Golden Yeggs (1950) User Reviews (16)

A very funny Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Rocky episode.

[Mightyzebra · 8/10 · 14 October 2008]

I love Daffy Duck in most episodes I have seen him in and am crazy about him. I love Rocky in "Bugs and Thugs" and I quite like him in "Bugsy and Mugsy" as well. The two characters, possibly the only time they have been paired together in a cartoon, do very well. I am surprised that no more were made with both Rocky and Daffy. As far as I know, this is also Rocky's first/one of his first cartoons, so his episodes with Bugs Bunny and Mugsy would come later.

Anyhow, in this quick-moving episode, it starts with Porky, a chicken farmer, feeding his hens. One of his hens is calling out urgently to the other chickens, who come to the calling hen. Porky follows them into the henhouse and discovers, to great surprise and excitement - 24 carats of gold egg! He asks the birds which one of them laid the egg and the duck who did, remembering how the last duck who laid a golden egg was killed, lies and says Daffy laid it. Daffy is quite pleased at having this credit aimed to him, as everyone comes round to see him. It is when Rocky and his band of thugs come when things start to become messy...

I love this cartoon because of Daffy (even though he is not being crazy here, he is still being extremely entertaining), Rocky, Porky, the animation, the plot, the humour and the income of the episode, which is surprising.

I recommend this to people who like Daffy Duck in anything, to people who like Rocky and to people who have either not seen Rocky before, or people who have seen Rocky but are expecting a difference between his episodes with Porky and this episode with Daffy. Enjoy "Golden Yeggs"! :-)

A great cartoon that is both funny and exciting

[phantom_tollbooth · 8/10 · 18 August 2008]

Friz Freleng's 'Golden Yeggs' is a lovely cartoon. A modern take on the 'Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' tale which implicates the mafia, 'Golden Yeggs' involves Daffy all too happily accepting the falsehood that he laid a golden egg and enjoying the fame it brings. That is until he is kidnapped by gangsters and forced at gunpoint to repeat the phenomenon. Featuring staple Warner Bros. gangster Rocky in his first appearance and a cameo by Porky Pig in his oft-filled role as farmer, 'Golden Yeggs' owes its success to Daffy. His attempts to exploit a situation, quickly leading to a desperate attempt to escape the peril of his own making, results in some genuinely exciting action as he races against the clock for his life. Freleng shows his oft-ignored talent for timing in some fast-paced gags but 'Golden Yeggs' also demonstrates how thrills in a cartoon can be just as important as laughs. The viewer desperately roots for Daffy, resulting in far more than an audience simply waiting for the next gag.

the rise of big business

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 4 January 2007]

"Golden Yeggs" may just seem like a silly cartoon about some gangsters ordering Daffy Duck to lay a golden egg, but I actually interpret it as an allusion to how big business takes over and as a result, small businesses and the community at large end up at their mercy, much like how Rocky and his thugs brutally force Porky to give up Daffy and then force Daffy to lay an egg or else.

Maybe I'm the only person who interprets it like that. For the most part, it's a nice, zany cartoon spiked with all class of gags. Speaking of these cartoons, I seem to recall that Bugs Bunny once made mincemeat of a different, Edward G. Robinson-resembling gangster named Rocky. Is the one here supposed to be related?

Not 100% the Daffy I love but still funny

[bob the moo · 3 May 2004]

Porky Pig is a poultry farmer who finds that one of his birds has laid a golden egg. Never one to resist the chance to seize the limelight, Daffy Duck says that it was him that laid it (the real owner being all too aware of what happened to the goose that laid golden eggs). However the fame brings him to the attention of mobster Rocky who sees this racket as much more profitable than running numbers. He makes Porky an offer he can't refuse and sets about forcing Daffy to produce the goods.

I love Daffy Duck a great deal but much prefer him when he is in full-on wacky mode rather than the more greedy duck of his later cartoons. In this short we see him in the middle stage of this change and it still worked for me. He is greedy enough to want to seize the limelight while the other hens wisely keep their heads down. However he also has plenty of good lines and wacky gags along with him trying to `duck' out of the situation. He is good here even if Rocky is a little too bland in terms of delivery - it is Daffy that makes it funny.

He delivers the wacky jokes that keep the normal narrative in he background - my favourite bit being where he returns from (supposedly) the lower deck of a sunken destroyer where really he just fell in the pool! There are a couple of good gags like this and the punchline (`fill 'em up') is a real killer! Overall this is not quite the Daffy I have come to love but there are flashes of his crazy side in a couple of enjoyable jokes that make this a short film that is not his best but is still worth seeing.

Okay little Daffy cartoon

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 31 January 2018]

"Golden Yeggs" is another Warner Bros cartoon that runs for slightly under the usual 7 minutes and this one was made by Freleng, Pierce and Blanc of course, some of the company's heavyweights. The protagonist this time is Daffy Duck and he ends up being mistaken for a duck able to lay golden eggs. And he accepts that honor not thinking about the consequences as the one who really did it (wait a male goose?) is smart enough to "blame" somebody else as organized crime is already waiting for the gold. Organized crime is actually a subject you really don't see too often in these old cartoons, despite how dominant it was in some areas, maybe because these were mostly cartoons, but also perhaps the producers did not want to get in trouble. Anyway, this was a solid entertaining cartoon with some surprises like Daffy actually laying the egg in the end, but as these result in funny sequences I'm fine with it, like the room full of challenges for Daffy that was a hilarious ending. Don't adorn yourself with borrowed plumes and given the characters' species this could not be any more true here. No Bugs needed to humiliate Daffy in this one and I actually felt sorry for him at times. I give this short a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out. Well done.

Solid "Gangster' Cartoon

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 26 February 2007]

We are at "The Egg and Eye" (a title of a classic-era movie) Chicken Range where we see farmer Porky Pig feeding the fowl. Suddenly, there is a ruckus and Porky discovers one of the hens laid a 24K solid gold egg!

"Jumpin' Junniper," says Porky. "I'm rich. Who did this?" The hen who did knows the story of the golden egg and how it meant the demise of the one who laid it, so she points at Daffy. Our hero is taken carried off on their shoulders and next day's headlines proclaim, "Duck Lays Golden Egg."

Sure enough, the guys from "Crime, Inc.," see the story and decide "to go into the poultry business" and come looking for Daffy, grabbing him, beating up Porky (but leaving him some cash for the duck). Once home, the gangsters all point their guns at Daffy and demand him to "lay an egg." (By the way, the lead hood sounded exactly like Sheldon Leonard.)

Now, what's he going to do, and can the fast-talking Daffy get out of this jam?

Another solid DD cartoon that's very funny.

I think that everyone knows that Looney Tunes were one of the earliest popularizers . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 7 January 2016]

. . . of Gay Marriage, with numerous male-to-male weddings dating back at least as far as the 1940s. (The lack of female-to-female nuptials within the Warner Bros. Animated Shorts Universe probably is more reflective of its overall lack of distaff characters than a specific bias against using the "L word.") What may not be as widely known to LGBT proponents is Warner's pioneering efforts on behalf of Transgendered People. While GOLDEN YEGGS doesn't really get into the Nitty Gritty of hormone therapy and reassignment surgery, it features one of the top Looney Tunes stars--Daffy Duck--and another male fowl, Goofy Goose, both laying eggs (which, coincidentally, each consist of 24-karat gold). Either Warner is trying to tell people that men have a magical "Midas Touch," in which all of their pregnancies yield precious metals in lieu of viable progeny, OR that birthing ability is independent of one's original set of reproductive equipment. It's my layman's belief that Warner's always-prophetic animation department held the latter viewpoint, and that Science simply hasn't caught up yet with the one-time denizens of "Termite Terrace."

Not Daffy's best, but entertaining enough

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 24 March 2010]

My only disappointments here are the sometimes predictable story and the fact that Rocky is surprisingly bland here. It probably doesn't help he has some of the weaker lines of the cartoon. However, it has a lot of fun and interesting gags, the cartoon is very well drawn and coloured, the music is memorable and Mel Blanc once again breathes life into these zany Looney Tunes characters. Daffy is funny here, maybe not as manic as I'd like him to be, but he is entertaining, and Porky is good with the small amount he has to do. The dialogue is in general razor-sharp and well written, though Rocky's isn't quite as good as it could have been.

Overall, worth watching and entertaining enough. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Only pairing, as far as I know, of Daffy and Rocky the gangster

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 16 January 2002]

This short is the only one I can recall that has Daffy matching "wits" with Rocky. Bugs worked best with Rocky. Daffy just isn't as sympathetic a character as Bugs and doesn't really mesh well here. Decent enough, but not terribly special. Worth watching.

Daffy lays a golden egg.

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 10/10 · 7 May 2004]

One day down on Porky's farm, a hen lays a golden egg but refuses to come forward because of what happened to the goose who once laid such a thing. Instead every other hen points to Daffy when Porky comes asking.

Daffy, obviously shocked at such an accusation and too surprised to know what he's actually doing in a henhouse confirms or denies nothing. As soon as he's made famous in the media, Rocky the gangster kidnaps him and forces him to lay as many eggs as possible.

You really do feel for Daffy in this one as, for the first time, he doesn't make the trouble for himself and panics as the threats mount and the golden eggs are not laid.

Daffy is the best!

We're Going In The Poultry Business

[Vimacone · 8/10 · 6 April 2023]

Freleng didn't have a distinctive visual style that his colleagues had. His characters looked stiff and bland at times, especially as the 1950s progressed. However, the comedy was always outstanding.

One of Porky's geese lays a golden egg and unscrupulously credits Daffy, to avoid a grisly fate of a well known goose. The publicity gets the attention of the mob whom buys Daffy with force hoping for golden egg. Daffy attempts to stall them and escape.

This marks the first appearance of the mobster Rocky. I wonder if he was based on anyone (actor or actual mobster). Unlike the Edward G. Robinson caricatures from previous entries, this Rocky is more underplayed, but still entertaining.

The situation and timing are gold (pun intended). Freleng's writer at the time was Ted Pierce, who was/is regarded as the lesser of the mainstay writers. This (and quite a few others) has a well crafted story structure and comedy regardless. Although, Freleng himself probably had a lot to do with how this turned out, if the accounts of Pierce's work issues are anything to go by.

One of Freleng's best from the 50s.

Golden Yeggs is a somewhat disappointing Porky and Daffy short

[tavm · 5/10 · 7 January 2008]

This is the rare Porky and Daffy cartoon in which the two characters don't communicate much, in fact, Porky just appears in the beginning as a farmer who asks which of his hens laid the golden egg. The actual hen, knowing how the last one that did this ended badly, points to Daffy. Daffy accepts the undeserved credit as Porky presents him to the press. After Porky is forced to sell the duck to Rocky and his gang, that's the last we see of him. The rest of the short has Daffy pressured to lay another one in five minutes. Some amusing gags abound in the Friz Freling short but realizing it's not going to be a satisfying ending for the leading character made Golden Yeggs one of the weakest I've seen so far in The Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set, Vol. 1.

Great Fun

[Michael_Elliott · 12 April 2009]

Golden Yeggs (1950)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Wonderful Merrie Melodies short has Porky Pig playing a farmer who finds a golden egg. The real person doesn't take credit for it but Daffy Duck decides to just so he can be famous but soon three gangster show up and demand that he actually lay one. This is a perfect take off on the "goose who laid the golden egg" story brought to perfection by the wonderful job by Freleng. The animation is incredibly well-done and the visual look of the film is great as well. What really works are the three gangsters who would later become known as Rocky and Mugsy. The way they look with the small bottom half but large upper half, hats over the eyes and that monotone voice is hysterical. Porky isn't in the film too much but what time he does have gets plenty of laughs. Certainly one of the best moments in the long-running series.

One of the best Daffy Duck cartoons.

[jacktatay · 10/10 · 10 November 2002]

It's great how Daffy just sort of goes with the flow in this cartoon when everyone thinks he can lay golden eggs. Daffy's performance is hilarious, and pairing him with Rocky was an excellent idea. Friz Freleng's Daffy cartoons are very underrated.

"Okay, boys. Make with the atmosphere."

[slymusic · 10 August 2006]

Directed by Friz Freleng, "Golden Yeggs" is a Warner Bros. cartoon that attempts to be funny but is actually a little disturbing. Farmer Porky Pig is forced to sell the supposedly golden-egg-laying Daffy Duck to a gang of mobsters, with the leader being a short, cigarette-chomping thug whose large fedora covers his eyes and whose speech humorously parodies the stereotypical tough-guy dialect. (This same character appeared later in the Bugs Bunny cartoon "Bugs and Thugs" [1954], with the difference being that Bugs knew how to handle him; Porky and Daffy don't, hence it's easy for me to feel sorry for them in their respective predicaments.) At the gangsters' hideout, Daffy is forced at gunpoint to lay a 24-karat golden egg within a matter of minutes! Every time Daffy nervously tries to escape his captors, whether it be through a doorway, out the window, or through the laundry chute, the mob always manages to outwit him. It seems to me that the only really funny moment in "Golden Yeggs," aside from the head gangster's accent, is the sight of Daffy sporting green shades, red Bermuda swim trunks, a cigar, and an iced tea while relaxing in the mobsters' pool.

It's unfortunate that "Golden Yeggs" does not contain as much humor as I would have liked. But then, there cannot be much humor when one is held hostage and does not know how to outwit his captors. Friz Freleng deserves credit for at least trying to capture the humor of Daffy Duck's predicament, but I don't believe he succeeded with this film.

Scrambled Yeggs all over my face

[movieman_kev · 23 November 2004]

Daffy Duck takes undeserved credit for a golden egg that farmer Porky Pig finds while making his rounds one day. Daffy enjos the limelight and being on magazine covers until Rocky the gangster makes Porky an offer he can't refuse and takes Daffy to make him some golden eggs of his own. This short isn't as bad as some of the reviewers have suggested. And a lot of the jokes worked for me. Not to say this is among the greatest Daffy Duck cartoons ever, but it's funny enough to be one of his better ones. This cartoon is on Disk 2 of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1" And yeah I know my one-line summery doesn't have much to do with anything, but I felt like referencing Frasier for some odd reason.

My Grade: B-