| Daffy Duck's Quackbusters | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Greg Ford Terry Lennon |
| Written by | |
| Story by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tim Whintall |
| Edited by | Treg Brown |
| Music by | |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is a 1988 animatedcompilation film featuring classicWarner Bros. Cartoons shorts and animated bridging sequences, starringDaffy Duck.[1] The film was released to theaters by Warner Bros. on September 24, 1988. It was the final theatrical production in whichMel Blanc provided the voices of the variousLooney Tunes characters before his death in July 1989.
Unlike previous compilation films,Quackbusters uses pre-existing music from olderLooney Tunes shorts composed byCarl Stalling,Milt Franklyn andWilliam Lava for both the new animation and classic footage. It was also one of the two compilation films of classicWarner Bros. cartoon shorts not composed byRobert J. Walsh (the other being 1979'sThe Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, which was composed byDean Elliott).
Similar toThe Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981), which was preceded with theOscar-winningKnighty Knight Bugs (1958),Quackbusters is preceded with the exclusive shortThe Night of the Living Duck (1988). This film is inspired byGhostbusters (1984). Most of the films included in the compilation have acomedy horror theme, with stories involvingspirit possession,exorcism,Transylvanianvampires,magic words, andYetis. This was the onlyLooney Tunes compilation film to be aired onHBO in the early 1990s.[2] It later aired onCartoon Network.
Salesman Daffy tries to make a pitch to reclusive millionaire and "ailing buzzsaw baron" J.P. Cubish – a dog who has offered wealth to anyone who can make him laugh before he passes on. Daffy becomes his jester, taking uncounted pies in the face while Cubish laughs. After Cubish "dies laughing", Daffy inherits his fortune. The money is locked in a safe, under the provision that it will be used to provide a beneficial public service and Daffy follow Cubish's creed to display honesty in business affairs. If the now-wealthy Daffy does not comply with the will's terms, the ghost of Cubish will reclaim the fortune. The irked Daffy vows to use the money to wipe out ghosts such as Cubish.
Setting himself up as a "Paranormalist at Large", Daffy persuadesBugs Bunny to appear in commercials and hiresPorky Pig (accompanied bySylvester) as an underling; Cubish makes money from the safe vanish whenever Daffy seems to do or say something dishonest. Meanwhile, Sylvester is continually chased by a monstrous version ofTweety and develops paranoia in front of Daffy and Porky. Daffy assigns Porky to investigate the resort town of Dry Gulch for any suspicious ghost activity. Porky is accompanied by Sylvester, who defends his owner from the hotel's killer mice.
Meanwhile, Daffy exorcises three ghosts possessingMelissa Duck. After being chased back to his office by them, Daffy discovers that Cubish has stripped his money down to his last million. Daffy reassigns Porky to theSuperstition Mountains, much to Sylvester's chagrin. After receiving a call fromTransylvania, Daffy assigns Bugs to investigate. Bugs encounters Count Blood Count and defeats him in a duel of magic words, but Daffy is displeased to hear from him about "getting two couples together". After receiving a call from theHimalayas, Daffy phones up Bugs again, and together they go up againstHugo the Abominable Snowman.
When the city is swept with reports of a tiny elephant, Daffy, presuming this to be mere hysteria, hopes to profit by soothing the public with his "expert" testimony. However, no sooner does he announce to the audience that there is no such thing as a tiny elephant when it turns up on Daffy's television interview, rendering him a public laughing stock. Daffy decides to blame someone else for the debacle and absent-mindedly remarks that there was "nothing wrong with a little dishonesty in business affairs." This proves to be Daffy's undoing however, as upon realizing of what he said, Daffy discovers that the safe is now completely empty except for a few cobwebs and a sign reminding Daffy "you lose, duck!". ThenEgghead appears with a singing telegram, announcing to Daffy that due to unpaid rent, he is being dispossessed. After the repo crew takes away his desks, the building is condemned and destroyed, with Daffy still inside.
In the epilogue, Bugs enjoys his vacation in Palm Springs and reads about Daffy's downfall, while Porky and Sylvester are stranded in the Superstition Mountains and Cubish is still dead with his gravestone shown. Meanwhile, Daffy becomes a salesman again, this time selling paranormal-themed trinkets. However, when he earns a dollar bill, it instantly vanishes. Daffy angrily shakes his fist at the sky and screams "Cubish!".
Several cartoons are re-edited either for time, to connect with the plot, or have redubbed lines.
The film was released on VHS on July 19, 1989 (just nine days after Mel Blanc's death), and later on DVD in the United States on August 4, 2009, byWarner Home Video. Three bonus cartoons are included as extras in the DVD release:Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century,Superior Duck andLittle Go Beep. It was later released in the UK on July 5, 2021, with the same bonus shorts. It is also available oniTunes. The film was later released on Blu-ray via theWarner Archive Collection on January 28, 2025.[4]
The Duxorcist saw an individual release as part of theLooney Tunes Parodies Collection on February 4, 2020.
