Robert C. Bruce

Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl was released in conjunction with Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire None of these shorts have been released on disc before, and Chuck Jones's "Daffy Dilly" (1948) is a welcome addition to any cartoon library. Daffy sets out to win the money a gloomy millionaire is offering to anyone who can make him laugh--and succeeds in spite of himself. But many of these cartoons are, simply, duds. "This Is a Life?" (1955), "People Are Bunny" (1959), and "Person to Bunny" (1960) spoof largely forgotten TV shows. How many viewers under 65 will recognize caricatures of Art Linkletter and Edward R. Murrow? The films pitting Daffy against Bugs play like weak remakes of Jones's "Rabbit Fire" trilogy or Friz Freleng's "Show Biz Bugs"--"Person to Bunny" even repeats some of Daffy's tap dance to "Jeepers Creepers" in "Show Biz." The very late "Suppressed Duck" (1965) is painfully unfunny. Once again, some of the films have been inexplicably cropped to simulate a widescreen format.

This must-have animation collection "Looney Tunes Super Stars: Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl" (2010) is filled with shorts that have been released on disc before and will delight any Looney Tunes fans. Episodes include "Tick Tock Tuckered," "Nasty Quacks," Chuck Jones's "Daffy Dilly" (1948), "Wise Quackers," "The Prize Pest," "Design for Leaving," "Stork Naked," "This is a Life?" (1955), "Dime to Retire," "Ducking the Devil," "People Are Bunny" (1959), "Person to Bunny" (1960), "Daffy's Inn Trouble," "The Iceman Ducketh" and "Suppressed Duck" (1965).

Man's best friend is the subject of a series of blackout gags, climaxing with the bogus heroism of a dog who travels across the country for an unexpected purpose.

Bugs fights with Blacque Jacque Shellacque over Klondike gold.

A scientist invents the portable hole, only to have a thief steal his samples to go on a crime spree.

A live-action Warner short in the spirit of Hal Roach's "Dippy Doo Dads" series detailing the perils of a soon-to-be-married capuchin couple, Fred and Violet, as the bride is stolen away by the villainous Harvey, leading to wild and wacky monkey action.

After Claude frames Marc Antony, making it look like the bulldog ate the kitty, Marc must try various methods of getting back at Claude from outside the yard.

Bobo the Elephant is baseball team mascot for the lean and meek Sweetwater Shnooks, all of whom are rendered unconscious by their opponents, the husky and brutal Greenville Goons. The Shnooks' manager, rather than forfeit the game, decides to bring in Bobo to play every position - and he does rather well!

A passing truck spills a variety of hats, causing Elmer and Bugs to change personalities in rapid succession to fit the headgear they wind up wearing.

A tiny elephant emerges from a banana boat and wanders about town, causing an uproar among the populace. Sightings are attributed variously to mass hysteria, insanity and dipsomania.

Porky leads a wagon train into "Injun Joe Territory," and finally comes up against the fearsome Superchief. But Sloppy Moe, a survivor of a previous Injun Joe attack, knows something about him he won't tell... until the very end.

An armada of malaria-laden mosquitoes seeks human targets and finds Private Snafu, who fails to protect himself adequately against their onslaught.

Pvt. Snafu thinks he's too smart to get caught by an enemy booby trap, but he soon finds that the traps are alluring and that he is every bit the booby.

A doting father gives a cute little duckling to his little daughter. That duckling grows up to become Daffy Duck, who soon develops quite a night life, which he loudly explains at breakfast, in the process of eating everything in sight. When the exasperated father's attempts at violently removing Daffy fail, he tries one final measure to drive Daffy away...

Porky Pig goes on a safari in Africa, and runs into an assortment of crazy animals, wacky natives and Kay Kyser giving dance lessons in the middle of the jungle.

Private Snafu learns about fear

A bear hunter tells Porky the tale of a hunt 30 years ago: a bear got a taste of his chewing tobacco and chased him down to get it; the hunter took the bear on with his bare hands rather than lose the tobacco. Or at least, that's the way he told the story.

In the Western town of Rising Gorge, Bugs faces off against Yosemite Sam, "the roughest, toughest, he-man stuffest hombre who's ever crossed the Rio Grande."

A haggard mosquito complains how tough life is with the military taking the proper precautions against malaria infection.

Snafu has an object lesson on the value of complete and accurate regular reports when he discovers and reports evidence of the enemy's presence at his assigned area.

Hearing that silver foxes are all the rage in high society, a fox paints himself silver and gets himself trapped, finding out too late that it's only his fur anyone is interested in.

The Pilgrims, led by captain Porky Pig, set sail from Plymouth for America. We get a series of ocean sailing blackout gags, including a running bit between our narrator and the cook, looking for a fish suitable for dinner, a singing trio interrupted by seasickness, flying fish (in airplanes). Then, The Rains Came. A collision with an iceberg is narrowly averted. Land is sighted. The pilgrims are welcomed by Chief Sitting Bull.

A collection of various gags in the form of a travelogue.

A series of wacky vignettes involving farm animals.

Henery Hawk hides in an egg to catch his first chicken, while Foghorn Leghorn tells him that Sylvester is the real chicken and the farm dog joins in the fun.

Using Snafu as an example, Techanical Fairy First Class teaches the methods of effective camouflage.

As Adolf Hitler personally flies a bomber on a mission to the Soviet Union, the gremlins from the Kremlin set about to stop him.

In this version of "The Courtship of Miles Standish", Elmer Fudd is messanger John Alden, sent to give Miles' love letter to Priscilla. While delivering the message, however, her house is attacked by Indians, and John is the only one who can save her.

Porky hosts a radio program, where animals tell their stories. The guest star is Kansas City Kitty, the best mouser in the country. She tells the story of her life, including her marriage to Tom Collins, the birth of Little Patrick (not necessarily in that order), and the turning point of her life. The mice have plotted out a major operation like gangsters. They sneak out and kidnap Patrick and hold him hostage...

Little Bobo the Elephant decides to leave a jungle, where he is assigned to the thankless task of moving logs with his trunk, for a glamorous life in a circus in America. On the advice of a minah bird, Bobo paints himself pink to gain access to a ship bound for the U.S., because nobody on the ship will admit to seeing a pink elephant much less act to remove the presumed hallucination. After Bobo arrives in America, a steet-cleaner washes his pink color away, and people are now willing to acknowledge seeing the little elephant. Bobo is arrested by the police and chained for trial by judge, and the judge sentences him to life - in a circus, where he is bat "boy" for the big top baseball team, and laments that he's carrying logs (i.e. bats) yet again!

The Three Bears meets Little Red Riding Hood, told in the style of Tex Avery.

Stranded on an island after his ship was wrecked by a hurricane, Porky meets a friendly African Native. They build a house, and Porky begins to explore the island. On his way we see various sight gags.

A mosquito army trains for, then goes on, an attack mission.

At the Academy Awards ceremony, Bugs Bunny tries to convince the audience that he deserves the Oscar. Opens with live action scenes of Hollywood.

An animated around-the-world trip by airplane.

Private Snafu (Situation Normal All Fucked Up) presents his brother Tarfu (Things Are Really Fucked Up) who was a carrier pigeon keeper and has joined the Navy

One long chase: worm chases apple; bird chases worm; cat chases bird; dog chases cat; dogcatcher chases dog; dogcatcher's wife chases dogcatcher; mouse chases dogcatcher's wife. With occasional interruptions by a skunk.

Random gags around military life, set on an army base. A bugler uses a jukebox to play reveille. In formation, one private has a great deal of trouble remembering what comes after "3"; after he gets it, he decides not to go for the $32 question. In the mess hall, the machine gunners machine gun their food while the bombers catch falling biscuits. The infantry marches for miles - past a "next time, take the train" billboard.

A series of typical Avery spot gags set around wild animals. A dainty deer drinks very loudly and rudely from a lake. A pack rat swaps an egg and an acorn, then back again ("monotonous, isn't it?"). A flock of ducks lands; a hunter fires; all fly away, except one with an American flag on its side. A termite fells a huge tree. A cowboy rides across the plains well, no; his horse is just slapping itself with the front hooves. A coyote calls to its mate: "Hey, Mabel, come on out!" A camel contradicts the narrator, saying he's really thirsty. A wild dog: because of the lumbermen.

Porky Pig narrates a very strange newsreel.

"As everyone knows," the narrator begins, "goldfish must have water... and cats hate water." And so it goes.

Porky introduces a newsreel of wartime spot gags, including a spoof of the RKO Pictures logo, and caricatures of Jack Benny and Rochester.

Animated documentary short film demonstrating the reasons and methods of the point system of wartime food rationing.

As the goose-stepping "Screwball Army" pillages Europe, a statue of Mr. Strauss (symbol to defeat Hitler) comes to life with violin in hand. Like a Pied Piper, Strauss leads the nuts and bolts to drown in the Danube River.

Red Hot Ryder is sent to catch the Masked Marauder (Bugs Bunny) who is terrorizing a small Western town.

Daffy Duck is a message courier bird delivering a military secret that a femme fatale Nazi spy is determined to get.

A series of gags based on Mother Goose fairy tales and stories.

Movie patrons watch and interact with a variety of short subjects and a spoof of the film "To Have and Have Not."

Migrating swallows are making their annual spring return to San Juan Capistrano, and a hungry cat awaits them.

A series of blackout gags parodying aviation and aviation films. Gags include a parchutist whose parachute reads "Good to the last drop", jokes about LA's expanding city limits, and a satire of test pilot and their bravery.

A wacky travelogue takes us to the zoo, where Porky Pig is the keeper and goofy animals provide the basis for a series of black-out gags.

Sagebrush site gags depicting wild west wackiness.

When there is a drought on an Indian reservation, everyone is in desperate need of water so that they can quench their thirst, their crops can grow, the animals will provide them food, etc. But rather than having to wait for the rain to come the old-fashioned way, a weather pill pertaining to that is used to bring instant showers.

A tour of the zoo, in typical Tex Avery style: a series of one-liners and sight gags, punctuated by Egghead teasing a lion at intervals, despite the admonishments of the narrator.

Parody short about Leon Schlesinger and his company.

A tour of the waters near a South Sea island, introducing us to the various kinds of marine life, including the pickled herring, the hermit crab, the starfish, a seahorse race, and many other puns. Among the running gags, a two-headed fish who keeps asking for directions to Mr. Ripley and a professor in a diving sphere looking for a rare wim-wam whistling shark.

Porky Pig is on his way to the store to pick up some groceries for his mother when he walks by a sign saying that the local movie theater is having a "kids admitted free" day. The excited Porky rushes in and views a series of spoofs of newsreels, movie trailers, feature films, and even the Lone Ranger!

A humorous travelogue chronicling various oddities across the United States.

Porky reads a book of new dog tricks; unfortunately, his dog, Rover, is old. A puppy comes by and taunts him.

An arctic saloon. The tiny dog, Dan McFoo, is playing a pinball-like marble game in the back. His girlfriend, Sue, sounding like Katharine Hepburn, stands by. A stranger comes in with eyes for Sue; he begins a boxing match with Dan. After Dan gets knocked down, he accuses the stranger of having something in the glove; the ref finds four horseshoes and a horse. After the fight goes on a while with no conclusion, the narrator tosses a couple of guns, the lights go out, and Dan is shot or is he?