Daffy Duck

### Personality

**Formerly**: Prideful, stubborn, greedy, selfish (sometimes), aggressive, mischievous, crazy, screwball, wacky, lucky (sometimes), sarcastic, somewhat-rude, smart-alec, ill-tempered, spoil, wise-cracking, jealous, arrogant, lazy, gullible, strong-willed, opinionated, competitive, scheming, manipulative, bitter, self-absorbed, yet secretly insecure, short-tempered, irritated, ambitious, distraught, easily touchy, childish, self-indulgent, self-centered
**Later**: Kind, compassionate, intelligent, remorseful, lucky

### Alignment

Good
Neutral (sometimes)

### Loves/Likes

Playing alter-egos, getting what he wants, Melissa, earning money, conning people out of their money (especially Porky Pig), going on adventures with Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig

### Hates/Dislikes

People favoring Bugs Bunny more than him, not having his way

### Allies

Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Lola Bunny, Tweety, Sylvester the Cat

### Enemies

Bugs Bunny, (sometimes), Porky Pig (sometimes), Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Snake Eyes, 88 Teeth, Hammerhead, Pussycat Puss, Bat Man, Double Hitter, Pickle Puss, Pumpkin Head, Neon Noodle, Juke Box Jaw, Wolfman, The Lady Duck

### Relatives

Unnamed parentsUnnamed wifeGrandmommy (grandmother)Danger Duck (decedent)Melissa Duck (ex-girlfriend)Tina Russo (current girlfriend)Dipsy Duck (uncle)Doofus Duck (grandfather)Unnamed uncleDimwit Duck (cousin)

### Qoute

"Your despicable."

**Daffy Duck** is a iconic cartoon character produced by Warner Bros. He is considered the deutaragonist in the

Looney Tunes franchise. But however, he can have different roles especially alignments in many of episodes.

He usually has been depicted as a rival and occasional best friend of Bugs Bunny. Daffy was one of the first of the new "screwball" characters that emerged in the late 1930s to replace traditional "everyman" characters who were more popular earlier in the decade, such as Mickey Mouse and Popeye. Daffy starred in 133 shorts in the Golden Age, making him the third-most frequent character in the *Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies* cartoons, behind Bugs Bunny's 166 appearances and Porky Pig's 159 appearances. Daffy was ranked #14 on TV Guide's list of top 50 best cartoon characters of all time and was featured on one of the issue's four covers as Duck Dodgers with Porky Pig and the Powerpuff Girls (all of which are Time Warner-owned characters).

## Background

Daffy first appeared on April 17, 1937 in *Porky's Duck Hunt,* directed by Tex Avery and animated by Bob Clampett. The cartoon is a standard hunter/prey pairing for which Leon Schlesinger's studio was famous, but Daffy (barely more than an unnamed bit player in this short) was something new to moviegoers: an assertive, completely unrestrained, combative protagonist. Bob later recalled: "At that time, audiences weren't accustomed to seeing a cartoon character do these things. And so, when it hit the theaters it was an explosion. People would leave the theaters talking about this daffy duck."

This early Daffy is less anthropomorphic and resembles a "normal" duck, being short and pudgy, with stubby legs and a beak. The only aspects of the character that have remained consistent through the years are his voice (provided by Mel Blanc) and his black feathers with a white neck ring. Mel's voice for Daffy holds the world record for the longest voice-acting of one animated character by his/her original actor: 52 years.

The origin of Daffy's voice is a matter of some debate. One often-repeated "official" story is that it was modeled after producer Schlesinger's tendency to lisp. However, in Mel Blanc's autobiography, *That's Not All, Folks!*, he contradicts that conventional belief, writing, "It seemed to me that such an extended mandible would hinder his speech, particularly on words containing an s sound. Thus 'despicable' became 'dethpicable.'"

Daffy's slobbery, exaggerated lisp was developed over time, and it is barely noticeable in the early cartoons. In *Daffy Duck & Egghead,* Daffy does not lisp at all except in the separately drawn set-piece of Daffy singing *The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down* in which just a slight lisp can be heard.

In *The Scarlet Pumpernickel* (1950), Daffy has a middle name, Dumas, as the screenwriter of a swashbuckling script, a nod to Alexandre Dumas.  Also, in the *Baby Looney Tunes* episode *The Tattletale,* Granny addresses Daffy as "Daffy Horacio Tiberius Duck." In *The Looney Tunes Show* (2011), the joke middle names "Armando" and "Sheldon" are used.

*In Looney Tunes: Back In Action, Daffy is sick of Bugs and goes on an adventure with DJ to battle The ACME Company and save DJ's father, but his real purpose of coming is to get the Blue Monkey diamond.*

## Trivia

* Daffy plays a piano duet with Donald Duck in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
* Daffy made a cameo in a 1998 episode of The Drew Carey Show in a method of live-action/animated film.
* In the alternative ending of Looney Tunes: Back In Action, Daffy is one of the users of the Blue Monkey. Stealing it from Mr. Chairman, Daffy causes the devolution of Kate Houghton and Bugs Bunny (respectively in a cavewoman and in Neanderthal Bugs). After accidentally devolving his friends, Daffy tries to see if the Blue Monkey has something wrong self-devolving in an egg.