A Star Is Bored (1956)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Cute Daffy and Bugs short with a very funny set-up. This one has Daffy complaining to a Warner Bros. executive about Bugs getting all the attention. It just so happens the exec is having trouble finding stunt doubles for Bugs so Daffy is easily talked into taking on the job. This leads to several scenes where we see the cartoons being filmed like live-action movies. When it gets to the point in the scenes where violence is supposed to be inflicted upon Bugs, Daffy is forced to stand in and take the lumps. This type of cartoon, where the characters are actors acting out their roles, is the kind of thing that is all too common in modern Looney Tunes. It isn't funny anymore but, back then, it was fresh and clever. This is also a rare case where Bugs, Daffy, Yosemite Sam, and Elmer Fudd all appear in the same short. The animation is bright and colorful. The music is lively and fun. Great voice work from Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan, of course. Lots of laughs to be had here, particularly where Daffy is concerned. Love that ending.

Directed by Friz Freleng, "A Star Is Bored" is a fine Daffy Duck/Bugs Bunny cartoon. I place Daffy's name first because he is really the star of this cartoon, even though he is predetermined to get his butt whipped as a stunt double on the Warner Bros. soundstages.Here are my favorite moments from "A Star Is Bored". Daffy's first appearance as a janitor outside Bugs' dressing room trailer just sums up the whole cartoon, in my opinion; Daffy expresses disgust and jealousy for not having his apparently great acting talent realized, while Bugs (supposedly having nothing on the ball) becomes a motion picture star. While Bugs sits on a tree limb way above the ground, Daffy saws off the limb and - what do you think? - slowly falls downward with the tree; the look on Daffy's face as he falls is hilarious. When Bugs operates a jet plane, the musical accompaniment we hear is "Captains of the Clouds", courtesy of orchestrator Milt Franklyn.Catch "A Star Is Bored" on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5 Disc 1. It seems unusual to have Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, AND Yosemite Sam all appear in the same film. The only other cartoon short that I know of in which they all appear is "(Blooper) Bunny!", released a few decades later in 1991.

In what must have been the only time that Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam all starred in the same cartoon, Daffy is movie star Bugs's stunt double for every dangerous scene. Suffice it to say, Daffy always believes that he'll end up the top star but always suffers in the worst way possible. Is this his eternal doom?! Anyway, "A Star Is Bored" really shows Friz Freleng's style. While his cartoons didn't usually reach the cleverness attained by Chuck Jones's work, he always kept his cartoons funny. He certainly gives Daffy his just desserts. And he pokes fun at Hollywood just the right amount without the cartoon turning obnoxious. A good one.I bet that the people in Middle America didn't get the part about Daffy performing at bar mitzvahs. Of course, the Termite Terrace crowd always liked to sneak in things like that (see the kreplach scene in "The Scarlet Pumpernickel").

For the umpteenth time, Daffy "hubris is my middle name" Duck tries to best Bugs Bunny, with the same success that he's had before. The hardest part here is wondering how a duck is supposed to double a rabbit. But, as has been said, anything can happen in a cartoon. This is a fun and enjoyable cartoon and Daffy gets what he deserves and what I suspect is his karmic birthright. Recommended.