''Draftee Daffy'' is a 1945

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' cartoon directed by

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, film director, director, film producer, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the te ...

. The cartoon was released on January 27, 1945, and stars

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

. The film depicts Daffy as a

draft dodger Conscription evasion or draft evasion (American English) is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military dr ...

, who desperately tries to avoid an agent of the draft board. Part of the film is set in

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, but Daffy is unable to end this pursuit.

Plot

Daffy Duck finds himself in a patriotic mood after reading about the United States Armed Forces' success in pushing back Nazi German troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. However, his mood quickly turns to fear when he receives a phone call from the draft board. Determined to evade conscription, Daffy engages in a series of frantic attempts to escape the persistent draft board representative. Despite his efforts, Daffy's plans backfire, and he ultimately crash-lands in Hell. To his dismay, he discovers that the demon pursuing him is none other than the man from the draft board, signaling that he cannot escape his fate.

Reception

Animation historian

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...

writes that in this film, Clampett "gives Daffy Duck the first nuance to his zany personality—something

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

would expand upon in later shorts—by making the duck an out-and-out coward. Even funnier, the little man from the draft board is portrayed by a nerdy 4F reject, who personifies government intrusion in our lives."

Home media

* VHS, LaserDisc - ''Cartoon Moviestars'': '' Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons'' * LaserDisc - ''

The Golden Age of Looney Tunes ''The Golden Age of Looney Tunes'' is a collection of LaserDiscs released by MGM/UA Home Video in the 1990s. There were five sets made, featuring a number of discs, and each disc side represented a different theme, being made up of seven cartoon ...

'', Vol. 2, Side 5: Bob Clampett * VHS - ''Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 7: Welcome To Wackyland'' (USA 1995 Turner print) * DVD - '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3'', Disc Four (with audio commentary by Eddie Fitzgerald and John Kricfalusi) * Blu-ray, DVD - '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3'', Disc 2

References

External links

* {{Daffy Duck in animation, state=collapsed 1945 films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films American World War II propaganda shorts Daffy Duck films Films directed by Bob Clampett Looney Tunes shorts Films scored by Carl Stalling Draft evasion Films set in hell Films with screenplays by Warren Foster 1945 animated short films