Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray Movie Review

Who you gonna call? 555-KWAK.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 12, 2025

The fifth and final Looney Tunes big-screen compilation film, Daffy Duck's Quackbusters was released theatrically in 1988 and, like its four older brothers, made with minimal money and effort to turn a quick buck. Essentially it's a clip show featuring 11 segments from classic LT shorts stitched together by newly-animated scenes meant to be a narrative through-line. The end result is occasionally entertaining but usually only during the old shorts, so there are really just two good things I can say about it as a whole: (1) Mel Blanc provides multiple character voices in the last performance before his 1989 death, and (2) it re-introduced a new generation of viewers to the franchise's earlier and better years. Unlike, say, MGM's That's Entertainment (how's that for a timely reference?), which in some ways is a like-minded clip show with new material tying it together, the narrative of Quackbusters really doesn't make any sense.

Running at an extremely lean 79 minutes (which includes credits, a few running gags, and two newer shorts including Night of the Living Duck, which was created for theatrical showings and available on this new Blu-ray during an optional "Matinee Version" or separately), Quackbusters stretches its short story to the breaking point and concerns a squabble between salesman Daffy Duck and wealthy shut-in J.P. Cubish, who will bequeath his fortune to anyone who can make him chuckle. Cubish dies laughing so Daffy inherits a safe full of cash to be used for honorable purposes (at the risk of Cubish's ghost reappearing to take it all back), so he decides to open up a ghost-busting business to take him out and keep every last dollar. With some help from a few friends and "friends", Daffy gets the ball rolling but he and his staff -- which includes Bugs Buggy (commercials), Porky (personal assistant), and Sylvester (mascot, I guess) -- run into trouble. Worse yet, every blatant lie out of Daffy's mouth makes a few more piles of cash disappear.

It's not a bad setup at all, but Quackbusters really struggles to keep everything moving in a straight line... or anything resembling a line, for that matter. Like the other compilation films, it freely jumps between short clips from the 11 older shorts (listed here, with many of them partially re-dubbed to fit their place in the story) and the new material, which is notably cruder in its construction with voice work from the much less elastic pipes of Mel Blanc. Most of the transitions are such a stretch that they don't even make sense in the moment, let alone in hindsight. We'd rightly expect a movie starring Daffy to be, well, daffy, but the way that Quackbusters chugs along clumsily will make most new viewers wish they were just watching the old uncut cartoons instead. Those with nostalgic ties to this or any other compilation film might love it, of course, but I'm not one of them: despite my soft spot for Daffy and my 1988 age-appropriateness, I missed this one the first time around. So while I can admit that a few of the new jokes land and the way several shorts tie together is decently creative, Quackbusters clearly falls under the bar set by Looney Tunes' greatest years.

Nonetheless, fans of this one will certainly enjoy Warner Archive's Blu-ray, which provides reliably solid A/V merits as well as a generous collection of mostly more recent Looney Tunes shorts to keep the party going.

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I'm told that this 1080p transfer of Quackbusters was sourced from a newer 2K scan of a recent-vintage interpositive; for obvious reasons, it should offer sizeable advancements over earlier home video releases including WB's 2009 DVD. Say what you will about the visual variances during these kinds of cut-and-paste films (and I already did)... but despite the hodgepodge of source material, this is a decently consistent presentation that doesn't always jarringly jump from source to source in an obvious way. Line thickness, color representation, and fine detail levels are always going to vary, but visible yet not overwhelming amounts of grain are present almost every step of the way. It's worth noting, though, that many of the older shorts do contain varying amounts of telecine judder (likely native to their individual masters at the time), which isn't as bothersome as you'd expect but is perhaps a bit more noticeable than I'd like during "Claws for Alarm" (Porky and Sylvester visit a spooky hotel), where line quality is occasionally affected by it. Even so, this is a quality presentation overall and should satisfy fans who haven't seen it in several years... or even decades.

As a sidenote, it should go without saying that all the older clips are part of the interpositive scan listed above and not sourced from masters found on more recent WAC / WB releases. One that immediately comes to mind is "Hyde and Go Tweet", which looks darker and cropped here compared to Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 4 (screenshot).

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It's not surprising that Quackbusters' theatrical audio mix is apparently mono, as the constant variance between older clips and newer stereo material would've made these transitions all the more jarring (even the newer animation makes uses of familiar Looney Tunes music and sound effects), but it's still enough mix that, like the visuals, has been treated with care and mostly sounds quite good. No major age-related damage was heard along the way such as hiss, pops, clicks, or drop-outs, nor are there any obvious sync issues to report -- just clean and crisp dialogue that only really sounds awkward during the regular shifts between old Mel Blanc and, well, old Mel Blanc.

Optional Enligh (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras below.

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and a pretty generous assortment of mostly then-recent Looney Tunes shorts (as seen in screenshots #21-27, one apiece).

• Matinee Version (79:19) - As explained earlier, this playback option simply begins with the original theatrical opening cartoon Night of the Living Duck (see below) rather than starting at the 6:12 mark.

• Night of the Living Duck (6:12) - Quackbusters directors Greg Ford and Terry Lennon also helm this 1988 short created for the film, which follows Daffy through a dreamlike scenario where he sings at a nightclub (voiced by Mel Tormé) surrounding by horror movie icons including Leatherface, Count Dracula, and more.

• The Duxorcist (7:45) - This one appears during the film proper and is one of the only standout bits of newer material. It follows Daffy on his first assignment to visit client Melissa Duck and is actually closer in tone to the Sigourney Weaver possession scene in Ghostbusters than William Friedkin's film, but I digress.

• Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (11:29) - This 1992 short, which was again directed by Ford and Lennon, offers a Vitamin A-rich take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers; it was apparently intended for theatrical release that year but instead first appeared on the Bugs Bunny's Creature Features compilation along with the above two shorts. Like most of the other shorts here, it's presented in HD and looks quite good but, as discovered by fans in our forum, an infamous animation glitch has still not been corrected.

• Blooper Bunny (8:29) - More then-recent Looney Tunes fare from Ford and Lennon, this profane 1991 short -- which begins with a "51st and a Half Anniversary Spectacular" for Bugs -- was last seen on WB's Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 DVD set. For this period in the franchise's life, it's pretty good.

• Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24 1/2 Century (6:41) - We're rewinding a bit for this 1980 short directed by none other than Chuck Jones, which is of course a sequel to the infamous 1953 Daffy cartoon of a similar name. It's not as good as the original, but what is?

• Superior Duck (6:41) - At the risk of whiplash, we're now back to 1996 for this Daffy short again directed by Jones (d. 2002) in one of his last credited works behind the camera. It's not particularly noteworthy but includes a number of interesting cameos, including The Man of Steel himself.

• Little Go Beep (7:58) - This 2000 prequel to the Road Runner extended universe features baby Wile E. Coyote who's told by his dad Cage E. (voiced by Stan Freberg) that he can't talk until he catches his speedy prey. It's decent enough and of faithful to the original format, but is oddly presented in cropped 1.78:1 widescreen.

• Theatrical Trailer (0:42) - A rough-looking promotional piece that's in notably worse shape than this one.

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Five Looney Tunes compilation films -- each combining classic shorts with newer animated bridging stories -- were released between 1979 and 1988, and you either like them or you don't. I'm generally in the latter camp... and that definitely includes this fifth and final film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, which has a decent enough setup but still pales in comparison with just watching 79 minutes of classic Looney Tunes instead. Nonetheless, I've got a strong feeling that nostalgic fans will enjoy Warner Archive's new Blu-ray, which offers reliably good A/V merits and a healthy assortment of bonus shorts; some fit in nicely and others are totally random, just like Quackbusters itself.