What Makes Daffy Duck is a 1948 Looney Tunes theatrical short directed by Art Davis, starring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd in their only Arthur Davis outing together.
During duck season, Daffy Duck finds that being hunted by not only Elmer Fudd but a fox. In order to defeat them, Daffy not only must outwit the hunters on their own, he also turns the two against each other so they feel that should have Daffy all to themselves.
Tropes:
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: At the beginning, Daffy notices and explains his situation to us.Daffy Duck: Oh, it's you! You'll have to excuse my nerves there, you see, it-it's duck season and confidentially, I'm a duck!
- Captain Obvious: Daffy informs the viewer that "it's duck season and — confidentially — I'm a duck".
- Duck Season, Rabbit Season: A variation of this occurs. While Elmer and the fox are fighting at the end, Daffy, disguised as a ranger dog, puts up signs stating that Duck Season is closed and Fox Season is open, causing Elmer to chase after the fox.
- Finger in a Barrel: When it seems like the fox won't come back to steal Daffy from Elmer, Elmer starts to fire at the duck only for the gun to be blocked by the fox putting his fingers in the gun, causing the bullets to fall out.
- Humanlike Hand Anatomy: Parodied with the fox. When Elmer forces the fox to raise his hands, the hands are revealed to be gloves as they fly off revealing fox paws underneath.
- Latex Perfection: Daffy's ranger disguise at the end includes a very lifelike rubber dog mask, making him appear to actually be an anthropomorphic dog before The Reveal after Elmer chases the fox away.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Daffy pits Elmer and the fox against each other over which of them gets to have him.
- Offscreen Inertia: When Elmer first scares away him away, the fox runs into a tree and knocks himself unconscious. When we later revisit the fox, he's still knocked out, only being awoken by Daffy using a female duck call.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The fox's name is never revealed in the cartoon, only being called "Chuckles" by Daffy.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Invoked by Daffy to pit the fox and Elmer against each other.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Elmer dresses up as a female duck in order to lure Daffy. However, Daffy realizes the duck isn't real when diving underwater and seeing the rubber boots Elmer wore.Daffy Duck: Aha! An imposter!
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title of the cartoon is a reference to the 1941 controversial novel "What Makes Sammy Run".
- Quaking with Fear: Daffy's legs tremble in quick succession when hiding from duck season.
- Singing in the Shower: Daffy sings "King for a Day" by Ted Fio Rito while in the shower.
