The Astroduck (1966)

Director:

Robert McKimson

Release Date:

1 January 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Short | Comedy

Plot:

Daffy Duck moves into a new house only to find it inhabited by Speedy Gonzales. Daffy does everything in his power to dispose of the mouse, even putting enough dynamite in it to blast it into the sky. |

Plot Keywords:

Duck | Mouse | Cartoon | Daffy Duck | Looney Tunes

Cast

Mel Blanc

...

Daffy Duck / Speedy Gonzales / Realtor (voice)

Runtime:

6 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE)

Awful, cheap cartoon that not even Daffy can save

Daffy Duck is looking for a nice villa to retire to and enjoy lazy summer days. When he buys a fixer-upper he is annoyed to find that Gonzales has already claimed it as his house and has been living there for generations. Unwilling to share, Daffy declares war on Speedy, but will the Villa be the first casualty?

The title credits reveal it to be of a certain period which suggested to me right away that some of the loftier values of Warner Brothers' cartoons may be missing. As soon as it starts you can see in the animation just how cheaply and carelessly this has been put together - a strand that continues into the plot and jokes.

Most of the material is just lazy and unfunny. Only the odd line is good and those only work because Daffy makes them work with his delivery. Other than these few lines, even daffy is poorly portrayed on screen. He is just saying lines with very little character. The same is true of Speedy, although he has never had a character to speak of so things are no different this time round.

Overall the cheap production of this cartoon shows though in so many different ways and left me in no doubt that this was one cheap little film and barely made me laugh once in the whole run.