Draftee Daffy

Draftee Daffy is a 1945 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett.^[1] The cartoon was released on January 27, 1945, and stars Daffy Duck.^[2]

Draftee Daffy
Title card
Directed by	Robert Clampett
Story by	Lou Lilly
Starring	Mel Blanc (uncredited)
Music by	Carl W. Stalling
Animation by	Rod Scribner
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	January 27, 1945 (1945-01-27) (U.S.)
Running time	7 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The film depicts Daffy as a draft dodger, who desperately tries to avoid an agent of the draft board. Part of the film is set in hell, but Daffy is unable to end this pursuit.

Plot

Daffy Duck finds himself in a patriotic mood after reading about the United States Armed Forces' success in pushing back Nazi German troops during World War II. However, his mood quickly turns to fear when he receives a phone call from the draft board.

Determined to evade conscription, Daffy engages in a series of frantic attempts to escape the persistent draft board representative. Despite his efforts, Daffy's plans backfire, and he ultimately crash-lands in Hell. To his dismay, he discovers that the demon pursuing him is none other than the man from the draft board, signaling that he cannot escape his fate.

Reception

Animation historian Jerry Beck writes that in this film, Clampett "gives Daffy Duck the first nuance to his zany personality—something Chuck Jones would expand upon in later shorts—by making the duck an out-and-out coward. Even funnier, the little man from the draft board is portrayed by a nerdy 4F reject, who personifies government intrusion in our lives."^[3]

Home media

• VHS, LaserDisc - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons
• LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2, Side 5: Bob Clampett
• VHS - Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 7: Welcome To Wackyland (USA 1995 Turner print)
• DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Four (with audio commentary by Eddie Fitzgerald and John Kricfalusi)
• Blu-ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3, Disc 2