PLANE DAFFY (1940)
Article 4240 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-2-2013
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Featuring the voices of Sara Berner, Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce
Country: USA
What it is: Wartime Warner Brothers cartoon

Secret message couriers are falling prey to the irresistible spy, Hatta Mari. In order to defeat her, they send out their resident woman-hater, Daffy Duck.

You know, after sampling some of the cartoons from the other studios, it really is a treat to return to the Warner Brothers studio during their classic period, and here they’re in top form. This one features Daffy in his manic loose cannon period (before he became the all-too-human antihero in the hands of Chuck Jones), and one thing you can say about him during this era is that you never really know what he’s going to do next. That, combined with the exaggerated speed, split-second comic timing, out-of-left-field gags, superb score (Carl Stalling as always) and voice work (Mel Blanc and others), you barely have time to breathe as this one goes through its paces. Though he’s not as famous as Chuck Jones or Tex Avery, Frank Tashlin was one of the masters of the animated cartoon.