Duck Amuck is a brilliantly done cartoon. Too often cartoons are just seen as a bunch of random wacky jokes, but Chuck Jones adds another level: character driven comedy. To be sure, this cartoon is VERY wacky. But but what makes this cartoon really work is the exploration of the character of Daffy Duck. Chuck Jones was the driving force behind Daffy's change from a hyperactive, insane character who harassed others for no apparent reason into the scheming, easily angered, self centered character he is best known as today. In Duck Amuck, Jones crystallizes his vision for Daffy's new direction, showing him as a character who wishes to put on a good show for his audience, but is so easily frustrated that everything seems to be working against him. Instead of going with the flow, he flies off the handle at everything that goes wrong, which in turn is worsened by whoever is doing all of this stuff to him. In his best characterization, Daffy manages to be sympathetic enough that the audience still roots for him, even though he probably deserves whatever he has coming to him. In his worst characterization, his greediness and anger take over to the point he becomes completely unsympathetic. This cartoon and the so-called "Hunter's Trilogy" feature Daffy's best characterization, the cartoons featuring Daffy and Speedy Gonzales made in the mid 1960's have the worst.
Review of Duck Amuck
