A Haunting We Will Go
Get ready for another bizarre crossover with your friendly neighborhood Witch Hazel, her abruptly named new nemesis Speedy Gonzales, the faux hunter Daffy Duck and his annoying nephew. Wait a minute, why does Daffy have a nephew tagging along with him anyway? Was he trying to compete against Donald Duck by having a nephew? I honestly don’t know, but to tell you the truth I couldn't tell if the nephew was a boy or a girl based on the costume. I digress, however, for it is best such things are left unsaid. The Warner Brothers cartoons made during this period made no sense anyway as was the case with “A Haunting We Will Go” (1966). On paper it may have sounded interesting to pit Daffy Duck against Witch Hazel, but on execution it just feels uninspired and flat altogether. It is sad that the storyline ended up that way because if the cartoon had been produced under better times at the studio then it would have fared much better. The addition of Speedy Gonzalez as his nemesis does not make things any better as the two characters simply do not have chemistry with one another. There were however three things that I enjoyed about the cartoon. The costume Daffy’s nephew is wearing for some odd reason is in reference to an Witch Hazel cartoon where Bugs was dressed up that way. The cartoon paid homage to Daffy Duck’s iconic screwball appearance from Chuck Jones’ classic “Duck Amuck” (1953) when Witch Hazel cursed him with one of her spells. And of course there's Witch Hazel who does lift the short up with her apperance. Other than that this is one of those very lame shorts from the budget stricken animation studio that has seen better days. This was sadly the last time Witch Hazel and her lovely voice June Foray would be in the original run of the Looney Tunes shorts. (Both would come back later though...)
