Daffy Flies North is a 1980 Merrie Melodies short directed by Art Davis, Dave Detiege, Gerry Chiniquy, and Tony Benedict.
Plot[]
A flock of black ducks are migrating north in the summer. Among them is an out-of-shape Daffy Duck. The flock leader informs Daffy that he's out of formation and questions him about not having any duck's instinct. Daffy strays from the flock and makes a rough three-point landing onto a haystack and gets a pitchfork stuck in his tail.
- Daffy tries hitchhiking, without success at first; he tries again, only to get the attention of a car full of duck hunters and their dogs. This makes the poor duck run for his life.
- Daffy comes across a truck hauling a trailer containing a chair. He hops onto the chair, but the trailer's attachment breaks off, sending Daffy and the chair downhill into the pond.
- Wearing a pair of skis, the duck throws a grappling hook onto an incoming car's rear fender, giving him the ride of his life until he loses his grip on the rope and skis into another pond.
He comes across a horse and plots to ride him north.
- Daffy tries to gain the horse's trust and ride it, without much progress. He tries to hop on again, only to be dumped into the pond. The horse laughs at Daffy.
- He tries to jump on the horse from behind, but to no avail.
- The duck takes the horse by surprise from a wooden fence, but as he rides, the duck's head is banged on the girders of a metal bridge.
- Daffy then grabs a saddle and tries to straddle it up, but the horse keeps resisting the effort. He stares at the horse in order to make it listen to reason, but unfortunately doesn't realize that the horse's trifling has led Daffy to a rocky cliff. The ground where the duck is standing on gives way and gravity ensues.
- He manages to saddle the horse from a high tree branch and ties himself around the horse's body, but the saddle begins to lean over from the galloping and Daffy ends up upside-down. As the horse gallops into the lake, Daffy, unfortunately, drags it out of the lake.
- Daffy tries to ride the saddle onto the horse from the roof of the barn, but overshoots the landing and falls into the horse trough. The horse laughs at Daffy again.
- The duck tries to swing his way onto the horse, but misses and lands on a bull. The raging bull chases Daffy onto an airport, but Daffy safely boards the jet plane, only to realize that the plane is taking him to South America.
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Notes[]
- The short was included in Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-citement.
- This cartoon was the final time Arthur Davis, Gerry Chiniquy, David Detiege, and Tony Benedict would direct a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies short; their later credentials were all on TV shows or TV movies.
- This cartoon was also the final time DePatie-Freleng Enterprises did anything with the Looney Tunes characters, prior to the studio being sold to Marvel Comics (and thus being rebranded as Marvel Productions) and the re-opening of Warner Bros. Animation (with Friz Freleng returning to produce at the rejuvenated animation department after leaving DePatie-Freleng).
- This cartoon is a remake using some elements from the Pink Panther short "Pinto Pink".
- MeTV aired this short 5 June 2021 on Toon In with Me; however, this airing appears unrestored.
Gallery[]
TV Title Cards[]