This is the cartoon that really got me interested in Art Davis as a director. I remember when I first saw it I rewound the tape halfway through it to double check who the director was. The opening scenes are hilarious and the scene with Daffy and Porky arguing through the window really cracks me up. The Daffy design is great too, right up there with Clampett's unit. I wish I had some art from this short, especially layouts from the scenes in the park, but I guess just the cartoon will do. Sorry.
Helluva Davis cartoon. There's lots of totally unique perspective shots, such as Porky falling out of the clock- ones you don't see anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad you mentioned Daffy's great design. The long-billed Daffy is damn near my favorite- and I love how they emphasized the flying spit when he talks! Hadn't see that before.
The silent window gag was guffawingly hilarious! What timing!
Another great post, thanks again!
As far as I'm concerned, Art Davis is the most criminally underrated DIRECTOR at Warners, along with McKimson. Some of the other directors there are so aggrandized and overrated, it's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIts nice to see Daffy win for once. :)
ReplyDeleteWhy could'nt Chuck Jones make a cartoon where Bugs gets shot and Daffy does all the tricks? ^^
Nah, only kidding.
Great cartoon.
There's quite a bit of imaginative yet subtle stuff here that can be easily missed if you don't pay attention. I think that's one principal reason Davis is underrated.
ReplyDeleteThe next "Bugs Buddies" book will have some quotes from an interview I did with Bill Scott about his stretch at Warners in Art Davis' unit.
Davis, Frank Tashlin and Robert McKimson (1940's) all made cartoons that could stand up to anyone's. So did guys at other studios - Shamus Culhane, Jack Kinney, Sid Marcus - and no doubt some wild overseas cartoon directors I don't know about.
Do you have Foxy Duckling? I'm asking because that seems to be Davis' rarest.
ReplyDeleteThe next "Bugs Buddies" book will have some quotes from an interview I did with Bill Scott about his stretch at Warners in Art Davis' unit.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more.
The next "Bugs Buddies" book will have some quotes from an interview I did with Bill Scott about his stretch at Warners in Art Davis' unit.
I totally want to read that! It seems as if Davis' time in the director's chair is a footnote in most every book I've read. It will be nice to read an interview from someone who worked under him. Thanks for the heads up Paul.
Do you have Foxy Duckling?
Yes... somewhere. Don't worry I'll keep posting Davis cartoons so when and if I find where the disc is I'll put that up too.
Thanks, KLangley, for posting another excellent Art Davis WB cartoon.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see someone here (Paul) is doing a Bugs Bunny creators book, that'll include Davis.
Thanks, KLangley, for posting another excellent Art Davis WB cartoon.
Steve Carras
Great cartoon. I hope it's restored eventually.
ReplyDeleteDidier Ghez, who edited the Walt's People books, is putting together the Bugs' Buddies tome. There will very likely be more about it on his blog, disneybooks.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteAnother noteworthy Davis cartoon is Bowery Bugs.
I'm transcribing some of those Bugs' Buddies interviews for Didier!
ReplyDeleteDid you ever interview Clampett, Paul?
I love the animation in Davis's cartoons. He kept up that wild, broad exuberance that Clampett and Tashlin were using before they left Warners. The animation is also funny -- some of the walk cycles alone make me laugh.
ReplyDeleteNo, unfortunately, I didn't do an official interview with Bob Clampett, although he was the first animation artist I met. He talked a lot about what inspired him - among other things, the fantasy fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Willis O' Brien's stop-motion animation in The Lost World and being mentored by Tex Avery at Termite Terrace.
ReplyDeleteCheck this link out:
arglebarglin.blogspot.com/2006/11/compleat-bob-clampett.html
Quite amazing. I first watched this at work with no sound, and I could tell exactly what's going on without any of the dialogue. The premise, expressions, posing, mood and timing... it all works even without a single sound. Funny too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this.
Davis did such funny Daffy cartoons. Absolutely crazy gags in this one.
ReplyDeleteIs Bill Melendez the first animator who did those really long-billed Daffy's? I remember his animation of Daffy in Clampett's cartoons having a pretty long bill. Very good looking. Has anybody ever asked him about what it was like to work for Davis?