Lucky Ducky

This is one of Avery's funniest cartoons. Take one baby duck, add two hunters who aren't exactly the shiniest pebbles in the pond, put the three into the hands of Tex Avery and stand back. The hunters have about as much chance of coming out on top as Ronald McDonald has of becoming president of PETA! Standard Avery gags that work no matter how often you see them, but the way he plays with conventions is probably the best thing here. Watch for the Technicolor gag, it's hilarious. Well worth watching. Most heartily recommended.

The Plot: a couple of dogs chase a duck from sun up to sundown. So why is this such a great toon? Simple. It's FUNNY. Hysterically funny. One sight gag after another, for 7 whole minutes, without pause, without mercy. If Tex Avery was the king of sight gags (among other things) this has to be his masterpiece, his piece de resistance, his Mona Lisa. It's a real gem and I enjoy it as much now as ever.

This isn't the best Tex Avery directed MGM cartoon short, though it is still very good. Plus, even a run-of-the-mill Avery cartoon is still better than most Disney and Warner Brothers cartoon shorts of the same era. That's because all all his MGM shorts are so darn funny and the laughs just keep coming so fast and furious! In this film, two hunters are out looking to catch a duck. In one of the funnier scenes, as the film starts you see hundreds of ducks all dancing the Rumba all around the intrepid hunters because hunting season hasn't yet opened. And, the second it begins, they all completely vanish--all but a little sadistic duck who spends the rest of the movie torturing the hunters. This is wonderful fun except for the duck's really annoying laugh--again and again and again! Still, it's a wonderful film.

Tex Avery knew what his audience/fan base liked:fast paced cartoons with a surreal twist. Here's further proof. Two dog duck hunters (no names,but you know it has to be Lenny & Junior)are trying to bag a duck, despite the fact that they can't shoot ducks before six a.m. When the right time arrives, they manage to shoot down a freshly hatched baby duck right out of the sky. This is no every day duck. This is a duck with an evil agenda. The duck manages to terrorize those two hunters through out the short with a non stop grab bag of dirty tricks. Some more sadistic fun from the crew at MGM. No dialog here (unless you count the little duck's silly laugh as dialog).

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'Lucky Ducky' is another example of an animated masterpiece and one of his all time best. Like the best of Tex Avery, 'Lucky Ducky' is a cartoon of amazing quality, is very creative, deliciously deranged and hysterically funny as one would expect from Avery on top form like he is here. It is a cartoon so rich in visual detail and with impeccably timed slapstick and non-stop laughter. Even when he wasn't at his best, he still delivered, have yet to see a "bad" effort from him.

While the hunters are a lot of fun, it's the duck that steals the show, a sadistic (without falling into distaste) creation with comic timing that would make some other Tex Avery characters jealous. The voice acting is characteristically marvellous.

Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.

Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild, deliciously deranged and hilarious throughout from start to finish. The sight gags throughout are an absolute joy and are immaculate in timing, that dance is a hoot.

It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.

Summing up, Avery does it again. 10/10 Bethany Cox