In 1979 Chuck Jones made a compilation movie, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979) that combined new animation with Chuck's classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies short cartoons. In 1981 it was now time for another great Looney Tunes director to do the same thing, this was the great Friz Freleng. Friz Freleng had worked with Looney Tunes from the beginning and received an animation credit on the very first Looney Tunes cartoon, Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930). Though he may not always receive the same accolades from film buffs as Chuck Jones or Tex Avery, I would argue that Friz was easily their equal. His sense of comic timing is still to this day unequaled when it comes to comedy cartoons. He also played a large role in the creation of Porky Pig, Sylvester and Yosemite Sam, as well as being the one to team up Sylvester and Tweety. In 1981, Friz's DePatie-Freleng studio (which was run by him and David DePatie) had been bought by Marvel Comics and became Marvel Studios. DePatie-Freleng had been responsible from the Pink Panther, Inspector and Ant and the Aardvark cartoons. This left Friz Freleng available, and he soon rejoined Warner Brothers. After rejoining Warner Brothers, Friz set out to make a series of feature length Looney Tunes compilation movies. These films would have around 20 minutes of new animation and the rest of the runtime would be taken up by classic cartoon shorts. The first of these movies was The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie. Like Chuck Jones earlier compilation movie, this film would feature only shorts by one of the Looney Tunes directors, Friz himself.
This movie is made up of three separate, almost unrelated acts, that were only tied together by Bugs' narration. The first of these acts was titled Satan's Waitin' and features Yosemite Sam ending up not in heaven but the other place after an unsuccessful battle with Bugs. Here he pleads the devil and the devil agrees that Sam doesn't have to stay there if he can bring someone else down to take his place. Sam naturally thinks Bugs is the perfect candidate for the job. This is problem the least original of the three acts. It had been done before as an episode of The Bugs Bunny Show called Satan's Waitin' (1961) and as a short Merrie Melodies cartoon, Devil's Feud Cake (1963). Surprisingly only a couple of very tiny clips from Devil's Feud Cake were used in this segment. However just because something is not original does not make it bad. In fact this act is extremely entertaining and I'd argue that it is actually better than Devil's Feud Cake. This segment shows just what you would want from a movie like this and many of the cartoons used are downright hilarious. Also because of the similar theme and a tried but true wrap around story, these all fit together very well. The classic shorts used in this segment include Hare Trimmed (1953), Roman Legion-Hare (1955), Sahara Hare (1955) and Wild and Woolly Hare (1959). The title Satan's Waitin' was also used for a 1954 Sylvester and Tweety short and a tiny clip featuring some bulldogs was reused from that short.
The second act is entitled The Unmentionables which shares its name with a 1963 Bugs Bunny cartoon. In this segment Bugs under the codename Elegant Mess (a play on Elliot Ness) is a detective after gangsters Rocky and Mugsy. This segment is probably the least of three. This is because all the cartoons aren't put together perfectly and when another cartoon starts it can feel like a break in the story. For instance focusing on Bugs Bunny to focusing on Daffy Duck feels like an abrupt change that comes out of nowhere. Yet this is not to say this segment is bad as it still very entertaining. The classic cartoons here are fantastic. One reason I have such a fondness for these movies is because they introduced me to Looney Tunes cartoons that I didn't see on TV much. This movie is where I first saw and fell in love with the Slyvester and Tweety cartoon, Catty Corned (1953). Some of the new animation is quite good too. Daffy in fact gets a line to Bugs Bunny in a newly animated moment that cracks me up every time. The new courtroom scene is also a lot of fun. Cartoons in this act include, The Unmentionables (1963), Golden Yeggs (1950) and Catty Cornered (1953).
The third and best act is entitled The Oswald Awards. This act has an award show for cartoon characters and all of the Looney Tunes are there. This segment is a representation of Looney Tunes at their best. I simply love everything about this act. The newly made scenes are quite excellent and really made me laugh. They almost feel as if they could have come from a 1950's Looney Tunes short (though the animation differences and Mel Blanc's aging voice give away that it isn't). Not only this but the classic cartoons are truly some of Friz Freleng's best. The cartoons in this act include Three Little Bops (1957), Birds Anonymous (1957), High Diving Hare (1949) and Show Biz Bugs (1957).
This movie may have its faults, but I couldn't love it more if I tried. It is a complete delight and I think any Looney Tunes fan will find themselves having a great time watching this.
The Animated Movie Guide edited by Jerry Beck
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald
One tiny nitpick: The DePatie-Freleng studio didn't "close down"--It was bought by Marvel Comics, and became Marvel Productions. Many of the staff stayed with the new studio, at least for a while, including DePatie.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction. Changed it.
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