Drip-Along Daffy

With an unmistakable Western theme, this Daffy Duck short is almost bursting with gags, some of them only all right, but most of them are very good! With the characters good, the plot good, the setting good and the jokes good - how else could this Daffy Duck episode live up to a good standard. Oh yes - why not the theme and the hero!?

This episode introduces Daffy Duck as a "Western Type Hero" and Porky as a "Comedy Relief". Then a "Lawless Western Town" is introduced and as we see the town-folk are not doing well at all. Just when all hope seems lost, Daffy Duck shows up on his trusty steed with his sheriff star badge and he gallops to the rescue! He and Porky have got a very funny and surprising adventure ahead of them.

Good for Daffy Duck fans interested in the little black duck's modern episodes and for people who like funny western cartoon shorts, enjoy "Drip-Along Daffy"! :-)

Our favorite duck goes into an old Western town to clean it up. The number of dead sheriffs is off the charts. He and Porky come in and what follows are a series of great moments. When he confronts the bad guy, he is faced with a literal monstrosity. There are great visuals, like a place called "Custard's Last Stand." Overconfident, Daffy find himself saved by an interesting event.

Of all Chuck Jones's brilliant genre spoofs featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, 'Drip Along Daffy' is one of the best loved and is only dwarfed by the classic duo of 'Robin Hood Daffy' and 'Duck Dodgers in the 24th ½ Century'. A hilarious parody of Westerns, 'Drip Along Daffy' finds Daffy all too willingly taking on the role of cowboy hero. A bewhiskered Porky, we are informed by a caption, is the comedy relief. This proves to be somewhat of a misnomer as it is in fact Daffy who provides the majority of the laughs as his heroic posturing is quickly diminished by his trademark buffoonery and a frightening encounter with villain Nasty Canasta. Despite some impeccably timed physical comedy, the biggest laughs in 'Drip Along Daffy' come from the verbal gags, a particularly on form Mel Blanc nailing every line with hysterically accurate observation. I find myself particularly floored every time by Daffy's disbelieving "You wouldn't dare", as he witnesses Nasty Canasta's horrifyingly toxic drink being mixed. 'Drip Along Daffy' is another typically classy Jones film which shows exactly why he's such a treasured director. Porky's final line is the icing on the cake.

Drip-Along Daffy is great fun from start to finish. While it is essentially a nice cartoon, a lot of it is hilarious. Helped hugely by some excellent artwork and a rousing Western theme tune, the plot tells of Daffy, portrayed as a rather inept hero trying to clean up "the one horse town" and his struggles with Nasty Canasta. A vast majority of the gags are verbal, and delivered flawlessly by Mel Blanc. But the scene with the drinks is absolutely hilarious and the showdown is a real treat.

While Daffy serves his part well as the inept hero, it is Porky really who steals the show as his sidekick. Particularly when he uses a miniature toy nutcracker to help Daffy to defeat Nasty Canasta. Overall, this cartoon is very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Daffy Duck is the `western hero type' and Porky Pig his `comedy relief' sidekick. They arrive in a `typical lawless town' to find violence and lawlessness is rife. Things get off to a shaky start but Daffy soon learns that all the crime comes from one man - a man that Daffy must face up to.

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 played as a bit of a pompous duck, so a touch of his later side here; he is the butt of most of the gags as he tries to be heroic but really flops. The material is reasonably good as he is defeated again and again by the main outlaw; it isn't hilarious but Daffy takes it well.

He doesn't carry the film himself though; in fact Porky actually does a great deal of the hard work and manages to slowly steal the cartoon from under Daffy. Daffy is still good though, but the fact that he is the joke here takes away from him being the leading character. The outlaw is a nice bit of stereotypical animation and works on that level - but you wouldn't call him a character in that way.

Overall this isn't hilarious but it works as a nice little western spoof. As a Daffy fan it was difficult to see him being the brunt of every joke here, but he works it well. Not a great example of Daffy at his best but still worth seeing; Porky also continues his habit of stealing scenes from Daffy despite always playing a minor role.