's insecure, jealous side, which usually devolved back into his core manic behavior by the end of the cartoon. These cartoons also brought us Daffy's signature catchphrase: You're dethpicable!
Show Biz Bugs - 1957
As Bugs Bunny's star continued to rise, Daffy as a character developed new traits in response to his rival's success. Now, Daffy was increasingly jealous and unhinged in his pursuit of stealing back the spotlight. Bugs' reaction to Daffy was usually indifferent and mildly amused; Bugs' ability to consistently outsmart Daffy while not reacting to Daffy's emotional outbursts only succeed in making Daffy angrier. It's like Bugs Bunny is Ferris Bueller, Daffy Duck is Cameron Frye.
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century - 1953
Part of Daffy's special charm is that he fits into both good guy and bad guy roles. Once he became Bugs Bunny's rival, he also became Porky Pig's friend. Their comedic duo made sense, with Porky playing the straight man to emotional Daffy in cartoons like Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century.
See Ya Later Gladiator - 1968
Daffy's final Warner Bros. cartoon short was See Ya Later Gladiator with Speedy Gonzalez. Speedy and Daffy accidentally get sent back in time to ancient Rome, where they fight a lion in an arena. This cartoon was not well received, but it is the last cartoon to feature classic Looney Tunes characters from the Golden Age of Animation. This cartoon was meant to be the first of a series of time travel cartoons called "Time Flies" but the Warner Bros. cartoon division closed after this cartoon.
Conclusion
The director who loved, and saw himself in, Daffy the most was Chuck Jones. In his book, Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, Jones said "Daffy has become the spokesperson for the egoist in everyone, but he remains always undaunted by the inevitable requital: The fear of consequences that makes cowards of the rest of us." So, while Daffy is selfish and jealous, he is also fearless and daring, which is why we still enjoy his antics today.
