The History of Daffy Duck

Daffy Duck made his debut in the 1937 black-and-white cartoon, Porky’s Duck Hunt. While he didn’t have a name yet, his distinctive speech pattern and personality were already apparent in the Tex Avery short, which came out just before Bugs Bunny made his own famous debut. After watching Porky’s Duck Hunt, audiences began referring to the character as a “daffy duck,” and that became the character’s official name in the 1938 follow-up short, Daffy Duck and Egghead. Daffy Duck’s distinctive personality was the brainchild of Chuck Jones, while animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett gave him his voice and appearance. Interestingly, Daffy Duck’s high-pitched voice is widely thought to have been based on the real-life voice of producer Leon Schlesinger. Robert McKimson redesigned Daffy for the 1946 short, Daffy Doodles, while animator and director Friz Freleng worked closely with Jones and McKimson make Daffy greedier. A high point of Daffy’s greedy characterization can be seen in 1953’s Duck Amuck, a segment of which was later added to the National Film Registry in 1999. Between 1954 and 1957, Daffy was continued to operate based on greed and his famous catchphrase “Mine, mine, mine!” debuted during this time. In the late 1960s, Warner Bros. outsourced their production to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, and Daffy’s character became far more antagonistic and malicious. This turned out to be a misstep, and in the aftermath of negative audience reactions, Daffy Duck disappeared from screens until 1987’s The Duxorcist. He once again became popular and there was even a Daffy Duck musical record called Party Zone that came out in 1991. A total of 27 voice actors have played Daffy Duck over the years, including Mel Blanc and even Sir Tom Jones. Today, Daffy Duck remains a fan favorite among Looney Tunes enthusiasts all over the world.