Arthur Davis came out of nowhere to take over for Bob Clampett and went straight back there three years later, but in that time he created a body of work that touches the highest and not-so-high aspects of WB humor, from the engaging animations of Two Gophers From Texas to the more repetitive Nothing But the Tooth. He borrows from Bob Clampett's determination to make every character idiosyncratic, Frank Tashlin's madcap detachment, and Friz Freleng's ability to organize (This came in later but he did use it), but several things make his style unique.

Davis also has a reckless, aggressive side to him that is unknown to other WB directors. His films are often hyper and impatient, sometimes the cutting is arbitrary, interrupting a character's action and heading straight into the next scene, and many of his scenes are so short they're practically machine-gunned out, making some of his films an awkward experience. The aggressiveness sometimes translates into cruelty (see Foxy Duckling, the uptight scientist in Bone Sweet Bone, the pilgrims in Holiday For Drumsticks, and pretty much any Davis cartoon) and he seems to really love wreaking havoc on some characters, or threatening to do so anyway, even more than Robert McKimson who just liked to make his characters conniving and sadistic.

Which brings me to my next point: Davis was the first WB director to sacrifice characterization in favor of humor. His characters resonate somewhat, as he used Daffy and Porky really well, but there's this abstractness about his characters, it's almost as though he's more interested in making them icons for the gags and crazy animation (especially true for Holiday for Drumsticks and others). He also wields animation like a deadly weapon. It's not as dynamic as Clampett's or Jones' but it merrily trots along, rubbery and flailing all the way, and it can go from being restrained in a Freleng way to all out distortion like a Rod Scribner scene, even though Scribner didn't animate for Davis.

As far as this state-of-mind goes, he exploits it to the fullest. While Davis never invented a character as 'personal' with the audience as the dog from Hare Ribbin or the Irish cat from We, the Animals, Squeak!, his character designs are radiant and dynamic. The way he reinvented Pepe le Pew was quite impressive, his Porky and Daffy expressions are new and interesting, and his original characters, even if their personalities aren't always original (or three-dimensional), are always dressed with ever changing facial expressions, shifting builds, beady eyes, and bright colors making them suited for the material.

Consistency was another thing going for Davis. Most of his cartoons are laugh-out-loud funny, even the weakest ones have some worthwhile moments, and almost all of them have great gags, showing that Davis was skilled enough to to compensate for lack of resonance with extra hilarity. His stuff works as straightforward comedy without any higher ambitions, and he's one of the most successful directors in this area.

Rating: 5/7

There are two parts to this cartoon - first Porky dispatches several types of cats to catch the dot-eyed, superman mouse who licks every mousetrap and even manages to taunt him and mimic his pacing without getting caught. Each time Porky runs to the city that is visible from his doorway he comes back with an ironic wisecrack about the speed which he travels. The cats he brings home are of course foiled by the mouse and there's a quick cut to the mouse celebrating his victory after dispatching each cat. The cats get more and more over the top, the last one being about as different as the first, normal, domesticated housecat as they come.

The second part involves Porky unleashing a robotic cat that is immune to most of the mouse's dirty tricks, though he still gets a run for his money. I'm not crazy about this part because it's difficult to empathize with robots, but he does display some funny characteristics like his jealous reaction to the mouse playing with the little string doll.

This cartoon is so suffocatingly hyper some of the best gags are too fast. You might wanna watch this on a VCR (or God willing, a DVD player) with slow motion.

Rating: 4/7

A project Arthur Davis took over from Bob Clampett (who created the characters), the Gophers have passed between several directors over the years but I've never seen a great cartoon with them (except Two Gophers From Texas). The gophers are territorial, violent little rodents who speak to each other in sickenly polite ways ("Afteryouohnoafteryouohimustinsistblahdefrigginblah"). In this one they're out to steal vegetables guarded by a dog who talks like a Shakespearian actor.

I can't remember ever laughing at this cartoon. I just give it this rating because I wouldn't groan if somebody else found it funny. It's a standard "you assault me I assault you" cartoon. The most memorable moments for me are the dog's attempt at camoflauge and his subsequent bludgeoning, getting caught under ground, walking above a grenade and getting blown-up, dressing up as a scarecrow, pulled under and thrown back up, and rocketing to the moon. Ultimately the Gophers find someone else has beaten them to the vegetables.

Rating: 4/7

This embodies the weaker side of Arthur Davis. The design, with the fox given enough crankiness in his wise-guy face to look threatening and the duck a gleeful streak of sadism to offset his cuteness, is excellent as is the animation. Parts of it are also very funny, such as the fox emptying his pillow or the duck painting the tree as it gradually moves toward him.

What it lacks is momentum. The few good incidental gags are lost in a sea of ho-hum scenes such as the fox sinking with a fish screaming in horror for no apparent reason and the boat falling around his barely visible face for a few seconds, like an over-timed Sylvester reaction gag. I'm not sure why I should laugh at the lengthy set-up where the duck moves the fox's diving board away so he dives on the ground. There's very little memorable here.

The best gag resuses a bit from Daffy and Egghead, the fox opening the bush like a venetian blind and getting shot at. The anuerysim intense end gag has a few sad piano tinkles as the feather falls on the fox, sending him to his death. Besides these moments, I never do feel like watching it.

Rating: 5/7

This took a lot of watching to grow on me. There're no immediately striking visual gags and the visuals themselves stay more or less true to reality, so I found it boring for awhile. What did catch my interest was that even for a Davis cartoon, the bouncy animation effectively makes the characters' movements a value unto themselves, like when Sylvester and his friend shake hands looking at each other giddily and their arms are awkwardly extended and twisted. The other thing that impressed me is the lack of dialogue.

Now I appreciate the cats' audacity more and more, when the orange one puffs up his chest in a tough guy stance and Wellington postures like he's gonna beat him up after cringing at the thought of his owner. The cats faking him out by doing a tango, making choo-choo noises, and throwing a fake package over the bridge lead to funny reactions from the dog. My favorite scene is when the orange cat pretends to smoke a cig and knocks him into an Indian statue that sticks cigars in his mouth.

Like I said, the animation is some of the most rubbery, bouncy, and fluid, just look at the beginning when Wellington is knocking the cats up in a garbage can (Uhh...That phrasing bothers me for some reason but I can't put my finger on it).

Rating: 6/7

Davis has an excellent grip on Daffy, especially with these pockets of blabbering that get him in trouble with the bull. And while the cuts between Daffy talking trash and the bull marching towards the audience look awkward, the individual scenes vary in their choreographing as they trade off between Daffy and the bull, heightening the tension for their encounter.

In addition, these sudden cuts from angle to angle even within the same scenery display unpredictable fake-out gags that would make Frank Tashlin jealous. And since the cartoon is so fast there's a lot of gags in here. Although I'd like to mention that we've seen a few of these before, like the suicide and the "I'll run away and mock your stupidity by leaving a phone behind" gags (to be honest I was almost expecting Daffy to jump out of the receiver after running away) but the details are all Davis - His characters are hyper, unscrupulous, and work hard at antagonizing each other.

It's flabbergasting how this cartoon threatens to fall apart and still holds together. The animation is as sloppy as the cutting yet just as expressive as the best WB cartoons and even does that close-up of the bull's proportion going skinny that happened a few times between McKimson and Clampett. If Clampett created a living, breathing world that looked rubbery, Davis created living, breathing rubber.

Rating: 5/7

I'm not complaining but for several sequences the camera fades out and in to the same scene at a different angle where it could simply move around a little, indicating Davis was impatient for the parrot to get the next utensil out so he could keep talking. Said parrot is actually Bing Crosby who pits a witless Sylvester against Frankie the canary. And by witless, I mean it. Sylvester has changed into a monosyllabic "daaah". It's a fresh change of pace but hardly a revelation or nothin'.

As you might expect the plot linearly follows each attempt by Sylvester to eat the canary, probably the earliest cartoon to rely on the forumla of a character repeatedly failing to accomplish his objective, each time coming up with a new elaborate scheme that backfires. This appears to be the inspiration of several Tweety cartoons, but where Tweety Pie increased in intensity this stays flat, each scene of no more consequence than the last. But the gags are funny if only adequately choreographed and the morbid, creepy ending is cool.

Rating: 6/7

Woah, this totally breaks all the rules. Sloppy directing, two characters I've never given much thought about, and repetitive storyline, all adding up to one of the most deranged and unfettered cartoons ever. No matter how many times I watch it I'm literally at edge anticipating the dog's next motion, his next verbal quip, his next splashy flail, his next facial expression, a bond between me and the cartoon only Stimpy's Invention and a few others have achieved.

And it doesn't matter really that the timing ain't of Rhapsody in Rivets-level or that the cutting is the usual impatience to get to the next shot for Davis, all that matters is that he establishes a dialogue with the viewer in the form of the drama student dog from Goofy Gophers who is not only ten times more dramatic and exploited for all sorts of splashy movement previously unseen but interacts with the audience through commentary on his various actions. His voice acting varies from goofy accenting ("De-cept-tt-tive-tact-ticks") to over-dramatic muuh-wah-hahahahahaha's. Of course his dialogue only complements his eye-popping movements - You've got to see how he ties the wire around the tree and then leaps over to the ground to test his trap, a mushy, abrupt backflip from one scene to another.

Although the plot is of the repetitive "build-payoff-fade-to-next-one" variety, every second is chock full of entertainment, be it the tradeoff between the Gophers' polite discussion on who gets to go in the hole first and the dog's manic rush down the hill with those maddened eyes of his, or the dog's display of anticipation for how his punching glove trap will work, only to find the Gophers having a pleasant discussion about the latest fashion inside the trunk (Naturally the dog becomes the victim of his own trap, and he doesn't just get knocked down, his head springs up into the air and knocks down on his neck, causing him to bounce around like he's on a trampoline). The boulder trap has him doing one of the most distorted face shots ever, gaping his maw, twisting his curved lips, and kneeling on all fours like a sphinx, but this is nothing compared to his stiffen, stringbean shape, bulging eye, and stupor mouth after landing flat on his face.

He dominates the screen, but the gophers work off him wonderfully. They are implicitly aware of his presence but seem more worried about offending each other than getting eaten, and they're on top of every situation, deflating the dog's pretentions to being a great game hunter. The musical sequence is the single best moment for the Gophers who enjoy swinging and waltzing while the dog assaults him with various instruments (It was a stroke of genius to use a banjo as a machine gun).

For all it achieves in animation and character usage, the plot is of course the standard attempt to kill one's food over and over and it doesn't end so much as stop. Nitpicking aside, it's not as delicate as Rhapsody in Rivets nor as slaphappy as Baby Bottleneck, but it has a balance between deranged and disciplined no other WB cartoon has.

Rating: 6/7

This is one of the most quintessential uses of Daffy Duck...He acts amicable, scheming, vain, over-dramatic, obnoxious, sarcastic and downright looney throughout, and the gags where he constantly trounces Elmer and the fox make full use of these personality traits.

Daffy's opening monologue reveals both his panic and cool-headedness as Duck Season is in full-swing and there's no Wabbit awound for which to change the signs to "Wabbit Season". Elmer and the fox's first advance on Daffy only leads to a ridiculous physical disfigurement that ties them both together. Even when they succeed in catching up with Daffy and do nothing more than grab him, the forward-driving urgency of the animation makes it look funny.

In fact, the animation is so tightly-tied to the action here you couldn't admire it on its own like you can in Two Gophers From Texas, but it's still totally appropriate as it manages to be "rubbery" and at the same time gives off rhythmic vibrations that suit whatever's happening at the moment. Daffy's attempt to get the two to run away from him shows the fox is slightly more intelligent than Elmer...but Daffy's urging of the fox to press on while forcing him to let go proves his over-bearing attitude will alwayws win out.

Daffy borrows a page from To Duck or not to Duck when he goes on an anti-hunting tirade for Elmer, only this time it's better due to the visual aid (gosh, how can you not be moved by Daffy's crash landing?) and the fact that it's not so much anti-hunting as it is "don't **** with Daffy". Elmer's attempt at a female duck disguise leads Daffy to overcome his ego-tripping and work up the ol' noggin in turning the fox against Elmer, leading to the only awkward (but still pretty funny) scene in the cartoon where Elmer remains trapped in a boot and is flung into the air. Eventually Daffy succeeds in irking Elmer against the fox enough and they run off in a rather entertaining chase scene, running over and through hills and stuff like that while Elmer shouts a stupid one-liner.

The clean forest background works wonders for each scene and Daffy's voice-acting is among Blanc's best with some high-pitched crescendos in his obnoxious ranting. It's what makes Daffy Duck!

Rating: 5/7

The set-up might be unorigional - A hillbilly trying to win back his girlfriend - But it's funny enough. Some of the gags, like the repeated punching one, remind me of The Hick Chick and while Arthur Davis may not be the master of comic timing like Avery, he pulls it off well enough, especially when we get another repitition of the gag after the hick crosses the street.

The gags alternate between different formulas - "Elmo's" attempts at impressing "Daisy" are shown-up each time by "Blackie", and each attempt has Elmo hilariously fantasising about killing Blackie in some over-the-top fashion. If there's any good characterization in here, it's when Elmo frets over his impotence.

If there's anything negative about the cartoon, it's that the story feels cramped. Eventually Elmo leaves the other two and goes to the cat while they are neglected. The rest of the gags show Elmo getting drunk and acting like a dumbass. They're twisted enough to be funny (he calls for the cat's name while inside his mouth, for instance) but at the end of the day it's a cartoon about a hick trying to win his girlfriend back.

Rating: 5/7

I once gave this a lower score, but I'm a dunce. Even though it does get a little boring towards the end, not to mention ending on a lame note, you can still watch the fluid, rubbery animation and admire the snappy accents in the motion, especially as Porky yelps and throws his upper body around and things like that.

Porky treks through the desert to get to California where gold is discovered at the beginning of the cartoon (The guy discovering it stakes his claim in the most unlikely spot) and has to avoid being scalped by an Indian. The Indian's introduction is absolutely brilliant, playing himself up as a huge threat by kicking a sandstorm in the distance, only to dissipate and reveal his tiny self. Porky's contempt plays off him nicely.

The various tricks the Indian uses to scalp Porky predictably backfire. One scene has him hiding behind a cardboard woman where Porky finds him out at the last second and brazenly pokes fun at his small size by handing him back his vibrating hammer.

Rating: 4/7

The best feature about Bone Sweet Bone is the suspensful moments where you don't know if Shep will get away from the bulldog. I don't think it's a very funny cartoon, though. The gags are all original (I mean, except for two that were borrowed from Ding Dog Daddy, and even one of them has a really interesting layout) but I'm seriously apathetic to whether Shep accomplishes his goal, and most of the time I just wish he'd give up and get the hell out of there. There's some nice animation, which Arthur Davis constantly delivers, and the parts where the bulldog squashes Shep into a ball shape and suddenly dons a sports uniform to eject him is at least different, but, eh.

Rating: 5/7

Davis' take on the Sylvester and Tweety formula, a wise-guy rooster trying to catch a Bugs Bunny-like worm, is full of snappy double takes, like the rooster swooshing his head around or fantasing a movie marquee calling him a dope, and injury gags, most of which just leave the rooster bludgeoned or flat on his face without any extra distortion or break-ups. The double takes are the best part, but there's also some spectacles like the rooster rocketing away and his coop mates trampling him out the door.

Rating: 5/7

Straightforward comedy is what Davis did best, and this is one of the most straightforward gag cartoons in the WB library, with a sadistic streak no less. Louie the parrot keeps trying to 'disappear' his friend Heathcliff so he can inherit one-million dollars (Heathcliff Heathcliff no one shooould terrorize the neighborhoooood...sorry). Heathcliff sounds like a typical moron starting every sentence with "daaaah" but at least he's not a Lenny-ripoff, and his exaggerated snout and cute, dinky eyes are a hallmark of Davis designing.

The gags, each one following a blackout, develop and pay-off fast, and there's a cool twist in their build-up such as Heathcliff disappearing behind the fence where fighting ensues only to find he's the one beating up the dog. Even if it's slightly predictable when he devastates the train, it's still funny to see after Louie cringes at the destruction heard from off-frame. Naturally the two wires Heathcliff plugs in his head work as a radio while they just make Louie sputter and flash neon signs.

It's actually when they run a gag into the ground that it gets dull - Arguing over Heathcliff's age until Heathcliff makes the repetition worthwhile by finding his birth cirtificate. I can't end this review without saying how funny the scenes of the cat using his head to crush walnuts are, especially when he turns away from one to address Louie.

Rating: 5/7

This predicts the 50's WB cartoons with a series of goal centered fadeout gags and restrained animation, which can be loopy when it wants to. Porky is hounded by a termite, who thankfully is an actual character and not some anonymous flying speck. This character is Pierre, who taunts Porky in every which way from standing on his nose to singing to sculpting things out of furniture. Porky gets "help" in the form of Sureshot, a sleazy dog who operates an extermination company and looks like he'd be at home standing on a wooden plank shouting, "Step right up and come see the stupendous, marvelous thing I'm selling here" (rainpills).

Each gag starts with Sureshot's explanation, Porky's implementation, and Pierre's retaliation. Sureshot is so obnoxious he keeps talking even while Porky's life is practically in danger from the termite. Porky ends up in 'Termite Heaven' after trying to send Pierre there, a literal illustration of him floating up as an angel surrounded by termites. Simply marvel at the damage to Porky's home, including a flood and the first floor crashing in on the basement, and his various humiliations such getting clubed and gestured at by an effigy of himself. In the end Porky exacts his own retribution...on Sureshot.

Rating: 6/7

Dialogue-free cartoons always deserve a thumbs-up. This one starts with a hapless dog constantly thrown out of every home he tries to invade by a demon-eyed bulldog, a grotesque eagle who grows suddenly when flying closer, and a turtle. He ends up in Pepe le Pew's cottage, only Pepe has drowsy eyes, a relaxed, curvy grin spiraling at the lips' edge, a smaller frame, and unrestrained, splashy motion, probably the most radical redesign of an established Warner Brothers cartoon star. He starts off docile as a dead fur and goes on to committ some bizarre actions, saving the dog from freezing to death just so he can machine gun him with his stinky tail, and what a cool stance he has while doing that.

This almost breaks the fourth wall as the characters seem to be aware they are animated rubber suits. The dog even allows himself to be stretched, squashed, and shrunk by Pepe just so he can cure a cold. They have a really strange relationship developing through the cartoon, alternately antagonizing and helping each other.

It's a really unpredictable, hyper cartoon, with an unlikely pairing and lots of interesting interaction for just two characters. Maybe it deserves a higher rating, but eh, I need my cartoon characters to resonate more and Pepe seems to have the same mental state no matter what situation he's in, making him very detached. Still a fascinating and funny watch.

Rating: 5/7)

A step down from other Davis Daffies, but still fun. Actually he's starting to resemble McKimson's Daffy, not of the Boobs in the Woods variety who is still inspiredly looney but the Birth of a Notion one who's selfesh and obnoxious (though not as mean as the Chuck Jones type and...). Slug McSlugg robs the Last National bank in the dead of the night and the world goes stir crazy complete with newspaper headings and police radio calls. Slug proves their incompetence by repainting his car and disguising the path to his cabin in a very stupid manner.

Daffy shows up and resolves to sell him anything and keeps coming back no matter how many times he gets thrown out or threatened with violence. As much as I like this cartoon it merely uses Daffy as a mildly obnoxious antagonist, but the gags come in the form of what he sells the crook, such as brass knuckles and bullets and other things that he can use to inflict pain on Daffy, and in several fake-outs such as the foot in the door and Daffy's speech in the dark lifted from Scrap Happy Daffy.

Pay close attention to the animation, particularly the blurry, twirling arm and facial movements during their first encounter. That close-up of Slug McSlugg about to knuckle Daffy is a nice touch.

Rating: 5/7

Whooooooooowell you look at that, Davis finally paired Porky and Daffy together. What kept him? I think it could have been better. The set-up, Daffy as a vagrant getting pursued by Porky as a cop, hasn't exactly been used before and the exchange between them through the window is unique, but there're a lot more interesting Porky vs. Daffy cartoons and this is just a standard runaround here's a gag there's a gag cartoon. Sure Daffy befuddles Porky with his bellboy disguise, but he does a better job befuddling Elmer in Wise Quackers (nothing like his chocking scene in here, that's for sure). There are of course a few really funny gags: Daffy dodging Porky in his sleep, with a classic quote ("Someone will get hurt, probably me") and then hitting him back in his sleep, the elevator gag, and the part where Daffy glues Porky's hand to the arrow. The most clever gag is at the end when Daffy gives a lame excuse for staying in the department store, and Porky actually finds himself in the same situation.

Rating: 5/7

Hillbilly gags! Every mundane task from pouring coffee to lighting a match is accomplished by shooting a gun. The characters look more like animated hillbilly costumes than actual living cartoons characters, but they've got some damn funny voices, especially Ma who sounds like a bee. Even the coocoo clock is as lazy as they are; it can barely hold up its hands and the coo coo is practically asleep.

Daffy grows jealous of the new arrival, the turkey, whom he places on a diet plan while eating all the food meant to fatten him up. Instead Daffy gets chased by the farmer after bragging about his new bod ("check out this drumstick") and the hide-me gags from Tom Turk are used once again, which is kind of annoying but no big deal. This time the Turkey really turns on Daffy and fools him into getting into the oven while everyone looks on.

The weight-lose gags are frantic and Daffy does a worthy display of panic when convincing the Turkey to go on a diet - Even the scale helps him out with a built-in message.

Rating:

Don't have it yet. It's on the Golden Collection DVD, maybe I should just get it...

Rating: 5/7

Davis' only Bugs cartoon begins with a flashback to the 1800's about the Brooklyn Bridge, leading to Bugs' most ever elaborate practical joke on some bum out to collect his rabbit's foot. The flashback begins in a series of oily still shots detailing the bum's streak of luck which adds to the nostalgia since there was no animation back then, but thankfully the whole cartoon isn't like this.

Bugs convinces the bum to go to a swami, also Bugs, who convinces him to look out for a mustaschioed gentleman, also Bugs, and then a baker, also Bugs...It's more sinister than Droopy pursuing the wolf. Just seeing Bugs having set up shop all over the place provides the backbone for this story, but there's also lots of psychological humor when he reccommends a course of action for the bum and shows up in the right place to make it backfire, such as dressing up as a lady and getting a cop to beat him in two very quick cuts. The craps scene also leads to more bizarre humor when the bartender brings out a massive gorilla dressed as a bouncer to throw him out.

The best part, though, is when the bum goes insane and runs back to where he first met each of Bugs' different selves. In the end, Bugs's story gets him a sale.

Rating: 6/7

There's a little of everything in here: 2 dynamic character designs, a plot that actually develops, twists, and climaxes, splashy animation, including Bluebeard's head creasing and folding before spitting out the fire, concepts that continually expand on each other, and most of all every scene gets all the required time to build and climax with no fade out. It's almost as though Davis adapted Friz Freleng's discipline to his own psycho style as every scene feels at the right place, speed, and length.

Porky is harassed by a small mouse, who gets ideas when the radio warns them of an escaped killer named Bluebeard. After rushing through his house to close all the blinds and barricade the door, Porky is backed into a spacy, twisted angle by Bluebeard's shadow, revealing a tiny bluebearded Orthodox Rabbi who forces Porky to feed him simply by laughing maniacally and splitting a hair with his sharpened knife (Do I even have to tell you what a hoot it is just seeing how he pulls out the sudden knife-sharpening action?). The mouse laughs at the audience in a mock fashion to celebrate his triumph, arching his eye over the face, and later tries the same laughter after Porky learns the score to no effect, bringing in some amusing counter-taunts from Porky.

The film seamlessly trades Porky confronting the mouse for the mouse's confrontation with the real Bluebeard, who literally appears out of thin air and places Porky's life in jeapordy while taking on the mouse. Their chase around the kitchen reminds me of a Friz Freleng cartoon where Bugs runs everyway in a small area and constantly pauses the chase to harass his tormentor. There are so many gags in here, including a literal illustration of Bluebeard's height and the mouse's clever way of luring Bluebeard away from Porky, and every scene has a rhythmic start/stop pattern that segues into the next one without missing a beat and packs in as many motions imaginable. Oh, and you gotta love the conscience scene.

This was the perfect cartoon for Arthur Davis to go out on. It's too bad he couldn't have made more like this.

Rating: 3/7

13 years later, Art Davis directs one more WB cartoon, and it stinks.

Ah forget it, I'm not even going to try comparing this to his late 40's output. Compared to 4th rate animator-turned-director-for-a-day stuff like Gerry Chiniquay and Abe Levitow, it's still watchable, and he even makes a crocodile family look amusing, so it's not a total loss. I could do without the June Foray-voiced 'nagging wife', who just plain irritates me with her self-righteousness, but I try to laugh when she knocks Daffy's face off.

Borrowing from Henpecked Duck a little, Daffy has to sit on an egg, and it just rolls away into a croc's nest, the rotten luck. Daffy is his perpetually angry and hapless self and is basically reduced to a flat personality by now, but the parallels between his family and the gator's is somewhat funny, and so is the mother's panic when Daffy takes her egg. The dad gator and Daffy spend the entire time swiping eggs from each other. Nothing of interest happens when Daffy is forced to sit on a hand grenade. The pacing is good, and there's still lots more motion crammed in, even if they're boring motions, than dialogue, so if you want one last look at Davis' style, I say go for it.