For all of the success the cast of Looney Tunes have had on the silver screen, it’s rather surprising that they have never been given the chance to helm a feature in their native medium. Sure, we had Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but both were live-action/animation hybrid films with one of those centering on a real life wanna-be baseball player. The Looney Tunes are cartoons, first and foremost. They make the most of their medium with wacky, screwball, antics and while those traits are able to show up in a live-action hybrid, they’re still limited and hamstrung by the technology available at the time. And yes, there was a Bugs Bunny/Road Runner movie, but that was not a true feature. It was basically a package film where some shorts were grouped together to pad out a feature sitting – hardly an honest to goodness attempt at a Looney Tunes movie.
That has all changed with The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, but it almost didn’t happen. The Peter Browngardt-helmed picture was conceived as an HBO Max exclusive back when Warner Bros. was going all-in on making the streaming platform a real Netflix competitor. The announcement came in 2021 and the first look at San Diego Comic Con in 2022, but following that things got murky. If you have been paying attention to the Looney Tunes franchise over the past few years, then you know how the franchise has been jerked around by Warner. A new set of cartoons were commissioned for theaters, but plans were quickly dashed and they were put on Max and Cartoon Network instead. Another live-action hybrid film was announced, Coyote vs ACME, and was allowed to go into production before ultimately getting cancelled. That film, which is finished or nearly finished, sits in limbo as a likely tax write-off for the horribly mismanaged corporation that is more than comfortable with turning its back on the stars that made it a household name.
The Day the Earth Blew Up was possibly heading for a similar fate, but was eventually allowed to be shopped around to find another distributor. In other words, Warner Bros. wasn’t going to distribute it on its own. Oh no, it felt better about taking someone else’s money for the privilege of doing so. The film’s budget is estimated to be at a mere 15 million, peanuts for a company of Warner’s size, but perhaps that’s what saved it. The Coyote vs ACME budget is estimated at somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 million making it a far more enticing tax write-off to the villains running the show. The fact that this little 2D animated film was so cheap is likely what saved it. And riding in to save it is Ketchup Entertainment. I don’t like pumping up corporations as heroes, but I’ll make an exception here. Ketchup acquired the North American distribution rights to the film and is the reason why the Looney Tunes property is getting a shot. I don’t know if it will pay off for them, but I’m doing my part to make sure that it does.
Porky and Daffy are your starts with not a rabbit in sight.
Now, most folks would have probably assumed that if a Looney Tunes movies was to happen it would be either helmed by Bugs Bunny or presented as an ensemble. It’s not. The Day the Earth Blew Up is a Porky Pig (Eric Bauza) and Daffy Duck (Bauza) vehicle that also brings Petunia Pig (Candi Milo) along for the ride. And it’s a smart premise to start from. Out of all the characters in Looney Tunes, the best, most logical, duo to center a film on is Porky and Daffy. Sure, they started out as adversaries with Porky in a hunter role and Daffy his would-be prey, but they would evolve over the years into unlikely partners. Often, Porky was the everyman of the group while Daffy was the instrument of chaos. His unpredictable nature would get Porky into trouble and foul things up. Later, Daffy would transition away from his looney roots to a schemer and Porky would be his sap. Sometimes, Porky got to be more of the comedic relief with Daffy a hapless protagonist as seen in the Duck Dodgers cartoons. For a sequence of cartoons that exist in increments of about 8 minutes, it’s pretty incredible how the relationship between these two has been presented over the years.
For this film though, we’re going back to basics. The Looney Tunes Cartoons which Browngardt oversaw were not shy about their affinity for Bob Clampett’s style. And it makes sense because the guys who outlived everyone (namely Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng) got to see their interpretations of the characters become the more recognized. Now, with everyone long gone, the animators of today are able to shine a spotlight on the guys who were left behind like Clampett and Tex Avery. Porky and Daffy are very much their Clampett interpretations with Porky a bit of a worry wart and Daffy his more looney self (and they get a lot of use out of that word in the movie). They’re given a backstory where they were found by a man named Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore) who raised them and eventually left his house and property to them with the advice to always stick together and take care of their home. In the modern day, they have stuck together, but have mostly let that house fall into a state of disrepair. A wayward asteroid puts a hole in their roof which proves a major problem for the pair as the local HOA rep (Laraine Newman) was due that day to come by and inspect the property.
We have ourselves an alien invasion plot, which gives the film a 50s vibe despite its modern setting.
Things do not go Porky and Daffy’s way and they’re given ten days to repair the roof or see their home condemned. The problem there is not only do they not have enough money for repairs, they don’t have jobs! This leads to a series of job failures by the duo until they eventually happen upon Petunia Pig who, as a flavor inventor for a local gum company, is able to get them factory jobs. Unfortunately, the hole in their roof was caused by an interstellar being (played by Peter MacNicol) who plans to use the factory’s gum and its much celebrated rollout of a new flavor as a way to seize control of the population! Daffy, Porky, and Petunia are the only beings on Earth capable of saving it, a prospect likely not to give anyone much confidence.
It’s an honest to goodness plot for the film rooted in 1950’s sci-fi movie tropes. If you were expecting something more scatter-brained and suited for their usual format, this isn’t it. This is a real feature that has real conflict, character growth, and a proper resolution. At 90 minutes, there are times when the film starts to feel a little long, but smart use of musical bits help break things up. No, this isn’t an actual musical, but it’s not afraid to use some licensed music to help speed things up and it’s usually done in a humorous way.
The movie does a great job of inventing characters that take advantage of the medium.
And humor is the film’s main goal as it never forgets its roots. The Day the Earth Blew Up is a very funny movie and it’s able to pull it off without an overreliance of recycled gags from the shorts. If you’re expecting a classic misdirection bit to occur between two characters then you may be surprised to hear there isn’t one. Less than 24 hours removed from seeing the film for myself, I’m having a hard time coming up with a bit lifted directly from an old short. There’s a reoccurring spit-take joke, but the spit-take is not a uniquely Looney Tunes gag so I’m not sure I’d count that. You’re going to get stutters from Porky and Daffy’s “hoot hoot” routine, but that’s expected. Instead, the film just relies on good timing and creative gags to induce laughter. It’s about as fresh as one could expect Looney Tunes humor to appear in 2025.
The voice cast and music do a great job of uplifting the movie. Eric Bauza has basically made himself a modern day Mel Blanc with how many characters he’s able to voice. I’ve seen some criticism of his Porky voice on the internet that I mostly don’t agree with. His Porky is not going to be mistaken for any other cartoon character. The stuttering has been toned down slightly, but I think that’s for the best since we’re talking 90 minutes vs 8. And his Daffy is just plain terrific. Do these characters sound exactly like they did in 1950? No, of course not, how could they? Mel Blanc is dead and has been for over 30 years. It’s my personal pet peeve when people criticize a film or show when the characters sound different either because a new actor took over or an existing one is aging. It’s what happens, folks. These characters get to outlive us all and it’s part of their appeal. The alternative is stitching things together with old tapes or A.I. which strikes me soulless. Or there’s recasting in the case of someone who is just getting old, but that’s taking away someone’s job. In short, yes, these characters sound different. Get over it!
The movie may star Porky and Daffy, but Petunia makes a mark as well.
In addition to Bauza we have Candi Milo as Petunia Pig. She does a fantastic job with the character, and unlike Porky and Daffy, she practically gets to start with a blank slate. Petunia was seldom used in the golden era, and when she was, she didn’t have much personality of her own. This film rectifies that making her a very ambitious scientist with a bit of a quirky side to her. The chemistry between she and Porky feels genuine and not tacked on and she’s allowed to be funny, just like the boys. MacNicol’s invader character, who is never given a name, is an interesting antagonist in that it’s allowed to remain somewhat mysterious while also getting to join in on the comic relief. Often with things happening to it as opposed to a result of something the invader does. Joshua Moshier’s score lives up to the reputation of the brand. He was able to record with a live orchestra and the film is all the better for it.
The star of the show is not really the characters or the voices, but the animation. Glorious 2D animation! If you have seen the more recent Looney Tunes Cartoons or the Animaniacs reboot on Hulu then you have a pretty good frame of reference for how The Day the Earth Blew Up looks. In my reviews of some cartoons from those respective shows, I’ve often come to the conclusion that they look as good as they possibly can for a modern production. Everything is digital, but with a hand-drawn flourish. This isn’t the puppet-like animation you find with adult animated sitcoms like Bob’s Burgers and The Simpsons. There’s actual squash and stretch animation here with exaggerated movements and excellent effects animation. Since this is a feature, it does look better than the TV counterparts, but not dramatically so. It’s a very interesting movie to look at and in some of the faster paced sequences it made picking out the visual gags and little touches more fun. I look forward to being able to watch this at home some day so I have the benefit of being able to linger on a scene a little longer than I could in a theater.
Hopefully, this won’t be all.
We had to wait a long time for a proper Looney Tunes movie, but The Day the Earth Blew Up was worth the wait. It’s another feather in the cap of this venerable franchise and it does nothing to harm its legacy, it only adds to it. It’s a funny, engaging, film that’s a treat for the eyes and should find little trouble in appealing to both kids and adults, provided both have at least some affection for Looney Tunes styled animation and humor. My two kids loved it, but I’ve also raised them on Looney Tunes (the Looney Tunes Golden Collection is one of the best purchases I ever made) and my daughter brought her well worn, much loved, Bugs Bunny plush to the theater with her so he could see his buddies in action. Unfortunately, the franchise is in the hands of Warner Bros. who can hardly be trusted as proper caretakers. For that reason, I’m skeptical we’ll get a sequel or another Looney Tunes movie in this style, but at least we have The Day the Earth Blew Up. If you’ve ever loved the Looney Tunes or 2D animation, then I urge you to check it out while it’s playing in theaters because who knows if we’ll ever get this chance again?
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Let’s try this one more time for 2023 – can we find a good Looney Tunes Christmas special? And more importantly, a good Bugs Bunny one? We’ve looked at two already that were merely okay. Nothing terrible, but hardly holiday classics. For our final go at this, I’m feeling a little more optimistic and that’s because we’re jumping to the world of Looney Tunes Cartoons. Looney Tunes Cartoons resulted from a meeting between Uncle Grandpa creator Pete Browngardt and Warner Bros. for an unrelated project. That meeting with Warner Bros. apparently didn’t go all that well as Browngardt wasn’t interested in whatever project Warner was selling. Audrey Diehl, the executive leading the meeting, apparently wanted to try to salvage something from it and asked Browngardt if there was a project that might interest him and I bet you can guess what his response was. Looney Tunes Cartoons was born out of that meeting in 2017 and Browngardt was put in charge of basically bringing back the classic characters in a format befitting them. He would team-up with artist Jim Soper and many other talented writers, artists and voice actors to create the show which finally premiered in 2020 on HBO Max.
The timing of the premiere kind of sucked some of the wind from the sails of Looney Tunes Cartoons. Not because the show was poorly received, but because it came during the great lockdown that was brought on by COVID-19. Locking the cartoons behind the HBO paywall also didn’t help matters and despite myself being pretty plugged into the world of animation, I didn’t see much of these new shorts until the next year. At that point, Cartoon Network had begun airing the first season as a means of promoting Space Jam: A New Legacy. If you want kids to go see a new movie based on the Looney Tunes characters it pays to make them accessible to today’s kids. When those episodes did land, I watched them with my kids and we all pretty much enjoyed them. Eric Bauza is probably the best Bugs Bunny since Mel Blanc and the characters both look and feel like Looney Tunes. They’re certainly different from the golden age and no one would look at one of these and mistake it for a classic short, but they can exist alongside it. My kids have also been raised on this stuff so that helped, and there was a period of time in my house where the new cartoons were preferred to the originals (that has since passed).
Part of that first season, but exclusive to HBO Max, is the show’s lone Christmas special titled Bugs Bunny’s 24-Carrot Holiday Special. It uses the star power of Bugs in its title, but it’s an ensemble piece like most television episodes of Looney Tunes with Bugs leading a segment alongside Porky, Daffy, Elmer, and others. A holiday special formatted for a half hour based on Looney Tunes is a bit concerning going in. These characters and shorts work best in quick hits, but as I said before, I’m cautiously optimistic going in as the shorts I’ve seen have been pretty good, but I’ve been burned before so I’m still going to keep my guard up.
A cozy holiday setting to set the mood.
The cartoon begins with a shot of the show’s logo covered in snow. The orchestra sounds like it’s warming up, and we smash to the classic WB shield, also covered with snow, and the familiar sting of “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down.” An image of Bugs Bunny’s visage is shown like this is the start of a Bugs Bunny short, but it fades to be replaced by the title of the special over a warmly lit house like a classic holiday special of old. And orchestral version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” has replaced the usual Looney Tunes fair and as the logo fades the camera starts to zoom in until we find ourselves inside this cozy home. It appears to be an actual set, though with modern CG I suppose it’s possible I’m being fooled. I’m thinking it’s probably a combination as there’s a lit fireplace that looks a little off so maybe that’s being CG generated while the set is real. There’s a picture of Bob Clampett on the far wall and opposite him is Mel Blanc. There’s a very full and well decorated Christmas tree and a narrator chimes in to set the mood. He muses on the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree as the camera finds a wooden ornament of Daffy and Porky dressed as elves. The ornament is titled “Santa’s Little Helpers” and it’s a hint at the short to come.
Looks like Santa is having some labor issues up north. We’re going to need some scabs to save this Christmas!
That short begins without a title card, but according to Wikipedia it’s called Elf Help. We’re at the North Pole, and an announcer informs us that not all is well up here. The elves are on strike, and Santa can’t make Christmas happen without them as we see him attempt to wrap a gift and it bursts into flames. This is a news broadcast we’re watching and we’re transported to the home of Porky Pig (Bob Bergen) and Daffy Duck (Bauza) as they react to this news. Daffy is horrified at the thought that Christmas might be cancelled this year since he won’t be receiving any presents! His design is a noodlelike bowling pin and he’s more in-line with the Clampett Daffy personality wise, though his selfishness is a bit more from the Chuck Jones mold. Daffy is worried that he and Porky won’t be getting their usual delivery of Christmas coal, as he opens a closet to reveal a whole bunch of the stuff. He loves it though as it keeps their house warm and Porky seems to be of the same mind. Daffy then proposes that he and Porky head up there and help Santa turn things around. Porky wants nothing to do with crossing a picket line, but Daffy has no shame. And it also doesn’t take much convincing on his part to get Porky to agree to go and save Christmas.
And apparently these are just the scabs for the job.
We return to the North Pole and find a family of penguins just hanging around. The little penguin is basically the same character model as the penguin from the Bugs Bunny short Frigid Hare (he’s apparently named Playboy Penguin). An elevator comes shooting up out of the ice and dispatches the penguin family – just what are penguins doing at the North Pole anyway? Daffy and Porky emerge to “Jingle Bells” from the elevator. Daffy is full of enthusiasm while Porky is freezing. He probably should have put something on since he’s just wearing his blazer and bowtie. Daffy soon spies the striking elves and decides to show them a strike of his own. Gathering up his friend into a bowl, he hurls Porky towards the elves who get knocked out of the way with relative ease. Porky smashes through a window and gets lodged in something gray and squishy.
Santa is apparently a traditional, inept, corporate overlord.
It’s Santa! Daffy comes running in to find the big man miserable and his face covered in cookie crumbs. He’s in his long underwear and seems to be pretty deflated over this whole strike thing. When Daffy asks him where his usual jolly-ness went, Santa (Fred Tatasciore) confirms it died when his elves went on strike. Daffy tells him not to worry as he and Porky are here to help him get ready for Christmas. Santa somewhat sarcastically asks if they’re going to make all of the presents for Christmas and Daffy confirms that’s the intent. Santa then surprisingly jumps up and seems okay with this! He decides they’re the Christmas miracle he was waiting for, and he belly bumps them across the room to smash into the wall and slide down through some elf outfits hanging on said wall.
Looks like they’ve got this covered.
We cut to the two dressed in their elf attire almost giddily building toys. It’s set to a very cheery rendition of “Deck the Halls” and as the boys work on their toys Santa comes into view. He starts laughing almost hysterically until they ask what’s so funny? Santa then gestures to the toys they’re building, which include a wooden duck and other traditional trinkets, and tells them kids don’t want that crap anymore. What they want is high-tech video games! He slams a console down in front of the two that’s like a hodgepodge of an X-Box and a Super Nintendo which makes some futuristic type noises. He then ushers them along into the room where those are to be assembled: it’s a dark, windowless, cold room with posters on the wall of “Santa is Always Watching” that portray the jolly fat man more like the dreaded overlord the elves are protesting against. He encourages Porky and Daffy to have fun with it as he urges them in, but adds in a threatening voice, “Or else!”
Maybe I spoke a little too soon?
With the door slammed shut behind them, Porky and Daffy are left to figure out how to construct a game console. Porky is basically freaking out as he views this task as an impossible one. Because he is a good-natured ham, he’s actually worried about letting Santa down when I’m starting to think he isn’t deserving of any sympathy. He walks into a bookcase and a bunch of books fall out on top of him. Daffy tells him to cheer up as he picks up just the book they need: A Total Nincompoop’s Guide to Building a Video Game System. Daffy hands the book to Porky and instructs him to read while he makes adding the obviously fateful line of “This video game stuff can’t be that complex!” Porky starts reading off instructions while Daffy sets himself up at a conveyor belt. The camera focuses on a classic cat clock, only this one is dressed like Santa with a candy cane tail. I kind of love it and want one. Also of note, the calendar in the background suggests that the present date is December 3, which just so happens to be the day this went live on HBO Max. We hear Porky read out the instruction number as he stammers along finally reaching step one-thousand two-hundred seventy-six, which is basically final assembly. When he looks up from the book, he just sees Daffy with a pile of unrelated junk that he’s covering in glue.
Boy, that sure looks painful.
Porky is ready to freak out as this monstrosity does not resemble a game system in the slightest. It even features tentacles and what appears to be a giraffe’s knee. Daffy tells him to calm down and yanks on a pull chain which triggers a hydraulic press that smashes the two into each other with the…game console…in between them. The resulting collision reduces Porky and Daffy to a paper like consistency as they float to the floor, but it surprisingly turns Daffy’s stuff into something! Daffy declares they’ve done it, and at first we get a shot of an actual game console. Porky then adds it looks more like a killer robot to him and as the camera zooms out it’s hard to find fault with the pig’s assessment. The game console is on top of what is otherwise an intimidating machine. It’s boxy, purple, and on tank treads with spikes sticking out of it. It is indeed a killer robot as it reaches out an arm to grab Daffy while uttering “Destroy! Destroy!” Porky winds up getting smacked by the robot (wielding Daffy like a club) onto a conveyor belt and when he realizes he’s not moving as he runs he lets out this hilarious scream that sounds so convincing. It’s clear the pig thinks he’s about to bite the big one. The robot lifts Daffy and aims the duck’s rear at Porky. Cocking the duck like a shotgun, it then makes Daffy start firing eggs at Porky from Daffy’s…well, you can probably figure that part out for yourself.
He apparently had no built-in defense for a duck wielding a pig like a bowling ball. So long, killer robot!
The robot tosses the spent duck after assaulting Porky and closes in for the would-be kill. Porky begs the robot to spare them, which triggers an idea in Daffy’s brain. It’s either a callback to how he dealt with the elves, or just a repetitive gag, but Daffy declares “Why settle for a spare when you can have a strike?” and scoops up Porky once again and rolls him like a bowling ball at the robot. The robot was readying a bunch of missiles to kill the pair, but once struck by the Porky bowling ball they get deflected into the air above the robot. As they crest and begin their descent, the robot meekly pulls out a cocktail umbrella to shield itself which obviously results in a rather large explosion.
The sticking point for them was apparently their dental plan…dental plan…dental plan…
The rumble wakes up a napping Santa who heads to the factory to investigate. When he gets there, we find the robot has been destroyed, but the actual game console that was a part of its head has been left intact! Daffy presents it to Santa who seems rather impressed. He suggests they test it out and when he presses the power button on the device it, well, explodes. The explosion does nothing to Daffy and Porky, but Santa looks rather worse for ware. His face was nearly blown off and he’s covered in soot and as he fumes over the explosion he just keeps repeating “Why I oughta…” as he inches in ever closer to Daffy and Porky. Only after the third one, he returns to his usual demeanor and finishes his thought with “I oughta hire those elves back!” It’s very reminiscent of the gag where Ren of The Ren & Stimpy Show threatens Stimpy and Sven (“I gotta take a whiz!”), which was almost certainly referencing something from Looney Tunes that I’m not recalling off the top of my head.
There are some terrific screams in this cartoon. My hat is off to Eric Bauza and Bob Bergen.
Santa heads outside, and rather coyly, restarts the bargaining process with his striking elves. He ends it by offering a 20% raise if they return to work, but the apparent union leader just gestures for him to come up higher. Santa them grumbles and adds, “Plus dental,” and the elves all cry out with glee revealing mouths full of horrendous teeth. With the elves back to work, it would seem Christmas is saved which prompts Daffy to mosey on over to Santa and suggest that he and Porky deserve a present for kind of, sort of, saving Christmas. Santa agrees and hands the duck a gift. Daffy removes the top to find a game console and Porky seems delighted with the gift. The console then lifts up to reveal the killer robot the pair had crafted and both characters utter some terrific screams in horror. They run right through the wall and the robot chases after them and the cartoon ends with the pair racing over the snow-covered hills of the North Pole with the killer robot hot on their heels.
Taz just wants to spread holiday cheer in the old-fashioned way, but the world is apparently against him.
Our next segment stars Taz (Fred Tatasciore), everyone’s favorite ever hungry creature from down under. It’s a bit where Taz is out caroling, but something keeps interrupting him or otherwise causes him to flub what he’s doing. We start with an interior shot of a front door and the sound of someone knocking. The door opens and we see Taz with his book of carols in hand and a Santa hat on his head. He informs us that he’s going to sing a carol, but when he opens his mouth to sing we hear the cry of a cat. A surprised look crosses his face and he reaches down his throat to pull out a soaking wet orange kitty. Taz chuckles and remarks, “Cat got tongue,” and the owner of this dwelling slams the door in his face. The bit continues at different homes, but they all start the same way. At the next house, he tries to sing “Angels Heard on High” but the sound of police sirens keeps interrupting him until he eventually gets so mad that he destroys the police car. At the next house, he never even gets to his song as he’s enraptured with ringing the doorbell. The following house sees him disappointed in the handheld bell he brought with him for “Jingle Bells,” so he blows a raspberry at it and takes off only to return with a giant church bell which the occupant of the home apparently wants nothing to do with. The next door opens to reveal a trio of kids singing “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and they sound lovely. Then Taz sees them, and viewing them as threats, chases them off. He returns with a scarf hanging out of his mouth that he sucks up like a string of spaghetti. I’m guessing he ate those kids. The door slams shut and the occupant locks all of the locks on it. Taz then peers through the mail slot and says “Taz know you’re still in there,” so the guy nails a 2×4 over the slot. The next house finds Taz looking grumpy, but he whips out his book and goes into a warm-up routine. When he finally starts singing, it’s the closing part of “Silent Night” and he has the voice of a woman who is an accomplished singer. The position of the camera then finally changes to an angled shot and we see the occupant of the house is Granny (Candi Milo). She just says “What?” and asks him to speak up as she pulls out one of those old-fashioned horns for hearing. Poor Taz looks utterly defeated.
Sylvester will experience much pain in this one, as he should.
We return to the Christmas tree and the narrator which started this whole thing. There’s an egg-shaped Taz ornament on the tree and we pan to one featuring Sylvester and Tweety in a shopping cart. The image dissolves onto a department store being ravaged by shoppers. Granny and Tweety (Bauza) come strolling up to take part in the big holiday sale and the pair have no trouble simply walking through the mob clogging the entrance. Emerging from a garbage can nearby is Sylvester (Jeff Bergman)who shares what he wants for Christmas – a delicious, yellow, bird. He has a much harder time getting through the mob as he first tries to push his way in, only for his arm to get sucked into it. He tries to run, but eventually his whole body gets sucked into the mob and flung through the store where he crashes into the hardware section and a circular saw splits him in two for a “Half Off” gag.
Where’s my Sylvester nutcracker, Warner?!
Granny and Tweety are off shopping and Tweety pulls out a sock from a bin of clearance, left, socks. He wears it like a stocking hat and prompts Granny to check him out, who ignores him. Sylvester emerges from the bin of socks, but before he can grab Tweety a clerk puts a 90% off sign on the bin and a mob of people descend upon it. They clear out the entire bin leaving behind just Sylvester’s nose and eyes. Tweety then tosses his “hat” back, declaring it too big, and one last person snatches it up along with the remains of the cat. Tweety and Granny then head to the nutcracker section and Granny instructs Tweety to pick out a good one. Tweety hops onto the shelf and draws Granny’s attention to a big, ugly, one. It’s Sylvester in disguise, and Granny scoops him up and declares they need to put it to the test. Sylvester is sweating profusely as Granny shoves a handful of walnuts into his mouth. She then uses his tail like a lever and Sylvester tries to crack the nuts, but all he does is crack his teeth. Granny keeps tugging to no effect prompting Tweety to smash Sylvester in the head with a novelty candy cane. The nuts fall out of his mouth, along with the remains of his teeth. Granny then nervously tries to put the defective merchandise back without anyone noticing and urges Tweety to come look at the Christmas trees. Sylvester emerges from the shelf, and with a pan and dust broom, sweeps up his shattered teeth and dumps them back into his mouth. The clinking foley on his teeth is most unpleasant.
And for that matter, where’s my Sylvester Christmas tree?!
In the Christmas tree section, Granny and Tweety survey their options. Tweety notes the trees are rather skinny, but Granny demonstrates they work like umbrellas as she opens one. Tweety then poses on top of another pretending he’s a star, but above him Sylvester is waiting to strike. He sings the opening verse to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” substituting the partridge for a yellow canary. He dives at Tweety, but the little bird flutters away leaving Sylvester to land mouth first on the tree. It goes all the way to his tail and Tweety, seemingly totally aware that Sylvester is trying to get him, tells Granny he likes this tree declaring it funky. Granny regards the cat tree curiously and then opens it up. Sylvester becomes a full blown Christmas tree, but Granny thinks he looks a bit scraggly. Tweety just thinks they need to plug it in, so he does, and Sylvester gets a good jolt as his eyes and nose turn into Christmas lights which promptly explode to an instrumental rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Sylvester with his face missing a nose is giving me my second The Ren & Stimpy Show impression of this special as his face has a very Stimpy-like appearance.
Sylvester always looks extra pathetic when naked.
We next find Granny and Tweety in the electronics section. Granny is occupied looking at the sales while Tweety is playing with a remote-controlled car. Sylvester, lurking behind a display television, tries to grab Tweety, but he moves out of the way just in the nick of time. Sylvester then picks up the TV and tiptoes after the bird using the television to keep himself hidden, only for the bit to repeat. After the third attempt, Sylvester turns the TV on to reveal himself looking quite angry before he turns it off. When he next places the TV down he has the misfortune of finding himself in a sale section with arrows and signs declaring the item is free. A mob descends upon Sylvester once more leaving him battered and furless. He remarks “It’s black and blue Friday,” before collapsing. We now cut to Sylvester in a wig tying some mistletoe to the end of a fishing rod. It would seem he’s going to give the old mistletoe routine a try as he casts the rod over a display where Tweety resides on the other side. The little bird looks up to see the flowers over his head and then Sylvester emerges in drag to point out the obvious. He declares that, by the laws of Christmas, they must kiss and as the cat puckers up Tweety concedes he doesn’t want to break the law. He also does not look at all thrilled about kissing Sylvester, but he closes his eyes and prepares to do just that, only for Sylvester to snap his jaw shut over him. Contented, Sylvester relaxes a little, until smoke starts escpaping from his mouth. He sticks out his tongue to find a lit menorah, and a cheerful canary wishing him a happy Hannukah.
Sylvester seems so touched by this gesture that I feel kind of bad for him that this will not end well.
Tweety hops down, but Sylvester is done playing around. He simply scoops the bird up in his hands apparently done with the little game they’re playing. As he tells Tweety what he’s about to do, Tweety informs the “puddy tat” that if he eats him then he won’t be able to give him his Christmas present. Sylvester is taken off-guard as Tweety produces the wrapped box. He takes the gift as tears well up in his eyes declaring that no one has ever given him a Christmas gift. He’s bathed in an angelic light and Tweety urges him to open it. Sylvester at first refuses for what would Santy Claus think of him? Tweety flirtatiously says “I won’t tell,” and that’s all the convincing Sylvester needs. He rips into the gift and pulls out a little catnip mouse. He says it’s what he’s always wanted and looks genuinely touched. As he gives it a squeak, the fur falls off revealing a stick of dynamite. Sylvester is then blown up and comes to rest on a pile of fruitcake in a fruitcake-like shape himself. Tweety sticks a sign designating the fruit cake as costing a mere fifty cents and the mob returns. Only this time they stop short, turn up their nose at the sight of fruitcake, and leave. This allows Tweety to do his customary mugging for the camera routine which has closed many a Tweety short previously. He declares that no one likes fruitcake, or puddy tats, and leaves us with a big, exaggerated, smile.
As was the case with Sylvester, much pain is ahead for Wile E. Coyote.
You may have expected this one to return to the Christmas tree, but we’re not ready to do that just yet. Instead, the iris shot which closes the preceding cartoon opens on a fairly familiar looking desert landscape. Only this time, it’s dotted with patchy snow. A trail of smoke ends with the familiar sight of a speeding road runner. He looks pretty much like the road runner of old, only with a more saturated blue tone. Nearby is the ever hungry Wile E. Coyote scoping out the road runner through a pair of binoculars. He also looks like the coyote of old, but with a floppy snout that adds a touch of ugliness to his design. He has a festive trap planned for his would-be dinner: a gift addressed to the road runner from Santa Claus. The gift is placed in the center of the road, and above it lurks a large boulder being supported by a small stick. It’s tied off with a red ribbon secured to a rock at ground level and when the road runner snatches his gift it should pull the stick free and cause the boulder to come crashing down upon him. How the coyote will consume the squashed remains is a problem for later. When the road runner comes upon the gift, the coyote braces for impact, which never comes. Instead, he looks to the road and sees another gift, this one addressed to him! He’s quite touched by the gesture and it’s hard not to feel like we just saw this exact same scenario play out with Sylvester a moment ago. It makes me think these were all produced independently. He cheerfully opens the present and inside is a stick. Not just any stick, mind you, but the stick that had been keeping the boulder at bay. It lurches forth and comes plummeting down to crush the coyote. It splits in half like an egg, and when the battered coyote emerges he too splits in half.
Who wouldn’t want that card on their fridge?
The next plot involves a phony Christmas picture photo booth. A sign beckons those who come upon it to come get their picture taken with a Christmas tree. We then see how this plan is supposed to unfold as the coyote opens a box for an ACME extra large mace. He puts the heavy, spiked, object on top of the tree and hits it with some yellow spray paint. He then consults his blueprints which shows that the road runner is supposed to stand on the “X” in the road and look at the camera while the coyote chops down the tree sending the mace onto him. The “meep meep” sound of the bird alerts the coyote to hide and as the road runner comes upon the trap, he falls for it! The coyote springs out from behind the tree with his axe and chops at the base. He does a pretty good job, but the tree does not fall. He kicks at it, pushes it, but to no avail as the road runner waits for the camera to go off. A few shoulder tackles finally gets the job done, but as the tree falls, the mace stays in place. It floats in the air a moment, and then falls on the coyote as the camera goes off and we’re treated to a Polaroid of the mangled mutt.
Since Santa and his reindeer are on the screen for a fraction of a second they must have felt like they could get away with only having four reindeer.
The next bit involves an ACME Santa’s Workshop kit. It’s basically a façade with a working door and behind it the coyote places a whole bunch of explosives. He then takes shelter behind a boulder where he keeps the detonator, a plunger styled device, and waits for his prey. The road runner comes upon the trap, looks it over a moment, then runs right through the door! The coyote pushes down on the detonator, and nothing happens. He does it a few times before he decides to investigate, but as he nears the door it swings open and out comes Santa Claus in his sleigh (pulled by only four reindeer – boo)! He leaves the coyote flattened, and the road runner is riding alongside him in the sleigh. As the coyote gets up and watches the two head out of sight, he regards the phony workshop curiously. He approaches with some trepidation, like he knows what’s likely to happen, and just before his hand touches the door it all explodes. The charred and angry coyote just looks at the camera and whips out a “Bah Humbug!” sign in defeat.
And now for the star of the show. Did they save the best for last?
Now, we return to the Christmas tree setting as we move away from a cactus ornament the narrator remarks the holidays are a time for sharing. The camera comes to rest on an ornament that reads “Love thy Neighbor” and the image dissolves to come upon the site of a mailbox beside a hole. This can only belong to one Bugs Bunny (Bauza), and we find the wabbit sitting by a roaring fireplace enjoying a nice cup of hot, carrot, tea. A large amount of snow comes down his chimney to blunt that fire, and when Bugs cries out another clump falls on him. He needs to investigate what’s going on and pops out of his hole as-if it were equipped with an elevator. This Bugs is the more streamlined Bugs as he appeared in his earliest cartoons. He also has yellow gloves, as the prototype Bugs featured, and I’m still torn on if I like the gloves or not. They’re a very pale yellow, but they still clash with the gray of his fur, but at least it’s different.
Elmer may have been forced to give up his shotgun, but otherwise little has changed between these two over the years.
The culprit for this snow storm is Bugs’ neighbor – Elmer Fudd (Bergman). Elmer has a pretty traditional design as well, but with perhaps a bit more exaggeration to his jowls. He’s shoveling his walk and tossing the snow wherever he pleases. Bugs approaches him and, rather politely, requests that he not do that. Elmer just declares it’s his home and he can do whatever he wants demonstrating that he is completely absent of reason. When Bugs, rather flirtatiously, reminds him that he should love thy neighbor he punctuates it with an “And I love you!” followed by a hug. Elmer tells him he hates him, and he hates his house too! He swats a lump of snow with his shovel like a baseball bat that takes out Bugs’ chimney. He then fires up a snowblower and blows the wabbit away. He follows that up by pounding the snow that is now over the rabbit hole, and while dusting himself off, declares that no one tells him what to do. This could quite literally be the hill that he dies on. Elmer then starts thinking about how he’s going to treat himself when he’s done clearing the snow. As he does, he’s oblivious to the snow rising beneath him as Bugs pushes it out of his hole. He tosses it, and Elmer, like a log and Elmer is still thinking about pie as he crashes into his own property. His head bursts out of the snow looking beat up and with some stylish snow hair!
Though I will say, Elmer just being a flat-out asshole in this one is a bit of a change for his character.
We then find Bugs trying to rebuild his shattered chimney, but he keeps getting hammered with more snow! It’s Elmer, who after getting dusted by the bunny needs to re-shovel his walkway and is tossing the snow back in Bugs’ direction. Bugs pops up behind him and casually asks him what he’s doing. He explains the situation, unaware that he’s talking to the wabbit that caused this mess. Bugs sympathizes with him, but then tosses in a casual reminder to mind those walkways this time of year as they can be mighty slippery. He then dumps a bucket of water on the surface Elmer is standing on which freezes instantly. He does a faceplant, and when he lifts his head up we see his face crack and shatter into pieces on the ground. Bugs then smashes him with a refrigerator for good measure.
Come on, Elmer! Usually, Bugs at least hides his ears to fool you, but here it’s like he’s not even trying!
Bugs then walks off thinking that problem is solved, but we still have several minutes left in this short which suggests it most certainly is not. He sings his own version of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” to substitute in shoveling the walkway, until a snowball hits him in the back of the head knocking him over. It’s an enraged Elmer, and Bugs confronts him and warns him not to do something he’ll regret. Elmer responds in kind with more snowballs and Bugs just…takes it? He gets repeatedly pelted with snowballs as he cries out in pain before falling face first in the snow. Elmer gets a few more shots in apparently targeting the ass of Bugs. When the camera switches to focus on him, we see an old lady come rolling up in a wheelchair behind him. It’s obviously Bugs, but he lifts off his disguise momentarily to wink at the camera in case there was any doubt. He then shouts “Junior!” and it’s clear he’s playing Elmer’s mother. Convincingly, apparently, as Elmer is fooled. She reprimands him for not dressing in layers before slamming a ton of clothes on him. She then tells him to finish the job and bash that rabbit and hands him what looks like a skinny Christmas tree from the Tweety short. Only it’s the top of an actual tree that Bugs just bent over and when Elmer takes hold of it he lets go sending the man on a trip through the air. He crashes into a funeral home, which explodes on impact, leaving behind a somber looking grave complete with tombstone.
The wreath is one of the few hints of Christmas in this short and it even mysteriously vanishes from the door in the next shot.
We get a nice close-up on the headstone which reads “Here Lies Elmer Fudd, Loved by neighbors (not really)” and his date of birth is just 1940 and date of death 2020. The headstone then splits and an enraged Elmer emerges from behind it. He’s going to bash that wabbit, and his weapon of choice is a lead pipe (I guess found in the rubble of the funeral home?). He goes rushing off to seek his revenge, but is taken aback when he gets to his house and finds all of the snow is gone. There’s a nice wreath on his door and that along with the stocking on Bugs’ fireplace is about the only Christmas this short has. When Elmer approaches the house, Bugs shows up to say he’s responsible. He felt bad about how things had gone down, so he cleared all of the snow. Elmer is overjoyed and invites the rabbit in for tea, but in doing so also declares that he was in the right this whole time and is glad that Bugs came to see that. This might have been a wrong move, though it also seems like the trap was already laid, for when Elmer inquires what Bugs did with all of the snow he’s told it was put in a place that will make them both happy. Bugs opens the front door and a wall of snow is visible which basically explodes from the house, including the chimney! Bugs then walks away content with his work, but the mountain of snow that was Elmer’s house shudders and explodes leaving behind a monstrous snow plow and an angry, little, bald man behind the wheel.
Wait – he’s had this massive plow the whole time he was shoveling?!
Bugs then remarks “Too far?” as he runs for his life while Elmer drives after him, his face purple and red with rage. He chases Bugs to the edge of a cliff and as Bugs finds his back up against nothing but thin air, he uses cartoon magic to get out of the predicament by simply crawling along the underside of the cliff like a gecko or something. He emerges from behind the snow plow as Elmer waits to hear the scream of Bugs as he falls. And since he’s doing so, he’s not actually watching what he’s doing as Bugs encourages him to keep moving “a little further” until he finds himself suspended in midair. Once he realizes what he’s done, the plow falls and explodes upon impact on the ground below.
Silly Elmer, don’t you know the wabbit always wins?
There Bugs finds the unconscious, but still rather put together, Fudd. He resorts to the old painted glasses trick and paints a beach setting onto the lenses and puts them on Elmer’s face before he regains consciousness. Once he does, he’s soon convinced by Bugs that summer is here! He puts on his best green Speedo and sets himself up with a nice beach chair. As he settles in to enjoy some rays and reflects on his apparent victory over the wabbit, we smash cut to Elmer completely frozen like the end of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Bugs emerges from behind him to declare that Elmer’s victory has been frozen in time. He then has a laugh at Elmer’s expense, who can only blink his eyes, and we return to the living room setting.
Bugs gets to do the honors of wishing us a happy holiday, which is fitting.
The narrator then attempts to wrap this thing up. And as he does, we see the arm of Bugs reach out from in front of a lounge chair to grab a carrot and milk. The camera changes to then show Bugs outright revealing that he is, in fact, our narrator. Before he can wish us a merry Christmas, he’s overtaken by a fit of coughing, which once over returns his voice to its natural sound. He waves at the camera and apologizes for his allergies, then ends with a “Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!” Cue the “That’s all folks!” screen, sans Porky, and put a bow on it!
This edition of Looney Tunes Cartoons is, without question, the best half hour of holiday themed Looney Tunes content we’ve ever been graced with. It’s better than the other toons we’ve looked at this year, and probably better than Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales. It’s helped by having character designs that are pretty much classic interpretations of the characters with just a touch of added stylizing. The voice acting and sound design are both terrific, and the quality of the animation, while obviously digital, is pretty damn good for what it is. One could perhaps quibble with the length of this one as it’s three standard-length shorts with a pair of smaller segments used to break them up. And yet, I quite liked the bit with Taz trying to carol and the Road Runner segment was rather short and sweet. Of the meatier segments, I think the Daffy and Porky one was probably my favorite of the three. It had a conventional plot of two dim-witted characters chipping in on Christmas, but with the added subtext that this version of Santa is kind of a monster and the helpers are scabs. He’s more like an evil overlord, and while it made him rather unlikable, he at least did the right thing in the end. The Sylvester and Tweety short was fairly typical of the duo with the cat trying to capture the bird, but getting outwitted by him at every turn. It had some solid gags and I rather enjoyed seeing Sylvester as a Christmas tree, but man, I hate fruit cake jokes so it had a bit of a sour ending.
It really is almost..time…for Christmas!
The weak spot for me was the Bugs Bunny cartoon. Not because it was bad, it was actually quite entertaining, but because IT WASN’T A CHRISTMAS SHORT! This whole month I’ve been trying to find not just a good Looney Tunes Christmas special, but a good Bugs Bunny one too and in a way I’m still left wanting. The Bugs Bunny cartoon is basically a snow fight between him and Elmer and the only Christmas I noticed was the wreath on Elmer’s door and some decorations on Bugs’ fireplace. What a bummer. They could have just tossed Santa into the end or something and had him play a role in settling things, but maybe they didn’t want to since that’s how the Road Runner segment ended? Again, not a bad cartoon, just not really a Christmas one.
The wrap-around segments with the uncredited narrator added a little holiday charm, but it also felt a tad derivative. There was no gag, unless you count the Bugs reveal at the end which was hardly a shock, so it felt surprisingly earnest. It very much reminded me of the Mickey Mouse special Once Upon A Christmas and its sequel. It’s an easy way to make a Christmas special feel like a Christmas special so I don’t fault them for doing it, but just wish they did it better.
Even though I admittedly have one rather big problem with this Christmas special, I still think it’s deserving of a recommend. I could recommend the other Looney Tunes specials as a curiosity piece, but this one works as just good entertainment. Which is how I view the whole of Looney Tunes Cartoons. It’s a solid B+ show that’s keeping these characters alive outside of Space Jam, and for that I’m thankful. For now, this one appears to only be available on HBO/Warner’s Max platform, which is unfortunate. Maybe it will get a showing on Cartoon Network, but don’t count on it. It looks like it’s available for purchase digitally, and you may even be able to find it elsewhere. I think it’s worth checking out and there’s a bunch of other Christmas stuff on Max so a one-month subscription might be just the ticket for your holiday entertainment, though maybe not at this point since we’re nearing the end of the season. Hey, there’s always next year!
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
When it comes to The Christmas Spot, I have very few rules. I definitely favor animated Christmas specials, but that’s not some rule I’ve created for myself. The programs don’t have to be all ages, they don’t have to be “nice,” and they certainly don’t have to be any good as I’ve looked at an…
One of my favorite modern Christmas specials is the DuckTales episode “Last Christmas.” I feel like anytime I talk DuckTales I have to specify which era, though in this case I really shouldn’t since the original DuckTales never did a Christmas episode. To make up for that, the 2017 edition of the show did two…
During the late 80s Nintendo was on fire in the US. The Nintendo Entertainment System came storming into living rooms, basements, and dens across the country making Mario and Luigi household names. In addition to video games, there were tons of licensing deals for clothing, school supplies, bedding, you name it. If it could be…
It was just over a week ago that we took a look at the Christmas episode of The Looney Tunes Show. That show featured the cast of Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies in an animated sitcom and it was…okay. It definitely didn’t feel like Warner stumbled onto something with that idea and the search for a worthwhile Christmas special starring Bugs Bunny continues. After that show more or less failed, Warner went back to the drawing board with Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production which would take those same characters and put them in a setting more familiar to them. The show would center around Bugs Bunny and feature some loose continuity. Later seasons would see other stars more prominently integrated. Erik Kuska is credited as the developer of the program which was executive produced by Sam Register. The design of the show would take these characters back to their infancy really with Porky more rotund and Daffy a screwball type instead of the jealous, scheming, duck of the Chuck Jones era. Bugs, for his part, was back to being his rascally self. His design might be a touch more Bob Clampett than we saw in The Looney Tunes Show, but overall he feels a bit more stylized and unique.
The show was originally called Wabbit and was a Bugs Bunny vehicle until someone realized that these characters work best as an ensemble.
The show began as Wabbit, but by its second season it was simply New Looney Tunes. I kind of hate it when a venerable property gets rebranded as “New” because it will inevitably be not the newest version at some point. Wabbit was a solid title, but I get that they wanted to move on from it when the show stopped being centralized on Bugs Bunny. Nevertheless, it’s approach is pretty true to classic Looney Tunes with the caveat that it’s being made in 2018 and not 1945. Anvils apparently were out in favor of more modern implements of destruction, but this is a toon where the bad guys get hurt, blown up, and traditionally have their violent actions redirected upon themselves. Unlike The Looney Tunes Show, I was aware of the existence of this show at the time and watched a little of it. I got the impression that guns were deemphasized though I don’t know if that’s necessarily true or not. As we’ll see in this short to come, there were ways to work them in. The show also premiered on both Cartoon Network and its offshoot Boomerang, which I believe only exists as a streaming service now, but might still be a channel on cable too. Once again, I couldn’t confirm another suspicion of mine, but I think Warner was hoping this would give Boomerang a boost as they premiered it on both platforms and then moved the show over to Boomerang exclusively. Get the kids hooked on the channel with wide distribution and get the parents to fork over extra money so they can continue to watch it on the subscription service. Pretty clever, though I have no idea if it worked. Considering I rarely encounter kids who know these characters outside of Space Jam, my guess is it didn’t move the needle much.
Some of these designs obviously date back to the origins of these characters, but most also feature some element of stylization unique to this show.
New Looney Tunes not only returns the characters to their roots, but also to a more natural running time. Each episode is two cartoons and they only total around 11 minutes. These cartoons are designed to bring the action and find a quick resolution. Even so, these feel a little shorter than the classic ones which I want to say normally ran for 8 minutes or so. These don’t even hit six. During the first season, New Looney Tunes did tackle Christmas. The show premiered on the Boomerang streaming service, and as far as I can tell, never aired on Cartoon Network. There is a separate date of February 8, 2018 that I assume is for the Boomerang cable airing though that’s a rather peculiar date for a Christmas episode premiere. Talk about a mistake to leave a holiday themed cartoon behind a paywall. If any were going to get a big premiere on Cartoon Network, it should have been the Christmas one as that’s easy ratings. It’s just yet another curious decision by Warner and if you were paying attention in 2023 then you know they had plenty more still to come.
The show begins with an original composition by Joshua Funk titled “Wabbit.” No offense to Funk, but it doesn’t feel like the right song for this program. In his defense, he was tasked with creating a song for a Bugs Bunny show and not specifically a Looney Tunes one. To no one’s surprise, once the show did change focus the opening theme did as well bringing back “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down.” The interesting thing about the opening is it contains a shot of Bugs outside his rabbit hole with his mailbox on display. He jumps down it to coincide with the lyric “Going down the rabbit hole,” which leads to clips from the cartoons that will be following this. I take it they did this for every episode in the first season? That’s pretty interesting and I can’t recall a show that did something similar.
The return of fat Porky!
When the cartoon begins, we find Bugs Bunny (Jeff Bergman) looking over his shopping list. All of the names (Sylvester, Tweety, Daffy, Taz, and Foghorn, if you’re curious) are crossed out except one: Squeaks. Squeaks the Squirrel (Dee Bradley Baker) is a new creation for the this show and he’s the neighbor of Bugs. He’s shown in the intro and bares a resemblance to the MGM character Screwy Squirrel. As Bugs enters the store, we see a sign that says “Holiday Shopping Season Is Here – Only 360 Days left!” so we’re apparently not even close to Christmas. Porky Pig (Bob Bergen) is the doorman and he’s not only back to being rather large, but also quite tall. He might even be taller than Bugs! He’s also dressed like a nutcracker and following his stuttering greeting Bugs asks him where he could find an Easy Cook Acorn. It’s apparently a big seller, and as Porky tries to get out where the item can be found, Bugs gives up and walks on by. Porky, to his credit, doesn’t seem to mind. I’m guessing this happens to him a lot.
He’s become desensitized to the swine atrocities that surround him on a daily basis.
Bugs goes bounding past some aisles and then ducks down one to retrieve the very last Easy Cook Acorn. As he holds it up triumphantly, a large crate of hams lands on him. It’s Yosemite Sam (Maurice LaMarche), who hops off the top shelf to retrieve this hot holiday item from the crushed remains of Bugs Bunny. He’s back to being a very short man, but he’s also quite round now with bad teeth. He’s definitely designed to be some sort of rich Texan and he has a little exposed chest hair and his bandit mask is still quite prominent. As Sam yanks the toy away from Bugs, he remarks that he plans to sell it for 100 times the asking price and takes off. After he leaves, we hear Porky over the store’s intercom requesting a clean-up on aisle “never mind” as he can’t get the number out on account of his stutter and just says “I’ll do it.” He then comes into frame mopping up the ham juice while Bugs continues to remain motionless. He remarks to the camera “I’ve always been conflicted that we sell these,” which makes sense since he’s basically mopping up the remains of a potential relative.
Porky is getting way more facetime than I anticipated.
We then cut to Yosemite Sam running triumphantly down another aisle only for a huge barrel of eggnog to get tipped over in front of him. As the viscous liquid spreads, Sam gets stuck in it. Bugs pops out from where the can was and snatches the acorn thing and takes off. Porky then comes into frame with his mop to clean up the latest mess and Sam asks him why it’s so sticky as he can’t even get his boots out of it. Porky tells him it’s eggnog and that it’s mostly made of eggs. When Sam points out that eggs aren’t this sticky, Porky responds “Yeah, but that’s all yolks!” Oh Porky, you never miss an opening! Sam just grimaces and yanks his feet out of his boots to scramble after the rabbit.
That’s a rather speedy forklift.
Bugs, looking over his shoulder as he runs, remarks that Sam has a “Scrooge” loose, but he soon loses the acorn to him when he runs past a ladder Sam was standing on (his boots are back on, which is consistent with how a classic short resets everything after every gag). Sam laughs, but Bugs dropkicks the ladder out from under him and regains possession of the acorn box. As he runs, he soon finds the lift portion of a forklift slide under his arms and pick him off the ground. A laughing Sam is, of course, driving it, but he’s too proud of himself to react when Bugs jumps out of it just before he slams into a display for Block-O, obvious Lego knock-offs. I’m a little disappointed they used the same generic name as The Simpsons, but I’m guessing more than just those two shows have relied on the same.
This happens more than once. He’s not a very smart man.
We cut to the electronics section where Sam finds himself surrounded by television sets. As he ponders where Bugs could have gone, he hears the rabbit call out and finds him right over his shoulder. He tries to tackle Bugs, but it was just the rabbit on TV. This goes on for a bit as Sam keeps smashing into TVs that Bugs was on and I kind of like that this cartoon gets something dated into it. I associate classic Looney Tunes with lots of stuff that dates them, and a TV section at a big box store with a display camcorder that would be connected to a television is definitely something I haven’t encountered for years. Sam eventually finds Bugs, who was in the midst of making a crack about how all of the weight a camera adds to a person went to Sam’s head, before taking off again with a half-hearted “Yipe.” That’s already the second one and feels a bit too formulaic even for a Looney Tunes short.
Spoiler alert: this is the closest we’re going to get to a Santa sighting during this post.
Sam runs after Bugs, but soon gets distracted by the Santa’s Village section of the store. Sam then gets the bright idea that he can just ask Santa for one of them there acorn toys rather than deal with the rabbit. He then proceeds to just shove everyone out of the way including one woman and a stroller which is a pretty funny, and harsh, visual. He gets to Santa and jumps on his lap and we, the audience, can tell right away that it’s Bugs in disguise. Sam tells him what he wants: a train set, a pony, some TNT, and the Easy Cook Acorn. He’s pretty giddy about the whole thing, but Santa Bugs has to consult his Naughty List, and sure enough, Sam is on it. If you thought that would end this discussion you thought wrong. Sam instead pulls out a pair of pistols and points them at Santa demanding the presents he requested. The guns are clearly designed to be old fashioned, black powder pistols which was likely a requirement to get them into this cartoon. They’re also partially obscured by the list in front of Bugs and we only get a real glimpse of them when Santa agrees to Sam’s demands and he cheerfully tosses them in the air.
That poor pony.
Sam dives into his gifts while Bugs tries to slink away. We hear Sam hollering from off camera “My train set! My pony! My T-N-…” followed by an explosion. We pan back to see Sam covered in soot with his hair shot back from the blast and the poor pony too. What did that pony do to deserve to get blown up?! We then jump back into the chase routine as Bugs goes running down yet another nondescript aisle. In search of a place to hide, he dives behind a store display for a train set and Sam appears to see him do so. Once behind it, he finds another shopper (Candi Milo) doing the same as she has an Easy Cook Acorn under her arm too. She’s real excitable and acts like the two are in a foxhole together. She tells Bugs to cover her as she makes a break for it. Bugs just remarks to himself that next year he’s doing all of his shopping online. We never find out if the woman made it to the register or not. I like to think she did.
I hope she made it.
Sam reaches down from atop the train set to once again reclaim the acorn set by yanking it from the hands of Bugs. As Sam runs off, Bugs overhears Porky calling out about free samples of potato pancakes. Bugs runs over and scoops up a handful taking the time to tell Porky he’s going to need another clean-up. He doesn’t even get the full sentence out before Porky just says “I’m on it,” and grabs his trusty mop. Bugs then whips the pancakes like shrurikens at the feet of Sam causing him to go sliding into a display of Christmas yard decorations. Bugs cries out “What the?” as he sees Sam’s head emerge inside a giant snowglobe. Sam shakes out the cobwebs and takes notice of the Easy Cook Acorn sitting nearby on the floor. He pushes the snowglobe and it leaves the base of the decoration like a giant, glass, hamster ball. That must be one expensive yard decoration. Bugs just remarks “Oh brother,” then gesturing to a giant, store display stocking adds “This guy’s been ‘stocking’ me all day. It’s time to sock it to him,” and he jumps into the stocking.
So long, screwy!
We then see the two set for a collision. Sam rolling in his ball towards the Easy Cook Acorn and Bugs bounding in his stocking for the same. The two arrive at the same time and Bugs uses the oversized stocking to punt Sam clear out of the picture. He is forced to add “I really gave him the boot!” These quips aren’t really doing it for me. Sam winds up getting wedged between two objects on the ceiling, I have no idea what they’re supposed to be, and the globe breaks open. Despite it sounding like rolling glass earlier, it looks to be a plastic inflatable and Sam falls out of it to land in the gift wrapping department. The unassembled box he lands on then springs to life to seal him in and Bugs slides over to wrap it and launch it into the back of a box truck which drives away.
Dated reference aside, this was a solid joke to go out on.
Bugs is then shown leaving the store with the Easy Cook Acorn secure under his arm. He’s happy to have that ordeal over with and also happy with himself for getting the very last Easy Cook Acorn. He then spies a large truck being driven by Foghorn Leghorn (Bergman) who is speaking with Porky. It’s a huge delivery of Easy Cook Acorns. Porky tells him to take it over to the loading dock and Bugs looks at the camera with an annoyed expression. Hey Bugs, be happy a bunch of kids, or squirrels, will get their Easy Cook Acorns this year. I almost get the impression he was going to resell it like Sam was planning on doing. That’s the end though as we smash cut to an image of Bugs’ hole (that sounds pretty gross) and “New Looney Tunes” above it. This must be the standard act break between shorts. We then get a very quick interlude of a kid excitedly running down the stairs at Christmas. He rips open his present to find Yosemite Sam still sealed inside. The kid says, in a disappointed tone, “You’re not a Tickle-Me-Barbarian” and Sam just responds “My guess is you were naughty this year.” I can’t believer we were still making Tickle-Me-Elmo jokes in 2017.
Meet Squeaks. He’s actually not going to be around much in this short.
Now our second short begins titled “Winter Blunderland.” It begins with Squeaks showing Bugs that he’s written a letter to Santa Claus. Squeaks just speaks in…squeaks…but Bugs can understand him. It’s basically like how Luke can understand R2-D2 in Star Wars. Also, he sounds like Gizmo from Gremlins. Bugs is decorating his mailbox with Christmas lights and seems amused that Squeaks is writing a letter to Santa. Squeaks insists he saw Santa in the forest and runs off, but Bugs decides to follow him as he seems intrigued by the little guy.
There were a lot of new foils created for Bugs Bunny in this show and The Barbarian is one of them.
Squeaks soon comes upon The Barbarian (Steve Blum), a new character created for the show that’s just a big man in a loincloth. He’s always joined by his polar bear buddy Krakos (Baker) who behaves like a somewhat realistic polar bear, but he gets to wear armor. Barbarian is looking to do some thieving as that’s apparently all he does, but it soon becomes clear that he’s the one Squeaks mistook for Santa. It’s made all the more obvious when Barbarian gets some snow on his head that somehow takes on the shape of a Santa hat. Squeaks comes running over waving his letter in the Barbarian’s face who seems genuinely confused by what’s going on. He falls onto his butt and Squeaks jumps onto his lap and seems rather insistent that he take his letter. When he finally does, Squeaks leaves satisfied while Bugs witnesses what happened. He vows to get that letter back to make sure it gets to its proper destination.
Bugs is actually going to take quite a beating in this one.
If you thought maybe The Barbarian was a decent fellow who would just drop the letter in the mail you thought wrong. He’s also stupid and doesn’t really know what it is and even tries eating it. He eventually just decides that since stealing is what he does he’ll just keep the thing and slides it into his beard. Bugs then shows himself by hitting the guy with a snowball and demands the probably smelly Barbarian hand over the letter. That’s when the Barbarian actually realizes what it is and regards it in a somewhat disinterested manner. Maybe he would have done as Bugs said, but Bugs also decides to threaten him with another snowball which the Barbarian scoffs at. He then scoops up some snow of his own which forms into a massive snowball. Bugs utters another “Yipes!” as he tries to run away only for the Barbarian to nail him with the snowball which smashes him up against a giant rock.
Bugs wants that letter, but The Barbarian refuses to surrender it. Those are the stakes.
The Barbarian is then shown remarking to Krakos that they need to get back to stealing while Bugs is lurking from high up on a mountain. Or maybe it’s more like a hill as we see from the side angle, but I think they’re just having some fun with perspective. Bugs is also holding a tiny, Coco Puffs, sized snowball in between his thumb and index finger and lining it up with The Barbarian. He then gently rolls it down the hill and soon the cereal-sized snowball becomes a massive onslaught of snow that starts uprooting trees on its path towards The Barbarian. When the burly man finally sees the thing coming for him it’s too late and he’s crushed. The snowball breaks apart and Bugs comes trotting in to attempt to snatch the letter and a seething Barbarian emerges from the snow with an even more Santa-like appearance. He intends to keep that letter since he views it as his and that’s all that matters to him. A sensible person would let the worthless letter go, but it would seem this guy is anything but sensible. As Bugs tries to yank it from The Barbarian’s beard he gets punched in the face for his troubles and soars off screen.
The bear trap in the collection pot. Classic.
Krakos approaches The Barbarian who seeks some accolades from his bear buddy for ringing that rabbit’s bell, as he puts it. Krakos seems to be in agreement as he nods his head, but he looks angry about it so I can’t tell if he’s actually on The Barbarian’s side or not here. The two are interrupted by an actual ringing bell and it’s Bugs who is dressed like a mailman or something, but in green, and doing a Salvation Army bit. Bugs urges The Barbarian to make a donation and even suggests donating letters to Santa, but The Barbarian informs him that he doesn’t give – he takes! He reaches into the collection pot instead and Bugs informs him he was counting on that. We hear the snapping sound of a bear trap closing on the hand of The Barbarian and Bugs takes off. Krakos laughs at his “friend” which seems to indicate that maybe he is on the side of Bugs. The Barbarian just angrily demands the bear find him and tosses Krakos in the direction of Bugs.
That’s no snowman, you dumb bear!
Krakos is apparently an obedient bear as he starts sniffing around and comes upon a snowman. As he sniffs the carrot nose it vanishes leaving the bear perplexed. As he investigates the snowman more, the stick arms start to move and the top hat winds up on Krakos’ head. Bugs then waves a stick arm and gives some repeated whistles and Krakos responds by acting like a dog eager for a game of fetch. Bugs tosses the stick which lands at the feet of The Barbarian. Krakos comes running into frame and tackles him by mistake as the two slide out of frame.
Oh joy. The return of Christmas Carol.
We then cut to Bugs standing in the woods dressed in drag. It just wouldn’t be a proper Bugs Bunny Christmas special without at least one appearance of the rabbit in a dress. This purple dress with a bonnet looks awfully familiar and when The Barbarian approaches it’s confirmed for me why this dress looks so familiar as Bugs introduces himself as Christmas Carol. I can’t believe they’re repeating a bit from The Looney Tunes Show. Bugs even mugs for the camera for a second like we’re supposed to know this, but I bet most wouldn’t. Carol then asks The Barbarian if he would like to hear a Christmas carol and he actually responds rather enthusiastically and asks her if she knows the one “filled with false and unrealistic expectations?” Carol responds by singing “The Carol of the Bells” and Barbarian confirms that’s the one he was thinking of. Bugs then starts changing the words to describe their current situation telling him he took the letter and now he’s going to take it back and so on and so forth. He starts smashing The Barbarian with the little bell he’s holding. Barbarian even gets in on the action as he responds in melody confirming he took the letter and then uproots a tree to try and smash Bugs with it, but he just hits himself repeatedly.
I’ve never had them, but I can relate to being entranced by the scent of roasting nuts from such a cart.
Once The Barbarian collapses in the snow, Bugs takes off with the letter. Proving his resilience once more, The Barbarian intercepts him on a frozen pond. Bugs gets knocked on his back, but he deftly spins his nemesis and sends him sliding across the ice. Remarking, “What a neanderthal,” he goes to place the letter in his fur only for The Barbarian to come sliding past him snatching the letter in the process. He hops to his feet and remarks that he’s pretty fast for a big guy, but soon is distracted by an aroma. It’s coming from a nut roaster who is obviously Bugs Bunny in disguise. The Barbarian walks over and requests an order, but Bugs tells him he’s all out of packaging and asks if he has any paper he can place the nuts in. The Barbarian hands over the letter, but then demonstrates he’s not as slow as we all think he is. He realizes it’s Bugs and pulls off the rabbit’s moustache. It was held on by an elastic, which Bugs removes from his head and releases from behind his nut roasting cart. The band grabs the whole cart and carries it right into the face of the Barbarian who goes sailing across the ice once again.
This Poseidon is anything but merciful.
The Barbarian rises up in anger, and grabbing a club, declares that this is the end! Bugs then encourages him to mind the thin ice he’s standing on and when The Barbarian looks at his feet he finds all of the hot nuts Bugs had been roasting came to rest on the ice in a circle around him. He soon falls through the ice and the resulting splash freezes instantly trapping The Barbarian inside in a humorous position. Bugs waves the letter about remarking that it’s better to give than to receive, basically one final dig at the hapless barbarian.
These two seem to have no trouble getting along.
Bugs then heads over to his finely decorated mailbox and puts Squeaks’ letter in it. Krakos is there as well and is seemingly no threat at this point as Bugs even remarks to him how cute it is that Squeaks wrote a letter for Santa. The mailbox then starts to shake and we hear a “Ho! Ho! Ho!” from offscreen. Sparkles ring the mailbox and it soon opens all by itself and the letter floats out and is carried off into the sky. Bugs and Krakos look shocked as they watch the letter fly away and Bugs simply turns to the bear to excuse himself for he has a letter to write! He dives into his hole and that’s the end. We don’t actually get to see Santa so we’re denied a moon shot. Bummer.
And away goes the letter. Merry Christmas, Squeaks!
I think I enjoyed these two shorts more than I enjoyed the holiday episode of The Looney Tunes Show, but I think we’re still in search of something that could be considered worthy of Bugs Bunny’s reputation. Both shorts were two characters essentially playing tag with an item. In the first one, we had Bugs and Yosemite Sam fighting over a toy in a department store with the confrontation escalating throughout. The gags were okay and the best joke was probably Porky’s line about mopping up the ham juice, but there wasn’t really anything truly memorable about it. At least Maurice LaMarche got to do a proper Yosemite Sam this time and he was terrific in the role. Bergman’s Bugs remains consistent, though the writing wasn’t great. His one-liners are pretty bad and I can’t tell if they’re trying for a “So bad it’s good,” kind of thing with them or if we’re supposed to take them at face value. It was fine, but it’s but a footnote in the history of Bugs Bunny.
The second short was mostly more of the same. I did like the character of The Barbarian and I was able to accept that he’s just so single-minded and prideful that he wouldn’t relinquish a worthless letter under any circumstances. Most of the gags were predictable at first, but I suppose the nut roaster deserves some credit for being a different way to introduce some fire into the mix to melt the ice. The Christmas Carol gag works far better here than it did in The Looney Tunes Show for what it is. I did like the joke that Lola is such a bad writer that she named a character that, but after that the rest of the jokes at the character’s expense were lacking. Here it’s just a simple bit and the exchange Bugs and The Barbarian have was the short’s best part and maybe the best sequence between the two cartoons. I am a little salty at being denied a glimpse at Santa though, not that it would have really made the experience that much better.
There were some decent gags to be found in this one, but nothing to write home about, though apparently plenty to blog about.
After looking at two different Looney Tunes holiday specials I am still left wanting. This was a step in the right direction, but it’s not going into my personal holiday rotation. Nostalgia may even still win over when it comes to Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales even if I concede that holiday special isn’t very good. Even though it’s not going onto my annual “Must Watch” list, I do think it’s worth a look for those who have access to it and have never seen it. At just 11 minutes, it’s hardly much of a commitment. You can find New Looney Tunes streaming on HBO Max and Boomerang and maybe the actual Boomerang channel will even air it or has aired it if that’s something you have. And for those who are hoping for something better, we do have one more shot this year at just that and I intend to follow through so keep checking back each day to find out if there is a worthwhile Looney Tunes Christmas special out there.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
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One thing I lament a bit is the loss of the shared television experience. And in particular, the thrill of knowing a seasonal favorite was airing on a given night. These things seem to be dying as even Charlie Brown has found himself relegated to PBS. And it’s mostly due to these specials getting gobbled up by streaming platforms. There’s still a few that get seasonal airings, but their numbers are dwindling.
Once upon a time, a seasonal special was a surefire way to get some nice ratings during a holiday. That made them attractive for producers who went out of their way to create a holiday themed cartoon for their popular characters. And when it comes to cartoons, few could argue that the Looney Tunes weren’t near the top of the mountain in terms of popularity, or just sheer greatness. Bugs Bunny is a character that can lay claim to being top dog, or rabbit, in the field of animated characters. Want to argue Donald Duck or Popeye? Sure, they and others can make an argument, but so can Bugs. I’m not concerned with figuring out who is best, but I am reminded that Bugs and the gang once had their own holiday specials you could find on television at the right time of year. Unfortunately, they’re almost all bad. How can this be?! Bugs Bunny is fantastic! Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Sylvester – they practically write themselves! It’s an unfortunate reality though, as we saw with Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales, and the rabbit didn’t just get victimized by Christmas.
Warning, there are few treats ahead.
In 1977, CBS aired Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special. This could have been an annual viewing tradition, and it was for a little while, but fell by the wayside because it’s, well, not great. Come the 70s, Warner’s theatrical shorts division was dead and their vast cast of characters had pivoted to the small screen. The classic Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes were now airing in syndication with little in the way of original animation being created aside from wrap-around segments or commercials. Warner and CBS not surprisingly saw an opening to do a Halloween special because the Looney Tunes have dabbled with the macabre before. They could have, and probably should have, just rounded up some popular, spooky, cartoons and aired them in a block. Maybe they could have done some wrap-arounds too, or brought in a live-action host, and people probably would have tuned in. They did not.
What the Hell is this hot garbage?!
Instead, Warner made the decision to take 8 classic (well, mostly classic) shorts and edit them together. Only they didn’t stitch them together with wrap-arounds, instead they tried to make the transition from one toon to the next seamless with new animation. This feels almost sacrilegious to cut up these cartoons like that. Some are even split in half with entire cartoons shoved in the middle. A-Haunting We Will Go is the first toon, and it gets chopped up to have four different cartoons inserted into it before it concludes. Now, maybe if the original directors were making these calls it wouldn’t be so bad, but none of them worked on this special. Hal Geer is the credited executive producer while David Detiege is the credited director who must have overseen the new animation and layouts. I don’t know if they tried to get Chuck Jones or Friz Freleng to do this thing, but presumably that would have cost money and they probably didn’t want to be a part of this.
Witch Hazel faired slightly better than Bugs. Slightly.
If dicing up the cartoons feels bad enough, wait until you see the new animation! Holy Hell is it bad. Now, I don’t want to rag on the animators and artists involved. They probably had a shit budget to work with and Warner animation was a shell of its former self come the late 70s, but they couldn’t even get Bugs Bunny on model. It is immensely distracting to watch the old animation suddenly cut to the new, because Bugs looks about as different as he can. He looks like the bootleg Bugs that adorned VHS covers of public domain cartoons in the 80s. It’s bad. The audio is also noticeably different since Mel Blanc had gotten older. That can’t be helped, but it does just add to that jarring feeling.
It’s a shame what happened here, because most of these cartoons are great on their own like “Hyde and Go Tweet.”
If you can get past all of that, is there something to enjoy here? Yes and no. You get snippets of the old shorts in some cases which just isn’t very satisfying if they’re cartoons you’re familiar with. The pacing is off and most will be left feeling frustrated. Which is a shame, because most of these shorts by themselves are plenty enjoyable:
A-Haunting We Will Go
Broom-Stick Bunny
Hyde and Hare
Hyde and Go Tweet
A Witch’s Tangled Hare
Claws for Alarm
Scaredy Cat
Transylvania 6-5000
Bewitched Bunny
Some of these edits will confuse kids. The special goes right from Hyde and Hare to Hyde and Go Tweet which both feature Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but the character models aren’t the same. Claws for Alarm and Scaredy Cat are brutally cut up and quite lousy as a result, even though Scaredy Cat is a terrific toon by itself. And like the new animation issues, you’re also jumping from different eras of Warner shorts which have different production values. It also draws attention to the reuse common in these cartoons like Bugs’ witch costume and walk cycle being the same as Daffy’s nephew. I guess what I’m saying is, this special cuts up the cartoons while also drawing attention to their original flaws. Talk about a swing and a miss.
If you’re thinking about watching this thing, don’t do it!
If you want to spend Halloween with Bugs Bunny and his friends, you can get this special on DVD. You won’t find it airing anywhere, but it is streaming for free in the usual places. It’s mostly an example of what not do do with these shorts. If you want to just experience some spooky tunes, watch the above mentioned shorts by themselves. Or see if you can get the Halloween edition of Toon in With Me that aired this morning. Maybe it’s on demand, but it has some of these cartoons and it’s far more well put together than this. There’s also a block of Looney Tunes airing tomorrow morning on MeTV that may or may not follow a spooky theme. The official Warner YouTube channel even has a bunch of Halloween cartoons on there for free which is way better than this, even if they’re edited. Basically, there are far better options when it comes to enjoying Halloween with Bugs and the gang.
When it comes to classic cartoons, few would argue against the merits of Warner Bros Studios’ Looney Tunes. Pretty much all of the major studios were invested in cartoon shorts in the 1930s into the 1960s and Warner was a gold mine for hilarious content. The Leon Schlesinger produced Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes churned out characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig like a well-oiled machine. Visionaries such as Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Robert McKimson, and many more helped shape these characters and define cartoon comedy for generations. Everything that followed in animated comedy owes something to the Looney Tunes and the influence of those shorts cannot be overstated.
Despite their popularity, the characters of Looney Tunes have teetered on the brink of obscurity for years now. In the 80s and 90s, it was easy to find these characters and shorts on many networks in various packages. I would watch Nickelodeon’s Looney Tunes almost every night when I was a little kid as it was the last piece of programming on the network before Nick at Nite kicked in. And I loved pretty much all of the characters featured, yes, even Bosko, though I was always partial to the Road Runner shorts. The characters remained in the public eye through other shows and a fairly popular apparel line with the franchise probably peaking with 1996’s Space Jam, a bad movie with some decent jokes sprinkled throughout, but one that is definitely a source for millennial nostalgia. Following that, there was a bit of a decline. Networks like Nick and Cartoon Network invested more of their resources into original programming and stopped licensing the shorts from Warner, while that company also sank money into new properties and kind of left Bugs and his pals behind. There was a movie in 2003 titled Looney Tunes: Back in Action and attempts to create new cartoons and rehabilitate old ones, but nothing really made much of an impact or had much staying power.
Now, the Looney Tunes are primed for a resurgence. New shorts are airing as part of HBO Maxx and they at least look good. I have yet to watch any since I’m not a subscriber, and I think that has hurt the property’s growth as I really don’t encounter much chatter online about these new shorts. There’s a new Space Jam film starring LeBron James set for release this year, and that could certainly help catapult these characters into the public conscious as nostalgia seekers who enjoyed the original movie as kids might use it as a vehicle to introduce their own children to these characters.
Perhaps we owe the new Space Jam for the Looney Tunes merchandise that is on the way. We certainly do for the line of Space Jam themed action figures now popping up at retail, but perhaps we also owe Space Jam a thanks for this new line of Minifigures from Lego featuring the Looney Tunes. There definitely is a shortage of Looney Tunes toys in the market. Before 2021, there wasn’t much to speak of at all in both the kid demographic and the collector market. With Disney now getting love from the likes of Super7 and Beast Kingdom, it would be nice to see the Looney Tunes experience the same. For now, we’ll have to take what Lego is providing and be happy that at least someone is making Looney Tunes toys in 2021.
The wave of 12 figures features some heavy hitters, and some not-so-heavy hitters. As far as I know, this wave of figures is the only Looney Tunes product Lego has unveiled, so if you were hoping they arrived with an actual set you may be disappointed. That could partly be due to the fact that there are no obvious locales to spotlight in a set. Bugs Bunny lives in a hole and many cartoons just take place in a forest. The Tweety cartoons take place in a generic house, while Porky is a bit more of an everyman who can be featured everywhere. Maybe Lego will get creative and do something like Duck Amuck! as a set, or the abstract Wacky Land. There are possibilities, for sure, just nothing obvious. Well, aside from Space Jam sets which may or may not be coming.
Like other waves of Minifigures, these all come in blind bags and are sold pretty much anywhere Lego is sold. They’re 5 dollars a bag and you can take a chance and just grab some off the rack or spend some time feeling them out. This set is not particularly hard to discern for those determined not to get doubles as, like the Disney and Simpsons waves, these characters feature unique head-sculpts which goes a long way in determining who is who. The only characters who really have a similar head-shape are Tweety and Porky, but both feature additional pieces that are a dead give-away like Tweety’s circular bricks for building his mallet and Porky’s rectangular sign. Overall, this is a small release though as the last Disney wave contained 18 figures to just 12 here. Some of that 18 may have been due to parts reuse (Huey, Dewey, and Louie were essentially the same figure 3 times), but I was still surprised at how small this wave was. Especially considering the characters left out, but maybe that’s a good sign that Lego is planning more? Or maybe Lego deemed some of the remaining characters too risqué for the company’s liking. Oh well, at least it’s easier on the wallet this way.
We’ll go in the order Lego displays the figures in on the included checklist, so first up is Lola Bunny. Lola was created for the original Space Jam and she is likely present in this line because of the new movie and because there are so few female characters from Looney Tunes to represent. This version of Lola sports a yellow tank top and purple shorts which really draws attention to the fact that she’s basically just adult Babs from Tiny Toons. She has a scrunchie in her ears which makes them look like a ponytail and it’s those ears you want to be on the look-out for when searching for this character. She also has a basketball, but it’s just an orange sphere with no printing with a hole on one end so that she can actually hold it. She looks fine, though I find it a little odd her mouth is basically just printed and not sculpted at all. I don’t know if anyone collecting this line really wanted Lola, but she turned out all right at least.
Bunny butts from Lego don’t get the same attention to detail as duck butts.
Next up is the iconic Bugs Bunny. He has his own unique head sculpt from Lola, though he does feature the same printed on mouth as her. His ears are the dead give-away when looking for him and he comes with a carrot, because he’s Bugs Bunny. This is the standard, licensing art, Bugs most are familiar with. He has white hands and the fur around his mouth is tufted as opposed to smooth. His tail, to my surprise, is just printed on his back. I was expecting a separate piece that went in-between his legs and torso. He looks pretty great though and is basically what one would expect of a Bugs Bunny Lego.
Aww, they’re so cute and tiny!
Wile E. Coyote is next up. Since I did so love the Road Runner cartoons when I was a kid I was really looking forward to getting that duo. Wile E. looks terrific. His head features probably the best sculpting in this wave as he has the tall ears, the snout that sticks way out with a slight droop, and the cheeks that puff out. There’s even a little sculpting on his eyebrows. He features a tail add-on that’s a bit odd. It’s a long, bushy, tail that looks like it belongs to a fox or raccoon. In the shorts, Wile E. always featured a rather diminutive tail, but Lego likely recycled this from a past figure. I do prefer it to a printed tail, at least. You can position it in either an up position or a down one. His accessory is an anvil that has to be assembled. It’s a bit odd looking for an anvil, but it gets the job done. Mostly, I just love how the face turned out so I’m happy.
Coyotes are known for having a bushy tail, I just don’t know that Wile E. Coyote necessarily is.
Next up is Road Runner himself. This figure could have turned out really bizarre, but I’m happy to say he actually looks pretty good. The character is basically all legs with a small, but long, body. He’s essentially the opposite of a blocky Lego, but with a little effort they got him looking great. His head features the expression one would expect and it also has separate plumage that pegs into the top. At the waist is a tail piece that was possibly created just for this figure, while the arms are wings likely recycled from last year’s Big Bird. The legs are a bit plain as Lego declined to give him bird feet, but the overall aesthetic works well enough. His accessory is a bowl of bird seed, perfect for the coyote to lay down as a trap that will inevitably backfire in some way.
Do you root for Tweety or Sylvester? I’m honestly not sure who I rooted for as a kid.
Tweety is our next figure and he’s a bit of an odd choice. He’s certainly popular enough to be featured in this inaugural wave, he’s just way out of scale with everyone else. Lego used their child legs for Tweety, which are non-articulated, to make him as small as possible, but he still looks pretty ridiculous next to any of the other characters. He might have made more sense as a small, non-articulated, figurine. His paint scheme is simple, so Lego could probably make him look fine. They took that approach with the Simpson pets. They didn’t though, and even though he’s out of scale, he at least looks okay. The head-sculpt is nice and he comes with a big mallet to smash Sylvester with that at least helps to make him look a little smaller. He’s still odd though because the cartoon character is almost all head with a tiny body and huge feet. He also has a printed tail like Bugs and Lola. Definitely not my favorite of the line, but not a total swing and a miss.
Just a printed tail for Tweety, but Sylvester gets the good stuff.
If you have Tweety, well then you need Sylvester too. Sylvester might be the most authentic looking of the line. His proportions look pretty good even adapted for this blocky Lego style, and Lego opted to give him a nice tail too. His head-sculpt looks terrific and his included accessory is the always useful baseball bat. Maybe he would have looked better with a frown, but otherwise I have no complaints. His likeness is almost so spot on that it makes him boring.
It’s between Daffy and Wile E. as far as which figure from this set is my favorite.
The always jealous Daffy Duck is another obvious inclusion in this wave of figures. Daffy is based on his later appearances which align with the licensing art for the character as opposed to his rounder, wackier, version. I love his head-sculpt and Lego made sure to attach a small, white, neck to it so he would have his trademarked ringed neck look. He also recycles the “duck butt” that Lego utilized with Donald and Daisy Duck to give him a touch more depth. His accessory is a “Rabbit Season” sign which makes about as much sense as anything for Daffy. Like Sylvester, one could argue it would have been more appropriate to give him an angry expression, but I like what we have here and as someone who loves Daffy Duck I am quite pleased.
There’s something off-putting about that tail Speedy has.
Speedy Gonzales is next up, and like Tweety, he suffers from the same scale problems. Unlike Tweety, he doesn’t really make up for it with a nice head-sculpt. Speedy is one of those characters that was rarely shown head-on, and his head just doesn’t translate well to 3D. At least not at this size. His sombrero is molded to his head while Lego tossed in a mouse tail accessory. It’s a bit weird because it’s molded in the same color as his fur so he has a strip of fur between his shorts and shirt. If he was a character with an exposed belly all of the time this would be fine, but he really isn’t such a character. He uses the kid legs again, which is unfortunate because he can’t even be placed in a running pose as a result. His accessories are four cheese wedges, which is fine, though maybe a can-opener to torment Daffy would have been more fun. I think overall, he looks better than the sum of his parts when placed among the others, but he is one of the lesser figures in the wave. He also seems to be short-packed as he was the hardest for me to find when he really should be one of the easiest when feeling out bags because of his unique head shape.
“Taz like pie!”
The Tasmanian Devil is next up and he’s an interesting figure. First of all, he uses these short, stubby, legs like Tweety and Speedy, but his are actually articulated. Why doesn’t Lego just do this for all of their shorter characters? His head is rather massive and fits over much of his torso reminding me of a theme park mascot. It looks great though and helps to preserve the character’s stocky physique. Lego also included a whirling disc for him to stand on, in addition to the usual black stand. It doesn’t really work well as something to spin, but it’s a nice touch. He also has a turkey leg and a pie, since he sure did like to eat in the old shorts. He also features the same tail as Wile E. Coyote, and like that character, I question its suitability here. The Tasmanian Devil always had a stubby tail and I think over the years it’s a tail he’s mostly lost as the character’s design has been tweaked. I suppose if I really am bothered by it I could just remove it.
I’m even less certain about that tail on Taz as I was with Wile E.
Marvin the Martian is our most conventional figure in this bunch. That’s because his head is just the usual small, round, peg done-up in black with two large eyes printed on it. For his helmet, Lego actually made it and the brush (?) on top of it all one piece rather than have it peg in. He also has a skirt piece, the only soft goods in the wave, and his little, green, blaster. He looks the part, though I wish they could have given his sneakers a bit more love, but Lego seems to prefer the square aesthetic of the feet. He looks good though and I quite like his little gun.
Closing things out with a pair of pigs.
Petunia is the character in the line many might struggle to remember. She wasn’t featured a lot in the Porky shorts, and may be best-remembered as being one of the included toys in the McDonald’s Super Looney Tunes Happy Meals where she was Wonder Woman. Prior to Lola, Petunia got extra work since she was one of the few female characters featured in Looney Tunes, and she’s probably included here for that reason. Her head is actually different from Porky’s as her braids are part of the sculpt so this isn’t a case where she’s included to save money. I don’t really know if the outfit she’s wearing is what she featured in the old shorts the most. My guess is this is just the licensing art being used as a reference. She comes with a tea kettle and two tea cups so I guess her character is one that enjoys tea? She’s definitely not a character I would have requested so I find it hard to get excited over her figure. It’s fine though.
Mmm…pork butt.
And rounding out the set is the always last Porky Pig. I don’t deny Porky’s popularity, but he’s never been a favorite of mine. He’s got his licensing art attire here which is what he often sported at the end of shorts: a blue jacket, red bowtie, and white gloves. He looks like Porky though and his accessory is the obvious “That’s all Folks!” sign that most definitely belongs in a Looney Tunes display.
Overall, I do quite like this line of Minifigures from Lego. While I prefer some characters to others, the only one that feels like a “dud” to me is Speedy, and even he’s really not that bad. I actually like him more than Lola and Petunia, but objectively speaking his likeness isn’t as good as theirs. Really, the biggest negative I can come up with is the character selection, and that could have been addressed easily by making the wave 15 or 18 figures instead of 12. My hope is that Lego is just holding back some popular characters for a second wave as Looney Tunes doesn’t feature a cast as deep as Disney, or even The Simpsons. It’s still hard to get over the fact that we have a Bugs though, without an Elmer! He’s definitely the biggest omission. Some may feel the need to point that Lego may not be too keen on giving us an Elmer with a shotgun, but he has other looks too. His more domesticated, bowler derby wearing, version doesn’t need a gun, or they could just go straight to What’s Opera, Doc? Elmer. Yosemite Sam is another one with gun concerns, but Lego has loads of pirate figures with musket-styled revolvers that would work fine for Sam.
Hopefully a wave two is in the works, because there are other characters to include like Foghorn Leghorn, Grannie, and Pepé Le Pew. There are also plenty of opportunities for variants of some of the characters present in this wave and I would not be at all surprised to see Toon Squad versions mixed-in, even if I’m not asking for them. Time will tell what Lego and the toy world has in store for the Looney Tunes, but it’s at least great to see these characters finally getting some more merch and a chance to shine.
Once upon a time, Bugs Bunny was a big enough star to land numerous television specials. He’s still a recognizable character across the world, but I sometimes feel as if Bugs isn’t as loved as he should be. I can’t recall the last time I saw him standing next to a Warner Bros. logo in front of a film. I just feel like he should be on the same level as Mickey Mouse and Disney does a much better job of promoting their mascot than Warner.
In 1979 Bugs returned to the small screen for a Christmas special. Unlike some other Bugs TV specials, this one wasn’t just a collection of previously released theatrical shorts but a collection of all new shorts with an obvious Christmas theme. It features the most recognizable of Looney Tunes as well as the voice of Mel Blanc. It’s broken up into three acts that are each different shorts: Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol, Freeze Frame, and The Fright Before Christmas. Fritz Freleng directed the book-end shorts as well as the joining segments while Chuck Jones handles Freeze Frame.
Our carolers for the evening, no Daffy is pretty disappointing.
The special opens with Bugs leading some other Looney Tunes characters in some carols before we’re whisked away to an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. In this, Bugs is sort of the narrator, but he’s also a part of the story as Fred and Jacob Marley. Yosemite Sam is Scrooge and Porky is Cratchit. Tweety is the Tiny Tim character, though he’s not really essential to the story. Bob asks Scrooge for some coal, which Scrooge denies because he gave him a piece last Tuesday (Disney will kind of steal that line). Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, is there to wish his uncle a Merry Christmas with the carolers and notices Bob’s predicament. When Scrooge tosses him out, Fred swipes a piece of coal and gifts it to Bob. Scrooge’s cat, played by Sylvester, sees this and alerts Scrooge who tosses everyone out and fires Bob. Bob thanks Fred, even though he did kind of get him fired, and invites him over to his home for dinner. There he meets the rest of the family and sees how little they have. A knock on the door is from a man with the light company and he comes in and takes the family’s candle. Another knock is from the bank – Scrooge is foreclosing on the mortgage and kicking the family out tonight. That’s one harsh lender.
You know what they say about a fool and his money.
Bugs takes it upon himself to teach Scrooge-Sam a lesson uttering a popular Looney Tunes line of, “Of course you know, that this means war.” He returns to Scrooge’s house to first annoy him with carolers. Then he throws snow in his hot bath. To really scare him straight though, he dresses up as a ghost and convinces Sam that he’s his deceased former partner Jacob Marley. Rather than run through the usual past, present, and future routine, Bugs is able to just get to the point by threatening Scrooge with eternal damnation. It’s enough and Scrooge heads over to the Cratchit house to set all the wrongs right, though he’s not particularly happy to do it. Once done, it’s revealed to be a sort-of play and Sam assures Bugs he’ll be getting his money back. Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner look on from outside the house, which leads us into the next segment.
The Coyote is busy researching road runners (book title “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Road Runners but were Too Afraid to Ask”) and discovers they love deserts and hate snow. One ACME snow-seeder later and the Coyote is buried under a pile of snow. Every time he tries to use the snow generator it just drops a pile on him, even when he takes shelter in a cliff face it just shoots the snow horizontally. Realizing that’s a dead end, he resorts to the tried and true method of switching two road signs, one pointing to the desert with one pointing to a snow summit. The Road Runner falls for it and ends up on a frozen pond unable to get much traction. The Coyote is ready with a pair of speed skates and calmly skates a circle around the Road Runner intending for the bird to fall through the ice. Of course, the ice under the Coyote drops instead out leaving the Road Runner floating on a circular piece of ice. He runs in place and creates an outboard motor effect to escape the trap.
Next the Coyote uses rocket-powered skis to chase the Road Runner while some subtle Christmas music sets the mood. The two become buried in the snow with only their tails exposed. In a repeat from an old Bugs Bunny short, the Road Runner’s tail splits in two when he approaches a tree there-by allowing him to go around the obstacle, while the Coyote possesses no such ability and merely crashes into the tree. He then acquires a dogsled with a team of 12 92lb dogs guaranteed to run-down any road runner. Turns out, the dogs also love coyotes and they maul him. Had he checked the invoice more thoroughly he would have noticed. Next comes what’s probably the Coyote’s worst idea of the short – he rides a rocking horse like a sleigh while wielding a Road-Runner Lasso. All he does is entangle himself in the lasso while the rocking horse plunges off a cliff. It has the misfortune of landing on some train tracks. You know the rest. The Coyote then makes a giant snow ball he intends to crush the Road Runner with. He just ends up getting stuck to it and when it rolls towards a cliff he falls with the snowball close behind. He pops out of the snow looking like Santa Claus and holds up a sign wishing the viewer a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
We go back to the carolers and Bugs is still leading them in song when his nephew shows up to remind him that he owes him a Christmas story. Bugs informs him that he’s going to tell him all about Santa Claus and the night before Christmas. We’re then taken to the North Pole where Santa is speaking offscreen about getting a move on. High above an airplane soars by and the pilots are discussing their cargo – a tasmanian devil. The cargo falls from the plane and Taz ends up landing in Santa’s suit which was hanging out on a clothes line. He ends up in the sleigh (six reindeer, grrrr!) and the reindeer take off.
Back in Bugs’ home, or his nephew’s, he’s reading the little bunny A Visit From Saint Nicholas when a sound on the roof causes his nephew to get all excited for Santa. Bugs sends him to bed while Taz jumps down the chimney and lands in the roaring fire below. Bugs cracks some jokes at Taz’s expense, but invites him in for a snack. Taz is eager for food and not only does he devour Bugs’ milk and cookies but the entire table as well. Bugs then reads him his nephew’s Christmas list while Taz sets to eating the decorations on the Christmas tree. Eating the lights cause him to get electrocuted, but it doesn’t seem to bother him too much. Bugs suggests he sit by the fire so he can make him some popcorn, but Taz eats the kernels before Bugs can get the popper and the heat from the fireplace causes them to pop in his stomach. He starts to wreck the place, and Bugs sets up a gift exchange booth and gifts Taz a present – a self-inflating rubber raft (I expected TNT). Taz eats it, and when it inflates he floats away.
Bugs’ nephew Clyde wakes up disappointed that Santa didn’t bring him anything. Bugs assures him everything will be all right and they set out to return Santa’s sleigh. As they soar through the air Bugs wishes us a Merry Christmas. Back from the break, the Looney Tunes are sleighing along and singing carols when Taz decides in to eat their sleigh. That’s basically the end and they must have only tacked on this final segment so Porky can chime in with his signature good bye, only he stammers his way through “Happy Holidays” instead of the usual.
Mmm, lights.
Bug’s Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales is pretty underwhelming for the old rabbit. A lot of the gags have been done before, and the animation is definitely television quality as opposed to move theater quality. Of the three segments, the middle one, Freeze Frame featuring the Road Runner and Wile E, is probably the best. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, but it’s a solid Road Runner short with just a dash of Christmas thrown in. Yosemite Sam as Scrooge makes a lot of sense, but it’s still a tired tactic to adapt A Christmas Carol. At least the light department gag is probably the best joke in this one and probably the only time I laughed out loud. Tweety is essentially wasted though. And where’s Daffy? Did someone think he and Bugs could not co-exist in the same Christmas special? Is Daffy too big a star to play second banana to Bugs?
Watching this one, I inevitably feel compelled to come back to the Bugs and Mickey comparison. While Mickey was given Mickey’s Christmas Carol, yes a trope to adapt that story but done so well it’s probably my favorite adaptation of it ever, Bugs was gifted this. It’s unfortunate. While it’s true the format of a typical Bugs short doesn’t lend itself to a Christmas tale quite as easily as the more adaptable Mickey Mouse, they still could have done better. Why not have Bugs just wind up in the North Pole and his antics there mess up Santa’s plans or something? We don’t need to make Bugs more wholesome, we just want to laugh and get in a little Christmas cheer at the same time. Oh well.
Of course Bugs would end up in Santa’s sleigh at some point.
Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales probably won’t be shown on television this year. If it’s shown at all, it would probably be on Boomerang. If you insist on viewing it, you can find it on the fifth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection set of DVDs. They’re sold individually or as a box set with all six volumes and it’s actually really affordable and comes highly recommended by yours truly, even if this special isn’t particularly…special.
Once upon a time, Bugs Bunny was a big enough star to land numerous television specials. He’s still a recognizable character across the world, but I sometimes feel as if Bugs isn’t as loved as he should be. I can’t recall the last time I saw him standing next to a Warner Bros. logo in front of a film. I just feel like he should be on the same level as Mickey Mouse and Disney does a much better job of promoting their mascot than Warner.
Next the Coyote uses rocket-powered skis to chase the Road Runner while some subtle Christmas music sets the mood. The two become buried in the snow with only their tails exposed. In a repeat from an old Bugs Bunny short, the Road Runner’s tail splits in two when he approaches a tree there-by allowing him to go around the obstacle, while the Coyote possesses no such ability and merely crashes into the tree. He then acquires a dogsled with a team of 12 92lb dogs guaranteed to run-down any road runner. Turns out, the dogs also love coyotes and they maul him. Had he checked the invoice more thoroughly he would have noticed. Next comes what’s probably the Coyote’s worst idea of the short – he rides a rocking horse like a sleigh while wielding a Road-Runner Lasso. All he does is entangle himself in the lasso while the rocking horse plunges off a cliff. It has the misfortune of landing on some train tracks. You know the rest. The Coyote then makes a giant snow ball he intends to crush the Road Runner with. He just ends up getting stuck to it and when it rolls towards a cliff he falls with the snowball close behind. He pops out of the snow looking like Santa Claus and holds up a sign wishing the viewer a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Back in Bugs’ home, or his nephew’s, he’s reading the little bunny A Visit From Saint Nicholas when a sound on the roof causes his nephew to get all excited for Santa. Bugs sends him to bed while Taz jumps down the chimney and lands in the roaring fire below. Bugs cracks some jokes at Taz’s expense, but invites him in for a snack. Taz is eager for food and not only does he devour Bugs’ milk and cookies but the entire table as well. Bugs then reads him his nephew’s Christmas list while Taz sets to eating the decorations on the Christmas tree. Eating the lights cause him to get electrocuted, but it doesn’t seem to bother him too much. Bugs suggests he sit by the fire so he can make him some popcorn, but Taz eats the kernels before Bugs can get the popper and the heat from the fireplace causes them to pop in his stomach. He starts to wreck the place, and Bugs sets up a gift exchange booth and gifts Taz a present – a self-inflating rubber raft (I expected TNT). Taz eats it, and when it inflates he floats away.
The Nostalgia Spot 