Draftee Daffy (1945)

Director:

Robert Clampett

Writer:

Lou Lilly (story)

Release Date:

27 January 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | War

Plot:

Daffy Duck is desperate to elude the draft board respresentative bearing his conscription order.

Plot Keywords:

Conscription | Daffy Duck | Reference To Teddy Roosevelt | Contemporary Setting | Marine Hymn

Cast

Mel Blanc

...

Daffy Duck / The Little Man from the Draft Board (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The "Little Man From the Draft Board" was based upon the famous radio character of Mr. Peavey, a supporting character on "The Great Gildersleeve" played by 'Richard LeGrand (I)'. His famous catchphrase was, "I wouldn't say that."

Quotes:

Daffy Duck: [singing] From the shores of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli / Hear those bells of freedom ringing - Oh, no, It's just the phone for me.
Daffy Duck: [Answers telephone] Hello? Yes, this is Daffy Duck. You say you have a letter for me from the President? You'll bring it right over? Oh, you're the little man from the draft board. Gee, thanks.
Daffy Duck: [Resumes singing] Oh, the little man from the draft board is coming to see me. Oh, the... d-d-d-d-d - The man from the draft board? Oh ho-ho! Yipe!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Behind the Tunes: Looney Tunes Go to War! (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Yankee Doodle

Draftee Daffy: Stunning Omen of the Vietnam War

I saw this movie some time in the 1970s, and was absolutely stunned by it. I've seen it since on cable TV channels, and am always amazed. Daffy Duck's attitude towards being drafted was exactly the same as mine just a few years earlier! Yeah, I am all for America! I'll wave the flag and whatever... But--you want me to join the army? And carry a gun? And go through basic training? And kill people?

LATER FOR YOU, BROTHER!!! GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!

And so it goes with our hero, Daffy Duck (always my favorite WB cartoon character since he is the least sentimental of them all--even W. C. Fields took a back seat to this bastard!). I even think it's possible that this cartoon convinced little children who watched it in the 1950s on television to become 1960s draft dodgers...

This cartoon contains some of the most shocking imagery ever to be seen in an animated cartoon before the 1960s. When Daffy lands in Hell at the end of the cartoon and is still being pursued by the draft board, it's quite a statement (even though it was probably just a joke back in the day)... It's Daffy Duck versus Big Government. In fact, that is what the whole F'N cartoon is about: Daffy Duck versus government bureaucracy. Clampett's portrayal of the faceless bureaucrat is as chilling as anything Kafka ever invented.

This cartoon also has more manic energy than ANY other WB cartoon ever made. It's like an acid trip. It's weird. It's... almost psychedelic. It's INSANE!!!

You have to think that the filmmakers meant to make some kind of political statement with this little cartoon. What's amazing about this is that the cartoon was made at the height of World War Two, which has always been seen as the war every single US citizen supported without question... This "harmless" little cartoon makes you question all of that, and brings WW2 back to the reality of Japanese detention camps, zoot suits, shortages, and other stark realities of the 1940s. (Just read your history books, people!)