''Daffy's Rhapsody'' is a 2012 3D computer-animated '' Looney Tunes''

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

featuring the characters

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...

and Elmer Fudd. Directed by

Matthew O'Callaghan Matthew O'Callaghan (born August 31, 1966) is an American film director, animator, writer, and storyboard artist whose credits include directing the 2006 film ''Curious George'' and co-creating the television series '' Life with Louie''. Life ...

and written by Tom Sheppard, the film is an adaptation of the song of the same name which was sung by Mel Blanc and recorded in the 1950s by Capitol Records. It also marked the return of Daffy Duck into his original

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...

personality after decades of being miscast as a greedy, self-centered character in most of his post-1940s appearances since the

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

short ''

Rabbit Fire ''Rabbit Fire'' is a 1951 ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd. Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, the cartoon is the first in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two cartoons following it ...

'' (1951). ''Daffy's Rhapsody'' was first shown in theaters before

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

' feature-length film '' Journey 2: The Mysterious Island''. Unlike the previous ''Looney Tunes'' 3-D shorts, ''Daffy's Rhapsody'' has not yet been released on home media. In 2016, the official

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...

uploaded the short to

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but eventually removed it, leaving unofficial uploads of the short being available. It took until 2021 for the short to be officially available to purchase on ''Stars of Space Jam: Looney Tunes Collection''.

Plot

Elmer Fudd goes to see an anti-duck hunting musical starring

to which upon seeing Daffy as the star of the show, his hunter instincts kick in and he chases Daffy throughout the short while Daffy (whilst singing to the tune of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2) is initially unaware of Elmer but soon realizes the danger.

Voice cast

* Mel Blanc (archival recordings) as

. *

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of ''Doug'' ...

and

James Arnold Taylor James Arnold Taylor (born July 22, 1969), also known by his initials JAT, is an American voice actor, writer, producer and podcaster. He is known for portraying Ratchet in the '' Ratchet & Clank'' franchise, the main character Tidus in '' Final ...

as Elmer Fudd.

Release

Theatrical

This short was initially scheduled to be released in theaters before ''

Happy Feet Two ''Happy Feet Two'' is a 2011 computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced and co-written by George Miller. It is the sequel to the 2006 film ''Happy Feet'', it stars Ava Acres, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams (in his final anima ...

'' in 2011, but Warner Bros. decided that '' I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat'' was more suitable for a film starring penguins.

Home media

On August 14, 2021, Warner Bros released the short digitally on iTunes and Microsoft Movies and TV in ''Stars of Space Jam: Looney Tunes Collection'', making it the first official home video release of the short.

References

External links

*
''Daffy's Rhapsody''
on

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