Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters | |
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Directed by | Greg Ford Terry Lennon |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Tim Whintall |
Edited by | Treg Brown |
Music by |
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Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is a 1988 animated
Unlike previous compilation films, Quackbusters uses pre-existing music from older Looney Tunes shorts composed by
Similar to The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, which was preceded with the Oscar-winning Knighty Knight Bugs (1958), Quackbusters is preceded with the exclusive short The Night of the Living Duck (1988). This film is inspired by Ghostbusters. Most of the films included in the compilation have a comedy horror theme, with stories involving spirit possession, exorcism, Transylvanian vampires, magic words, and Yetis. This was the only Looney Tunes compilation film to be aired on HBO in the early 1990s. It later aired on Cartoon Network.
Plot
Salesman Daffy tries to make a pitch to reclusive millionaire and "ailing buzzsaw baron" J.P. Cubish – a dog who has offered wealth to anyone who can make him laugh before he passes on. Daffy becomes his jester, taking uncounted pies in the face while Cubish laughs. After Cubish "dies laughing", Daffy inherits his fortune. The money is locked in a safe, under the provision that it will be used to provide a beneficial public service and Daffy follow Cubish's creed to display honesty in business affairs. If the now-wealthy Daffy does not comply with the will's terms, the ghost of Cubish will reclaim the fortune. The irked Daffy vows to use the money to wipe out ghosts such as Cubish.
Setting himself up as a "Paranormalist at Large", Daffy persuades
Meanwhile, Daffy exorcises three ghosts possessing
When the city is swept with reports of a tiny elephant, Daffy, presuming this to be mere hysteria, hopes to profit by soothing the public with his "expert" testimony. However, no sooner does he announce to the audience that there is no such thing as a tiny elephant when it turns up on Daffy's television interview, rendering him a public laughing stock. Daffy decides to blame someone else for the debacle and absent-mindedly remarks that there was "nothing wrong with a little dishonesty in business affairs." This proves to be Daffy's undoing however, as upon realizing of what he said, Daffy discovers that the safe is now completely empty except for a few cobwebs. Then Egghead appears with a singing telegram, announcing to Daffy that due to unpaid rent, he is being dispossessed. After the repo crew takes away his desks, the building is condemned and destroyed, with Daffy still inside.
In the epilogue, Bugs enjoys his vacation in Palm Springs and reads about Daffy's downfall, while Porky and Sylvester are stranded in the Superstition Mountains. Meanwhile, Daffy becomes a salesman again, this time selling paranormal-themed trinkets. However, when he earns a dollar bill, it instantly vanishes. Daffy angrily shakes his fist at the sky and screams "Cubish!".
Film segments in order
Several cartoons are re-edited either for time, to connect with the plot, or have redubbed lines.
- The Night of the Living Duck – This cartoon is an exclusive to the film.
- Daffy Dilly (1948) (used at beginning when Daffy tries to get to Cubish; with the report on Cubish now shown on TV; this short is used as one of the central elements in the film)
- The Prize Pest (1951) (used when Daffy recruits Porky; shortened starting from when Daffy warns Porky of his "split personality", cutting to before Porky hides in a closet and ending after Porky accidentally scares himself)
- Water, Water Every Hare (1952) (used progressively for the Paranormalists at Large commercials)
- Hyde and Go Tweet (1960) (Sylvester encounters Tweety, who changes into a monster without him realizing it, which leads to his paranoia; edited with new animation showing that Sylvester had gone into Daffy's office)
- Claws for Alarm (1954) (Porky and Sylvester's Dry Gulch assignment, with Porky's lines up to when they arrive at the hotel redubbed)
- The Duxorcist (Daffy's first assignment, where he ends up getting temporarily possessed) This is another exclusive short to the film. It was previously released theatrically with Nuts the previous year, and was shown as an individual short years later.
- Transylvania 6-5000 (1963) (Bugs' Transylvania assignment; the short's opening credits have been removed, most of Bugs' lines are redubbed to reflect the film's plot and the ending where Bugs' ears turn into bat wings and Bugs flies away was cut and replaced with Bugs calling Daffy)
- The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961) (Bugs and Daffy's Himalayas assignment; the opening is altered to reflect the plot)
- Punch Trunk (1953) (a miniature elephant wanders through town, having many encounters with various people; the cartoon was heavily shortened with the bird bath scene edited to reflect the plot. In the credits, the title was mistakenly read as "Punch Truck".)
- Jumpin' Jupiter (1955) (seen in epilogue, identified as the Superstition Mountains)
Voice Cast
- Mel Blanc as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Sylvester (archive), Tweety (archive), Hugo the Abominable Snowman (archive), J.P. Cubish, J.P. Cubish's Butler (archive), Mr. Hyde, Birdbath Owner (archive), Asylum Collector (archive), Coyote, Drunk (archive)
- Mel Tormé as Daffy Duck (singing voice)
- Ben Frommer as Count Bloodcount (archive)
- Melissa Duck
- Roy Firestone as Announcer
- Julie Bennet as Two-Headed Vulture (archive)
- Mark Kausler as Egghead[2]
Home media
The film was released on VHS on July 19, 1989, and later on DVD in the United States on August 4, 2009, by
The Duxorcist saw an individual release as part of the Looney Tunes Parodies Collection on February 4, 2020.
See also
- List of animated feature films
- List of package films
References
- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Animation Anecdotes #195". Retrieved 2018-11-04.
Notes
- ^ A majority come from old cartoons
External links
- Daffy Duck's Quackbusters at IMDb