Daffy Duck e l'isola fantastica

The Looney Tunes cartoons were always some of the most smartly written animated shorts ever. Long before robots and explosions dominated kids afternoons, the Looney Tunes staff depended on something harder: writing. Bugs Bunny being one of the more relatable cartoon characters for adults and kids. Adults laughed at his hidden references, kids laughed when he got Elmer Fudd to shoot himself. That magic of the old days is halfway featured here, in an obvious Fantasy Island spoof. It begins with perennial cartoon loser Daffy Duck stuck on a remote island with Speedy Gonazales (how the to got there is unknown). Following a fire-fight with Bugs Bunny on a ship, Yosemite Sam seeks sanctuary on the shores of said island. Daffy has discovered a map in a treasure chest that was sent airborne in the ship explosion, and it leads him to a magic wishing well. Instead of wishing to get off the island and become rich, he asks that the sand-glob be turned into a resort. Wherein he will charge tourists five-hundred bucks to wish in the well. Daffy Trump is born, and several notable Looney Tunes characters fly in to make requests of the well. The odd thing is, the well is not always forthcoming, instead screwing over the payee at the end. But, anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. What we're treated to are Tunes shorts from years ago, which are melded into people's wishes. Kids don't care if they've already seen it on Saturday morning, and just go with it. Others might be bored at stuff they saw 20 years ago. But if you have a vague memory of the shorts used, you'll enjoy it. Some clever ones like Sylvester the Cat battling a dog in a hospital room, and Yosemite Sam trying to go "good" in the presence of Bugs Bunny, who is the bearer of riches. The old material still comes off fun, but the new bits are definite filler. Daffy going through his manic motions, and Sam spending most of the film trying to match an errant feather to whomever stole his map. But if you can slog through that, you'll end up with some positive results in the "flashback" vain.

"Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island" is Friz Freleng's third compliation film, following his previous two successes "Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" and "Bugs Bunny's Third Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales". This third feature is a tremendous success in its' own right and it continues the winning formula Freleng introduced in his first film: he creates one humdinger of a story to place the footage in.

This time, Freleng spoofs the hit TV series "Fantasy Island" with Daffy Duck in the Ricardo Montalban role and Speedy Gonzales in the Tattoo role. It opens with a side splitting gag (Speedy tells Daffy: Ze Plane! Ze Plane!) and it never lets up for all of its 78 minute screen time. Freleng also uses the film to continue his Yosemite Sam/Bugs Bunny fight which occupies about 20 minutes of this feature.

Well, anyway, back to the story. The premise is that Daffy and Speedy are stranded on a deserted island which has a wishing well. Daffy, being the self described "greedy coward", decides to open a resort that can grant wishes. That's where the classic footage comes into play.

There are many highlights: Tweety, Sylvester and Spike in a pet hospital, Foghorn Leghorn and the womanizing rooster, Yosemite Sam will inherit several million pounds ONLY if he keeps his temper in check and Bugs is the executor of the will! And Daffy Duck is STUPOR DUCK!

As per the previous films, they work on two levels. For kids, as simple entertainment. For adults, savage satire. Most of the shorts here are shown in their entirety, although a few are trimmed for time. This is wonderful entertainment and a worthy addition to any video library.

**** out of 4 stars

Daffy Duck and Speedy are on a deserted island where they come across a treasure map which they hoped for treasure but instead they found a magic well that can talk. And it has the ability to grant anyone a fantasy of their own.

Daffy after experience a fantasy that didn't went too well. He demanded to be owner of the island or well keeper I think.

So the well changes the deserted island into a more tropical like island. Daffy and Speedy automatically got their own white suits to make them look like the owners of Fantasy Island.

A plane comes by with other Looney Tune characters who want to experience their own fantasies with the power of the well.

Meanwhile after a ship battle with Bugs Bunny, Sam and Taz got shipwrecked and ended up being on the same isle with the magic well. Sam notices his map is gone and is determine to know who took.

This movie is similar to the other early Looney Tune TV movies. About 50% of it is new footage while the rest is reused Looney Tune shorts done by Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng.

If you like Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, you'll like this movie.

This is certainly not the best of the Looney Tunes' work but it is still a lot of fun which really gives Daffy Duck the chance to shine as he takes the center stage alongside Speedy Gonzales who plays his faithful sidekick. There are some great lines and some hilarious gags, but this film is mostly a compilation of some of the best episodes. Everyone is in it, even Spike the bull-dog and his little friend, and surprisingly, Bugs Bunny doesn't have much more of a part than any of his other looney tune buddies (though there is a memorable scene where he has a cannon battle with Yuletide Sam). This film is well worth seeing, especially if you have children (well you don't want your kids to turn into little pokemon-loving bratts do you?). Enjoy! 8/10

Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales are marooned on a desert island. Yosemite Sam and the Tasmanian Devil lose a sea battle with Bugs Bunny and a treasure map. Daffy and Speedy use the map to find a wishing well which grants any wish to the owner of the treasure map. Daffy creates a Fantasy Island resort which grants wishes to its visitors.

This is really an excuse to show old Looney Tunes episodes. The premise is bare-thread and unimpressive. It starts off with some odd pairings and then it becomes just an exercise in recycling. I'm a fan of the oldies and that keeps my interest. These are some of the better classics. However, it does nothing to create new material. The wishing well is no more than intermission between the old episodes.