Did you people see the same film I saw?

An Exercise In Nonsense

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

STARS: "Daffy Duck" (Robin Hood), "Porky Pig" (Friar Tuck), "Lord of the Castle" (himself).Director: CHARLES M. JONES. Story: Michael Maltese. Animation: Abe Levitow, Richard Thompson, Ken Harris. Lay-outs: Maurice Noble. Backgrounds: Philip De Guard. Film editor: Treg Brown. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Milt Franklyn. Color by Technicolor. Producer: Edward Selzer.A Warner Bros "Merrie Melodies" cartoon. U.S. release: 8 March 1958. 1 reel.COMMENT: One of my favorite Daffys - and I'm glad to see that other critics like Steve Schneider agree with me. (In fact Steve regards this one as the last of Daffy's best work). Admittedly the accent is on fast-paced, clever slapstick, but all the continuous and often unexpected tumbles are made doubly enjoyable by Daffy's ridiculous posturing and Porky's understandable glee. As usual the backgrounds and color add immeasurably to the cartoon's intrinsic appeal.

With the Chuck Jones incarnation of Daffy, you know very well that he'll nearly always lose. Even when he's based on a famous fictional character, he'll generally be supremely incompetent. But how he loses is what makes it entertaining.Robin Hood Daffy feels quite a bit more formulaic in the sense that the elements of dialogue don't seem to interact(a bit hard to explain). Daffy does something stupid, Porky laughs and/or snarks. In other looney tunes shorts, this formula is not nearly as explicit but here it's pretty hard to ignore. The dialogue doesn't really build up to anything is what I'm saying; you already know that Porky isn't going to be convinced whereas with Bugs he still have to put effort into the way he tricks someone. This may be attributed to the fact that Porky isn't really his main antagonist but he still feels rather static. And even when Daffy fails, it doesn't even feel as entertaining as usual. Here it's more just "slamming into things". This doesn't really elicit different expressions on the characters so the sense of pain is lost in the transition. Maybe the sound of the impact is meant to compensate but without a variety of consequences it's more just a gag in a vacuum.Animation wise, the cartoon doesn't feel nearly as lively. Chuck Jones shorts are usually known for being subtler but here they feel particularly restrained. There are some unique aspects such as the bouncing walks of the pony.Overall, it doesn't mean it's an objectively bad cartoon. But there's definitely a sense energy is lacking with the character and the gags. You do see some great poses(which Chuck Jones Shorts are also well known for).

Daffy Duck claims to be Robin Hood to Friar Tuck (Porky Pig). Tuck wants to join Robin Hood and to prove to Friar Tuck Daffy will steal some gold from a rich man and give it to a poor man. There are a couple of laughs, in the end mostly, but overall it is not that funny.

This Daffy Duck short is similar in style to Chuck Jones' Road Runner shorts with its unique backgrounds and fast moving gags. I especially like the scene in which Daffy uses his buck and a quarter quarter staff. Also very funny is the character design of the rich traveler Daffy attempts to rob. The unique shape of this character and his horse combined with the way they prance across the screen is a hilarious visual. This is among the best Daffy Duck shorts.