Daffy Duck

Daffy Duck was born on April 17, 1937. His debut was in the cartoon short, Porky’s Duck Hunt. This was the first of over 150 cartoon and movie appearances. He was an instant hit and named Daffy in his second film, Daffy and Egghead, released January 1, 1938. His creation was made possible by the combined efforts of Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Frank Tashlin, Fritz Freleng, Art Davis and Robert Cannon. Daffy’s milestones include; the debut of Night of the Living Duck at the New York Film Festival, September 23, 1988, and Daffy and Bugs present an Oscar, April 1995.
Some may wonder where Daffy got the wonderful way of speech, there’s a story behind that. It is said the voice is based on producer Leon Schlesinger. Meant as a joke, he (Leon) was asked what he thought of the voice by the Termite Terrace staff, Leon was quoted to say “ Jethuth Critht thath’s a funny voithe! Where’d ya get that voithe ”? He never had a clue that it was his way of speech. Director Tex Avery’s Termite Terrace Staff included Bob Clampett, Sid Sutherland, Virgil Ross, and Chuck Jones.
In the early years, Daffy was a hyperactive, aggressive and overbearing duck. In contrast, Porky Pig was mild mannered and shy. They became an established team and made many appearances together. Audiences easily related to this epic struggle between the unpredictable little black duck and this pleasant, chubby pig. Not to say that Porky never stood up for himself, an example of this is in their first cartoon. After Daffy had inverted the role of hunter and pray, frustration set in until Porky pulled out a sheaf of paper, waved it in the offenders face and shouts, “ Th-th-that’s not in the script! “.
The next big change in Daffy came when Chuck Jones teamed him with Bugs Bunny. Daffy Duck went from a neurotic duck to a thinking duck. His personality is now cunning, conniving, greedy and somewhat aggressive in any of his endeavors. This played well off of Bug’s cool, thinking demeanor, and made a conflict that still lives on today. Even with all of his hard planning, Daffy never seemed to come out on top. His selfish attitude of “Mine”, in connection with his hunger for wealth, were always the downfall of any well-laid plan. What made this a good combination with their audience was the fact that they could relate to both characters. If you look at yourself and the people you know, it’s hard not to see a little Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck in all of us.
In conclusion, Daffy Duck will live forever; his cartoons transcend the boundaries of time and generations. Adult and child alike can still relate to this little black duck. Times may change, but people are basically the same.