Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988)

Sadly Over-hyped

Pretty Good

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

There were quite a few of these "movies" made during mainly the 1980's and they were all basically the same thing. A bunch of the original shorts tied together by some new animation featuring those crazy characters. However, some of the shorts are not fully in there, and the new animation sequences are quite weak compared to the old shorts which makes one probably want to just watch the old shorts again. This movie's theme is basically a ghostbuster kind of theme with Daffy Duck taking the helm. I would enjoy this except it is not the old really Daffy Duck, but the newer less daffy and more smartaleck one. The new stuff is basically copying the "Ghostbusters" movie especially the scene where the female duck is possessed. Still, the shorts are funny as we have some involving Porky pig and Sylvester and Bugs and that Snowman dude. All in all a rather boring effort on their part creating new stuff that just is not all that good. However, you are still treated to some rather good classic shorts anyway.

This is one of several Looney Tunes compilations made by Warner brothers in the 80s, and it was the one I watched the most- and still do when it's on TV- as a youth. It's another example from the others of old 50s cartoons put together into a plot that is meant just to string one short to the next, with Mel Blanc's obviously inconsistent voice filling in. Not that his voice at 80 is hard to take at all, but it does become jarring on repeat viewings to suddenly get that age gap just in-between lines of dialog, as if we as the audience didn't notice. The story for the film springs off from a short where Daffy- selling goofy objects on the cheap- tries to sucker JP Cubish for all of his loot by getting him to laugh (which he does finally, hilariously, by getting hit with pies). He leaves his fortune to Daffy with the provision that he use it in a 'service' kind of fashion. So, he opens up shop as a Ghostbuster racket, hiring out Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig for odd jobs out in Transylvania and haunted houses. It all leads up, in the end, to a humiliation due to a tiny elephant.Like with the less successful string-together flicks of the early 80's, the storyline that is put together for Quackbusters is less than great, even a little too clunky. As a kid I didn't really put much bother to it, but again on repeat viewings it becomes about as obvious as Sylvester's jitters get. One such example is the very flat and ill-conceived bit where Daffy goes to the possessed woman's place. On the other hand, out of the all of the other animated films put together with the shorts- save for the Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Movie- this has the best shorts. My favorites include when Tweety gets the Heckle & Hyde treatment (very, very funny), or when Sylvester gets terrified by mice under a sheet. But the most indelible lines, in just sheer ludicrous and hysterical, fall-on-the-floor funny parts, are when Bugs tricks around the Blood Count ("Walla-walla-Washington", still gets me every time), and when Bugs and Daffy visit the Imbominable snowman. The film is also topped with a pre-short by a fairly humorous song sung by Mel Torme.So, if you're one of those fans of Looney Tunes that hasn't seen the compilation films before, this is probably the best place to start, as the sum of the shorts are far greater and worth your time than what might be found in the other string-together films. That it still remains memorable more for the older shorts than the newer material is a credit of the late, great Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Robert McKimson (the three ORIGINAL directors of the films, not of the in-between segments).

During the 80s and early 90s, Warner Bros. produced a number of "clip-show"movies, consisting of our favorite Looney Tunes facing new challenges, but the majority of the footage was taken from classic cartoons. Some of the othersincluded "Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island", "The Looney Looney BugsBunny Movie", & "Bugs Bunny's Third Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales". However, this one tops them all as best, using the clips to their full potential.The show starts with the cartoon "Daffy Dilly", in which Daffy is selling novelty gags on the side of the road and hears over the radio that ailing millionaire J.P Cubish will pay a fortune to anyone who can make him laugh one more timebefore he passes on. We watch the cartoon, which would normally end withCubish throwing pies at Daffy, but the movie picks it right up, and shows that Daffy has inherited the bulk of Cubish's fortune (he died laughing). However, the will says Daffy must use the money to help the community and provide theservice... yeah, right. After all, it's not like Cubish can take him with him, right?Well, as Daffy finds out... he can. Cubish's ghost returns and starts to take the money, and every time Daffy starts acting up, more money disappears. Finally, the message sinks through and Daffy decides to open up a ghost-catchingbusiness, ala Ghostbusters. He hires Porky (using the popular cartoon "ThePrize Pest"), and Bugs, who only agrees when he hears of the travelopportunities ("You mean I get to go to Palm Springs?"). However, any timeDaffy threatens to fire his staff or gets greedy, more money vanishes from his vault. The movie uses some of the "creepiest" Looney Tunes cartoons ever created,including "Transylvania 6-5000", "The Abominable Snow Rabbit", "ScaredyCat", "Hyde & Go Tweet", "The Duxorcist", and others. While it's great to see these classic cartoons, the real fun is watching Daffy try to keep his cool... and his money. Though some younger kids may get scared off whenever Cubishreturns (everything goes dark, clap of thunder and lightning, and the music gets a little creepy), I highly recommend this cartoon for the whole family. Be sure to watch the opening cartoon of "Night of the Living Duck" for a real Halloween- themed treat.

Another quick cut-and-paste job by Warner Bros. to generate some quick bucks, "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters" is just a wide selection of cartoon shorts starring Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Porky Pig and others. The whole thing is glued together by new animation that features Daffy in some odd situations as he tries to fight paranormal entities that are terrorizing others in the real world. The old cartoons can be caught at most anytime on the Cartoon Network or just about any place else now. Watching the productions as shorts are much better than watching a series in a 90-minute string. 2.5 out of 5 stars.