A-Haunting We Will Go

Here is another good Looney Tune cartoon for Halloween, starring one of my favorite Looney Tune characters, Speedy Gonzales. This short also stars Daffy Duck and Witch Hazel. Although Speedy had a small role in it, I still consider it a Speedy cartoon.

In this short, it's another Halloween for Hazel. But she found it boring and she needed a vacation, so she tricked Speedy by giving him a piece of cheese (contaminated with a magic potion). And when he ate it, Speedy turned into Hazel's double while the real Hazel flew off to Hawaii, leaving Speedy to "take care of the shop." Meanwhile, Daffy is taking his nephew up to Hazel's house to "prove" that Witch Hazel is a mere old lady. Then Speedy (in his Hazel-guise) invites Daffy in and fixes him a cup of tea, which was really a potion that turned Daffy into a... whatever. Uh-Oh! Speedy blew it.

You know, I've heard Looney Tunes fans dislike these Speedy cartoons from the late 1960s, but I actually enjoy them, including this one.

*NOTE* Ten/Ten Stars for storyline and character dialogue.

Crummy Speedy & Daffy short made during the waning years of the Looney Tunes classic era. This one features Witch Hazel in her last appearance in the same era. She's Caucasian colored in this one instead of green. The cartoon starts off with Daffy's nephew Scrappy Daffy visiting Witch Hazel on Halloween in the exact same costume Bugs wore in the classic Broom-Stick Bunny. He gets scared and runs home to Daffy, who doesn't believe in witches and decides to go check it out. But by then Speedy Gonzales is at Witch Hazel's house and looks like her because she wanted to go on vacation, so....sigh, you know what, who cares? This is really a stupid cartoon made during a low point for all of these characters. The animation is poor, the music is canned, and it reuses stock footage from Duck Amuck and the aforementioned Broom-Stick Bunny, both far superior cartoons to this. The only remotely good thing about it is the voice work of legends Mel Blanc and June Foray.

Personally See Ya Later Gladiator is the worst of the Daffy/Speedy cartoons, but A-Haunting We Will Go is a very close second. The redeeming qualities are the opening with Daffy and his nephew, Speedy behaving like himself in his witch guise and Mel Blanc's vocal talents(though his Daffy voice was getting a little too abrasive at this point). The animation though lacks fluidity and is instead very flat- very washed-out- and blocky, especially in the character designs and movements of Hazel. Bill Lava's music doesn't enhance the action at all, it sounds very stock and canned and is also dull and repetitive. There have been times when it works but like cartoons like The Music Mice-Tro this is an instance when it doesn't. The writing often is a strong point with the Looney Tunes cartoons but falls completely flat here, it is often witless and the freshness and timing is nowhere to be heard, the dialogue is some of the most banal of the Daffy/Speedy series. Of the gags, two work but the main joke with Daffy turning into different creatures though with its moments is far too drawn out, gets tiresome and is actually rather predictable. Some of it looked as though it was lifted out of Duck Amuck, one of the best cartoons Looney Tunes ever made and an animated classic. The story has no originality or spark and disadvantaged by laboured pacing. And then we have the characters, Daffy's nephew did have potential but the writers practically ignored him after the opening so that was a waste. A-Haunting We Will Go is one of those cartoons among where Daffy is at his least funniest, that's criminal considering that he is one of Looney Tunes' best characters, here he's bland and at times like most of the cartoons with him and Speedy too mean-spirited. Speedy has one good gag, the rest of the time he serves little point to the story and gets under your skin. Witch Hazel is funny in her cartoons with Bugs Bunny, but here she is exceedingly annoying and the normally great June Foray voicing her is little better. Overall, a few moments but a disappointing mess on the most part. 4/10 Bethany Cox

This cartoon is really nothing more than a reworking of Broomstick Bunny with Daffy replacing Bugs and Speedy Gonzales worked into things as well. There's a great visual gag lifted from Duck Amuck as well that fits perfectly and is the best thing about this one, which isn't terribly original, save for how they use Speedy, which is quite hilarious. Worth watching for Speedy fans and the best Chuck Jones cartoon Bob McKimson ever made. Recommended for Speedy fans.

When Daffy's nephew returns from trick or treating with tales of a witch in a neighbouring house, Daffy takes him round to prove him wrong. Meanwhile the witch, desperate for a holiday, casts a spell on Speedy Gonzales to make him in her image so she can slip away.

I have seen quite a few Daffy/Speedy Gonzales cartoons and didn't believe that I could see them get worse than I'd seen already. However this must surely be the absolute nadir of the partnership - I refuse to believe that a more pointless cartoon was created for them.

The plot is an elaborate (laboured) set up, which only really serves to create one joke - that of Daffy being transformed into some sort of creature by magic. Suffice to say that this one joke is NOT funny but is really stupid and made worse for the 3 or 4 minutes spent cooking it up. I honestly am at a loss to work out what the makers were thinking with such a convoluted mess without a laugh to show for it.

The animation is poor. The witch is very blocky and the general state of animation is nearly as average. Daffy has no character to speak of and Speedy is even more bland and pointless than he often is.

Overall, I cannot describe how I feel adequately - I nearly had my mouth hanging open with shock at the end of this. Maybe I have an unfair memory of Warner Brothers cartoons, but I didn't think that they could possibly make them this bad.