Publication Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Cady, Kathryn

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Communication

Abstract

In 2011, Warner Brother’s latest attempt to make Looney Tunes appeal to modern audiences was released, The Looney Tunes Show. This was a departure from classic Looney Tunes, from its slice-of-life sitcom setting to the changes in the characters. But one of the ways it stood out in not just classic Looney Tunes but contemporary cartoons, was its treatment of Daffy Duck. This thesis is a textual analysis of the show’s presentation of Daffy Duck’s gender. Different frameworks were used to build the analytic tools: signifying theory, as presented by Savoy (1995), gender accountability from West & Zimmerman (1987) and the rhetorical analytical tools from Miller (2023). The tools gained from these three texts were used to examine the messaging around gender with this presentation of Daffy Duck. Selected instances of gender variant dress to represent the perception of gender will be examined. There is a gap in the literature discussing recent Looney Tunes media, as well as a gap in discussing Daffy Duck. The Looney Tunes Show, welcomes itself to being engaged with using a critical lens. Through that critical lens, the show has complex messages to impart about gender.

Extent

73 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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