Release Date:

May 2, 1942

Main Character(s):

Daffy Duck

Summary:

Daffy Duck decides to not fly south and check out this winter business but regrets it when he ends up cold and hungry and gets pursued by a wolf and his weasel sidekick, who are sick and tired of eating nothing but beans, and want a duck dinner.

That’s Not All, Folks:

This is the first black and white cartoon where Daffy appears without Porky. Porky is also featured in the intro despite not appearing.

The initial restoration of this cartoon that premiered on MeTV in 2022 used the incorrect opening theme and the incorrect Porky drum ending. The cartoon’s restoration was later put on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 2 Blu-ray set in 2023, only this time with a different incorrect opening theme, but with the correct Porky drum ending.

This is the first of three Daffy Duck cartoons directed by McCabe, with the other two being “The Impatient Patient” and “The Daffy Duckaroo” (both released later in 1942).

Daffy would later make schemes to avoid flying south in “Birth of a Notion” (1947), “Thumb Fun” (1952), and “Cracked Quack” (1952).

What I Like About This One:

Daffy expressing his annoyance at migration. “Them silly ducks. Going south every winter. North in the summer. South in the winter. North in the summer. South in the winter. Eh, they’re in a rut!” (animated by Vive Risto).

Daffy is shown to be excited for a “Snow Carnival” and a “Snow Queen” advertised on the newspaper. All of the other ducks reply in unison, “You’ll be sorry!” before flying off (animated by Risto).

Daffy saying he should be sorry, but he isn’t now that he has the whole lake to himself. While showing off various diving tricks, Daffy then crashes onto the suddenly frozen lake. Seeing snow fall, Daffy skates via his feet along the ice, singing “Snow fly, don’t bother me” (animated by Izzy Ellis).

When a snowstorm hits, subtitles read “Thru wind and snow, at thirty below, we find our hero…” Daffy is nowhere to be found so the subtitles now read, “Gosh, we can’t find our hero!”

Daffy is heard desperate for food and then peeks through the blizzard to ask the audience, “What are you laughing at? I’m really hungry.” (animated by Cal Dalton).

Daffy then imagines a tree as a T-bone steak before pulling off two pieces of bark, and sandwiching his hand in the middle of them, creating a “hand sandwich”. He realizes how painful this is when he takes a bite. Nearby smoke from the wolf and weasel’s cabin resembles a hand that flicks Daffy’s face and lures him there (animated by Risto).

Inside their cabin, the wolf and weasel are shown to have an unlimited supply of beans, which they are clearly tired of only eating (animated by John Carey).

The weasel accidentally plopping his face into the wolf’s beans when the wolf hears a knock at the door (animated by Carey).

Seeing it’s Daffy, the wolf and weasel disguise themselves as spinster sisters with the weasel flipping their sign “Never give a sucker an even break” over to say “Home Sweet Home” (animated by Dalton).

The wolf initially saying in his normal voice, “Name me your poison, kid!” before correcting himself and asking in his feminine voice, “What would you like to have to eat?” (animated by Carey).

The wolf singing about their dinner menu to the tune of “The Latin Quarter” (largely animated by Carey, Dalton, and Ellis).

When the wolf and weasel reveal themselves (animated by Carey), Daffy attempts to convince them he’s a pigeon and also a hummingbird (animated by Dalton).

The weasel knocking himself out after opening the cabin’s Dutch door the wrong way (animated by Ellis).

While pursuing Daffy with an ax, the wolf carves a tree into a Totem pole (animated by Ellis).

After getting rid of the wolf by having him slide off a snowy log resembling a bridge (animated by Ellis), Daffy head south running past signs saying “South” and “And we do mean South” (animated by Risto).

In the end, Daffy is shown to be happily living in Carmen Miranda’s fruit hat to which he is wearing a fruit hat himself (animated by Dalton).

Where Can I Watch It?

On YouTube!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½