Daffy Duck Returns to the Big Screen in a New Looney Tunes Short After Over a Decade

Duck season is officially back! An update from the Annecy Festival, happening this June, reveals an exciting addition to the lineup: a theatrical short featuring none other than Daffy Duck, titled *Daffy Season*. The film will showcase Daffy navigating Elmer Fudd’s latest obsession—soccer—setting the stage for the classic Looney Tunes mayhem we all love. This release is perfectly timed with the World Cup festivities.

This will be Daffy Duck’s first theatrical short since 2012, when *Daffy’s Rhapsody* premiered before *Journey 2: The Mysterious Island*. While that short didn’t make a huge splash, it was memorable for its clever use of an archival recording by the legendary Mel Blanc, who passed away in 1989. The 2012 short featured Blanc’s voice from the 1950s song “Daffy’s Rhapsody,” paired with Billy West voicing Elmer Fudd, creating a fresh cartoon experience.

*Daffy Season* is expected to feature all original content, though the voice actor for Daffy hasn’t been confirmed yet. My bet is on Eric Bauza, who voiced Daffy in *The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie*, which premiered at Annecy in 2024. Another detail still under wraps is whether *Daffy Season* will be 3D animated like *Daffy’s Rhapsody* or stick to the classic 2D style of the original Looney Tunes shorts. While many fans, including myself, lean towards the traditional 2D animation, directors Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve have a strong background in 3D films. Wilderman co-directed *Open Season 2* and *Abominable*, while Grieve helmed the 3D animated film *Rumble* for Paramount Plus. They are also collaborating with Jenny Jaffe, known for *Teen Titans Go!* and the upcoming *Ren & Stimpy* reboot, to write the short.

No matter the animation style, the fact that Warner Bros. is bringing Daffy Duck back to the big screen is a reason to celebrate. The theatrical shorts were the original home for classic Looney Tunes, including Daffy’s debut in *Porky’s Duck Hunt* from 1937. As noted in the Annecy update, *Daffy Season* is being released not only to coincide with the World Cup but also to celebrate Daffy’s upcoming 90th birthday—a milestone that will likely be overshadowed when Bugs Bunny hits the same age in 2030.