Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna and Barbera and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. Actually appreciate it even more now through young adult eyes, thanks to broader knowledge and taste and more interest in animation styles and various studios and directors.
Chuck Jones deserved, and still deserves, to be considered one of the best, most legendary and most influential animation directors/animators. While not quite as distinctive in directing style as other directors from the same era, in his prime era he was responsible for some of the best cartoons ever made. Michael Maltese was a fine writer with lots of razor sharp wit, Daffy Duck is one of my favourite characters in animation and ever and Mel Blanc was one of the greatest voice actors ever.
'Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special' in no way sees either at their best or the best representation. It is not bad at all though, while like the other 80s Looney Tunes cartoons/specials it is nowhere near in the same league as Looney Tunes in its prime but is watchable enough, even if for some the necessity of it is questioned.
A lot of great things here. The animation has brightness and colour with some inventive moments, if not always refinement with some of the drawing scrappy. The music is lively enough and doesn't sound too cheap in the additional bridging scenes, while being outstanding in orchestration and how it adds to and enhances the action in the featured cartoons.
Daffy is always worth watching, and that's an understatement, and he is still interesting and not out of character. Mel Blanc shows a mastery of bringing individuality to multiple characters that few others managed. The dialogue is sharp and witty and the gags are fast paced, beautifully timed and animated and very funny.
The classic era cartoons featured are colourful and very funny to hilarious. Particularly 'Robin Hood Daffy' and 'His Bitter Half'. The footage from 'The Scarlet Pumpernickel' is incorporated well if a bit too short.
Didn't care for 'Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24 1/2th Century' very much, it has its moments, Daffy is fun and it looks decent but there's nothing new, there's not much funny and all the other characters are either bland or useless.
Likewise with the additional bridging parts, where the difference in animation quality and quality of material sticks out like a sore thumb. There isn't as much care visually in these parts and the material generally isn't anywhere near as funny or as interesting as that in the featured cartoons edited into 'Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special'.
Found as well that it could have gotten to the point quicker than it did.
Overall, worth watching but other than the featured cartoons and what makes them so good there is not much as an overall whole mind-blowing. 6/10 Bethany Cox
