What Makes Daffy Duck

What Makes Daffy Duck
What Makes Daffy Duck
Directed by	Arthur Davis
Story by	Lloyd Turner; Bill Scott
Starring	Mel Blanc
Music by	Carl Stalling
Animation by	Emery Hawkins; J.C. Melendez; Basil Davidovich; Don Williams
Layouts by	Don Smith
Backgrounds by	Philip DeGuard
Color process	Cinecolor
Production; company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures; The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	February 14, 1948;
Running time	7 minutes
Language	English

What Makes Daffy Duck is a 1948 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Arthur Davis.^[1] The cartoon was released on February 14, 1948, and stars Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd.^[2]

The title is a play on Budd Schulberg's 1941 novel What Makes Sammy Run?

Plot

Daffy Duck finds himself in a perilous situation during duck hunting season and employs his cunning to outsmart both Elmer Fudd and a fox named Fortescue. Daffy tricks them into competing against each other for his capture, leading to comical mishaps. Despite several close encounters with danger, Daffy manages to turn the tables on both Elmer and the fox using clever schemes and manipulation.

In the chaos that ensues, Daffy orchestrates a series of events that pit Elmer and the fox against each other, ultimately leading to their confrontation. As they engage in a heated argument, a dog ranger arrives and changes the hunting seasons, causing Elmer to chase after the fox instead. Daffy, disguised as the dog ranger, watches the chaos unfold, amused by his own cleverness in manipulating his adversaries.

Home media

All prints have the 1950 green Merrie Melodies ending title card as the original Looney Tunes closing title card is thought to be lost.

VHS - Cartoon Moviestars: Elmer!
LaserDisc - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs! and Elmer!
LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 2, Side 8
Blu-ray/DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 1^[3]

Origin of "nimrod" as an insult

In this short, Daffy Duck refers to Fudd as "my little nimrod", sarcastically referencing the biblical hunter of the same name.^[4] Many people did not understand the biblical reference, and as a result, thought the term meant idiot. The origin of this new meaning has often been misattributed to Bugs Bunny calling Fudd this^[5], whereas it originated in this short.

↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 182. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
↑ ""Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2" Available on DVD and Blu-ray October 16, 2012". Cartoonbrew.com. August 1, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2026.
↑ Arthur Davis (director) (February 14, 1948) What Makes Daffy Duck (Animated short). Event occurs at 5:34. Precisely what I was wondering, my little Nimrod.
↑ Garner, Bryan A. (3rd Edition, 2009). Garner's Modern American Usage, p. liii. Oxford University Press. ISBN

External links

What Makes Daffy Duck at IMDb

[Beck-1] Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 182. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.

[2] Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[3] ""Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2" Available on DVD and Blu-ray October 16, 2012". Cartoonbrew.com. August 1, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2026.

[4] Arthur Davis (director) (February 14, 1948) What Makes Daffy Duck (Animated short). Event occurs at 5:34. Precisely what I was wondering, my little Nimrod.

[5] Garner, Bryan A. (3rd Edition, 2009). Garner's Modern American Usage, p. liii. Oxford University Press. ISBN

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]