Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island

Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island
Theatrical poster.
Production company	Warner Bros. Animation
Distributor	Warner Bros.
Release date	August 5, 1983
Run time	78 minutes
Starring	Mel Blanc June Foray Shep Menkin Lennie Weinrib
Producer(s)	Friz Freleng
Music composed by	Rob Walsh Gene Poddany Don McGinnis (orchestration)
Story by	John Dunn David Detiege Friz Freling
Director(s)	Friz Freleng Phil Monroe (co-director)
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Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island, also known as Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island, is an American animated anthology film based on the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies theatrical shorts. It was distributed by Warner Bros. on August 5, 1983. It was written by John Dunn, David Detiege and Friz Freling, produced by Freleng, and directed by Freleng and Phil Monroe. It is the fourth compilation of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and newly made bridging sequences, and is hosted by Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales.

The premise of the framing segments are a parody of the then-popular television series Fantasy Island, with Daffy and Speedy playing caricatures of that series' principal characters, Mr. Roarke and Tattoo, respectively. It is the first Looney Tunes compilation film to center on Daffy, as the previous entries that came before put their focus on Bugs Bunny.

Detailed summary

Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales are castaways shipwrecked on a desert island for months with nothing but a coconut tree. Daffy is sick, tired of eating coconuts and losing his sanity. They discover a treasure map which leads them to a magical, talking wishing well. The greedy duck proposes to use the power of the well, which obeys the commands of whoever holds the map. Rather than simply wishing for a heap of wealth, Daffy figures he can make himself and Speedy rich by transforming the barren island into a verdant tourist paradise, and selling other people wishes for a hefty fee. Speedy and Daffy attire themselves in the white suits, with Speedy exclaiming "da plane, da plane" as an airplane carrying various customers arrives on the island.

Meanwhile, pirate Yosemite Sam and his first mate, the Tasmanian Devil, search for the map, which originally belonged to them. They had previously lost their ship in a battle with Bugs Bunny, but with a single black feather for a clue, they decide to search the island to find where the feather came from, and who stole the map.

As they searched, the customers step up for their chance at the well, their wishes are fulfilled through the events of classic Looney Tunes cartoons. The following customers that got their wishes are Granny, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Spike and Chester, Porky Pig, Sylvester's wife and Miss Prissy.

Soon enough, Sam and Taz arrived at Daffy's place of business. After threatening the duck to give him a coin to make a wish, Sam wishes that he would have a rich uncle would leave his fortune to him. Sam became a Duke of Yosemite and was promised a fortune of 1 million pounds. Due to his temper and a certain grey rabbit monetizing him, his wish became undone. Pirate Sam soon finds out that the black feather he found matches the one on Daffy's partially bare bottom, realizing that he took the map.

In his pursuit of the duck, Sam inadvertently chases him up a mountain and, upon both losing their grip on the map, into a field of volcanic rocks. Daffy drops the map in the volcanic rocks, burning it into ashes, and causing the island to revert to its former state. Daffy, Speedy, Sam, and Taz get trapped on the once-again-deserted island. The well gives them three wishes individually, but warns them to use them wisely, for they are the last wishes it will ever grant.

Daffy and Speedy waste their wishes, as Speedy wishes for a burrito, causing Daffy to angrily respond by wishing that the burrito would be stuck on the end of Speedy's nose. Daffy remorsefully tries to ask Sam to wish the burrito off Speedy's nose, but discovers that Sam had already secretly used up the last wish for a new ship, abandoning Daffy and telling them after he sinks Bugs, he would come back and pick them up.

As the movie comes to a close, the wishing well sends off the audience by stating, "And now I say, without the jokes, 'th-th-th-that's all, folks!'"

Memorable quotes

Daffy: I'm wealthy! Woo-hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo-hoo! I'm fabulously wealthy! Woo-hoo, woo-hoo! Comfortably well-off! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! No more coconuts! Oh, Mrs. Mallard's little boy is now a rich duck! Oh, ho, ho! I'll make a wonderful capitalist!

Speedy: How come I always get stuck at the end of the shovel that got no gold on it?

Sam: Rackin'-frackin' rabbit. I'd like to stretch him on a rackin'-brackin'- frackin' rack... Row faster, you snaggle-toothed varmint, or I'll batten down yer barnacles.

Sam: Great thunderation, my treasure map's gone! Some sneakin' swab's run off with my treasure map. Ooh, I'll keelhaul the swab that done it!

Wishing Well: I am the spirit of the wishing well. I do my best to please. The wish you made I grant you, so here's a hunk of cheese.
Speedy: Hey, that spirit from the well. He give pretty good service.

Daffy: Now that we've found the treasure, who needs it anymore?
Wishing Well: Hearken closely to these words. This secret I must tell. Only he who owns the map is possessor of the well.
Daffy: Get your filthy hands off that map, you little sneak. It's mine, do you hear? Mine, mine, mine! And so is the whole island!
Speedy: Hey, what you going to call this place, boss?
Daffy: What else but "Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island!"

Wishing Well: And now I say, without the jokes, "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!"

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Daffy Duck	Mel Blanc
Speedy Gonzales	Mel Blanc

Locations

• Earth

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: August 5, 1983

Behind the scenes

• The following theatrical shorts are featured in this film:
  • Captain Hareblower (Pirate Sam vs. Bugs Bunny)
  • Stupor Duck (Daffy's wish): "Your fondest wish, your fondest dream. I'll make you Super Duck Supreme!"
  • Greedy for Tweety (Granny's wish): "Your wish shall be granted. Gaze into me and see. The next time that you see yourself, a nurse is what you'll be."
  • Banty Raids (Foghorn's wish): "I am here to grant your wish; the Spirit of the Well. I will knock the cockiness out of that little cockerel!"
  • Louvre Come Back to Me! (Pepé's wish): "I grant your wish to meet a girl of beauty unsurpassed, which, when compared with works of art, will leave the Louvre outclassed."
  • Tree for Two (Spike and Chester's wish): "If that's his wish, and yours alike, I'll make Chester brave and strong, like Spike."
  • Curtain Razor (Porky Pig's wish): "Discovering new talent for the world to see; a wondrous thing for a producer to be..."
  • A Mouse Divided (Sylvester's wife's wish): "I hear your wish and I obey. The patter of little feet you shall hear this day."
  • Of Rice and Hen and Lovelorn Leghorn: (Miss Prissy's wish): "Your mind is such a simple thing. Your wish I can foretell. You're wishing for a husband, and the ring of a wedding bell?"
  • From Hare to Heir (Pirate Sam's wish): "A very rich relative in poor health doth will to you his entire wealth."
• A note in the end credits dedicates the film to animator and story man, John Dunn, "who inspired it." Dunn died of heart failure in San Fernando, California on January 17, 1983; six months before the film's release.
• In the bridging segments, Speedy is depicted as much larger in size than he usually is.
• In 1981, a puzzle showing 105 Looney Tunes characters has been issued. Among characters there are three ones that never appeared in animation, identified as Hoppy, Hysterical Hyram and Minniesoda Fats. In one scene in Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island, Hoppy and Hysterical Hyram are seen waiting for their chance to make their dreams come true; along with two other unidentified characters, namely white dog and a small mouse with a hat. It is their only known appearance in animation.
• A minor plot of Daffy and Speedy stranded on the desert island was repurposed from the 1965 Looney Tunes cartoon, Moby Duck. In addition, a minor gag invovling coconuts was reused from the 1956 Looney Tunes cartoon, Rabbitson Crusoe.

In popular culture

• In the Young Sheldon episode "An Ugly Car, An Affair, and Some Kickass Football," as Georgie is showing Mandy the kids section of Video Village, there is also a poster of Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning