Daffy Duck

A Long time Rival of Bugs Bunny.

Origin
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. InDaffy 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 (1949), 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.

Friends

 * Tina Russo
 * Bugs Bunny
 * Porky Pig
 * Speedy Gonzales
 * Foghorn Leghorn
 * Yosemite Sam
 * Marvin The Martian
 * Pete Puma
 * Tasmanian Devil
 * Granny
 * Gossamer