Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003)

 

Looney Tunes: Back in Action was a long time coming. Warner Brothers wanted to follow Space Jam with a sequel. Space Jam 2 would have featured the Tune Squad going up against a new alien villain named   Berserk-O! (who was possibly going to be voiced by Mel Brooks). Joe Pytka would have returned to direct, and Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone would have been brought on as animation supervisors with Bob Camp designing Berserk-O! and his henchmen. Camp would remember that when given the assignment, he was not even told what the villain's motivation would be or why he was to be antagonist towards the Looney Tunes stating, “They didn’t really talk to me about it. They just said draw him.” However, when Michael Jordon turned down the film, Warner Brother lost interest (as most of you know an actual sequel to Space Jam would be released in 2021). Camp remembered, “[an unknown producer] was saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, Jordan is on.’ But he was lying. The guy didn’t have Jordan hooked up with the project.' So, the studio said, ‘Well, okay, we’re not doing it.'” “I felt the whole point of it was – like a lot of sequels – just to cash in on the success of the original,” Camp also stated. “It wasn’t like it was a great idea that people wanted to make a movie out of. It was just, ‘Hey, Michael Jordan is a cash cow! Let’s milk him for all we can!'”

 Two other ideas for Looney Tunes features would follow. One was called Spy Jam and would feature Jackie Chan and the other would be called Race Jam and feature NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (who has a cameo in this movie). It was only after these two projects were cancelled that Warner Brothers approached Joe Dante (best known for directing Gremlins (1984)) to direct the animation-live action hybrid that would become known as Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Dante was a lifelong cartoon lover and had actually approached HBO in the 1990's with the idea of creating a comedy based off of Chuck Jones early years working at Warner Brothers that would be called Termite Terrace but sadly that project never happened. about this project Joe would later state, "Yeah, they made Space Jam instead. Termite Terrace was a comedy, but it was about Chuck Jones’ early years at Warner Bros in the 30’s. Back when the unit was actually part of the lot with movie stars and stuff. It was a hilarious story and it was very good except that Warner Bros said 'Look, it’s an old story. It’s got period stuff in it. We don’t want that. We want to rebrand our characters, and we want to do Space Jam.' So, they went and did Space Jam and Termite Terrace is just sitting in a vault somewhere and it will never get made." Dante hated Space Jam and stated that he set out to make "the anti-Space Jam" with this movie. 

In this film a new Warner Brothers executive fires Daffy Duck. Daffy decides to hang out with a security guard at the studio. He learns that the guard's father is the famous movie star, Damian Drake. However, Damian Drake turns out to actually be a real spy, not just an actor who plays spies in the movies. Daffy and his new security guard "friend" find themselves on a super-secret mission, when Damian Drake is captured by villains. The new executive comes to the realization that she made a mistake firing Daffy and her and Bugs Bunny are following Daffy and the security guard in order to get Daffy back to the studio. 

The storyline is a bit messy and runs out of steam in the last act. However, this is not why anyone watches this movie. The real reason to watch any Looney Tunes movie is the characters and the humor. Both of which are wonderful here. This movie truly understands the characters and the comedic stylings that make this franchise so beloved. One of my favorite things about this film is its treatment of Daffy, who is at his absolute best here. This take on the cartoon duck combines both the early crazy "woo-woo" version and the later jealous and greedy version. These two versions of the character work perfectly when combined with one another, giving us a take that feels well-rounded and completely real. Also wonderful is the chemistry between Bugs and Daffy. Their scenes together are delightful often recalling such great shorts as Chuck Jones' hunting trilogy or Friz Freleng's Show Biz Bugs (1957). The other Looney Tunes characters get less screentime but all of them completely feel like the characters we know and love. The humor here is often laugh out funny. This film is a real gagfest with almost non-stop gags from start to finish. With this in mind, it is amazing just how many gags hit perfectly and how few fall flat. Whenever I watch this movie, I find me laughing myself silly. The humor ranges from silly cartoon slapstick to very clever satire to dumb humor to corny word play. However, this film does a great job with each of these types of humor, truly having at least something that everyone would find funny. Even the live action characters get some good laughs here. Steve Martin is absolutely hilarious as the main villain. 

Despite the messy plot, I will never stop loving this movie. Part of the reason is that this movie had a huge impact on me at the time. I was 11 and starting to watch less cartoons, feeling that possibly I was outgrowing them. After seeing this in theaters, I found myself falling in love with cartoons all over again and for the rest of my life, I would be an obsessive Looney Tunes fans. Perhaps I will never be able to full separate this film from my nostalgia and the impact it had on me. However, whenever I watch this movie, I still have a heck of a fun. 

One of the best things to happen during the making of this film was to have Eric Goldberg hired as the animation director. Goldberg is a self-proclaimed Chuck Jones-aphile and a master at cartoon-y animation. He is best known for his work with Disney, especially the supervising animator for the Genie in Aladdin (1992). His work truly brings as real charm, likability and comedic energy to the animation of these classic characters that helps make this movie such a delight to watch. 

The main writer for this film was Larry Doyle. Doyle had been a successful cartoon writer up to this point writing on such animated TV shows as Rugrats, The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthead and Daria. 

Bob Camp was also brought on as a storyboard artist. He later remembered his time with Joe Dante very well.  “He’s one of my heroes and about the nicest guy you’d ever meet.” He also remembered “He has one of the largest collections of animated shorts on film, with lots of great Warner Bros. stuff. So, we hung out and watched Warner Bros. cartoons with him.” 

Joe Dante didn't have as fond of memories working on this picture. An interviewer (Daniel Robert Epstein) asked Joe "Like you, I am a huge Warner Bros cartoons fan. But do you think they should just stop doing new stuff with the Bugs Bunny cast of characters?" Joe responded, Frankly, that would be okay with me. That era was over in 1960. The theatrical cartoons that they produced after 1960, which I remember having to suffer through at the movies, were just abominable. They weren't funny, they were badly animated, they were sub-television level and almost everything they've done since is just a pale shadow of what the great cartoons were. I can tell you from experience that the people currently running Warner Bros have no interest or understanding of that period or those characters. I was making a movie for them with those characters, and they did not want to know about those characters. They didn't want to know why Bugs Bunny shouldn't do hip-hop. It was a pretty grim experience all around."

The movie was unfortunately a box office bomb making. It grossed $68.5 million worldwide but had a budget of $80 million. This led to the Looney Tunes not being seeing on a theater screen again until 2021. A series of cartoon shorts (produced by Larry Doyle) starring the Looney Tunes characters would not be theatrically released as originally planned. These shorts however do turn up as part of the Looney Tunes TV package and can still be seen sometimes when the classic Looney Tunes shorts play on TV. The critical reception was rather mixed, though Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs up. 

This movie would receive a video game adaption with the same name around the same time the film was released. The storyline of this game followed the story of the film rather closely and allowed players to play as either Bugs or Daffy. The game would be released on PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. This platformer received poor reviews upon its release and has been pretty much forgotten today. 

Resources Used

The Animated Movie Guide Edited by Jerry Beck.  

https://animatedviews.com/2012/artist-bob-camp-recalls-the-ill-fated-space-jam-2/

https://www.suicidegirls.com/girls/anderswolleck/blog/2679865/joe-dante/

    



        

Movie Review: The King of Kings

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A delightful, animated family film. 

With season 5 of The Chosen in theaters, The Last Supper on its way out and Light of the World coming to theaters later this year, I fear that this delightful family film about Jesus' life may be overshadowed by the flux of Jesus films this year. I hope that I am wrong about this though as this movie is a sheer delight. This movie is loosely based off Charles Dickens' short story, The Life of Our Lord, a story that Dickens created for his children and was not published until 64 years after his death. With this in mind the story of Jesus is framed with Charles Dickens telling the story to his son. This is not only a framing device as soon the great writer and his son become a part of the story. This framing device is what makes this movie so delightful. The film asks us to see this story that we all know from the point of view of a child who has never heard it before. Because of this we get to emotionally experience this story as if for the first time. The ways that our narrators get involved with the story also leads to a lot of fun and fresh moments that put a smile on my face. The bits of slapstick humor, while never laugh out loud funny did add a real childlike charm. Speaking of childlike charm as this movie is aimed at kids and focuses on a man telling the story to a child, this is a simplified version of the story (like in those kid bibles). Yet despite this it never talks down to its young audience, instead treating them with the utmost respect. 

 This movie also a big-name voice cast with many prominent movie stars. While for the most part, I am not the biggest fan of this practice (as I often would prefer to hear cartoon voice actors), it works fairly well, and I never once stopped and thought about these characters being voiced by big movie stars.

This film does have one big flaw though. This movie runs 1 hour and 50 minutes. This is simply too short of a time to tell Jesus' life, especially when his life doesn't take up the whole runtime. Because of this, the film feels like an overly condensed version of the story with many story points feeling rushed. 

A delightful movie for the whole family. 

Movie Review: Drop

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A well-made old-fashioned thriller. 

This movie has to walk a very fine line. It can't take itself too seriously or the logical problems with the plot will take you out of the film. Yet it must take itself seriously enough to create a real sense of tension. While there are a few times it will fall into one trap or another for the most part the film walks this fine line very well. Along with this it understands one of the most important assets to a suspense movie. This film completely puts us in the shoes of our main character. We see everything strictly through her eyes. We have no information about what is happening that she doesn't, and we learn about what is going on at the same time she does. This feeling of connection with this character is enhanced by the fact that she is rarely off screen. The only few times the camera leaves her; we still only see things that she knows are happening. Because we find ourselves in this character's shoes it is easy to be caught up in the suspense. We feel every bit of discomfort that she does and sped much of the movie trying to figure out what we would do. This is also enhanced by a wonderful performance from Meghann Fahy, who feels completely natural in one of her first leading roles. All this leads to a fast-paced film that is fun to watch from start to finish. Like an old-fashioned thriller there is not much action for the first two acts, which are instead spent building up tension. This works very well as when the action scenes towards the end happen, there is a real sense of tension and excitement to them, even if the action scenes themselves may be very standard.  

Some reviewers have referred to this movie as "Hitchcockian." This is one of the most misused words in modern film criticism. Many of the movies called this are often too somber and self-serious to feel anything like Hitchcock. Though this movie may not reach the cinematic heights of Hitch's best work, it does resemble the master of suspense's work in the way that the filmmakers enjoy playing with the audience and having fun with the ways the relieve and create tension. This makes this movie much more worthy of the adjective than many films that receive it. It also leads to a really fun time at the movies and a good film to watch with an audience.

This may not be a perfect movie but it sure as heck makes for a fun trip to the cinema.  

  

Movie Review: The Luckiest Man in America

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A delightful telling of this true story. 

This film tells the true story of Michael Larson. For those of you who don't know the story, he was a man who memorized all the patterns on the gameshow Press Your Luck and ended up with a large amount of money that no game show contestant had ever won before. Though many at CBS wanted to stop him, they couldn't because he technically wasn't cheating. The reason that this story has captured the hearts of so many TV lovers is obvious. This story of the average man beating the system is a perfect amalgamation of David vs Goliath, the American Dream and wish fulfillment. With this in mind, it is no wonder that a dramatization of this story is completely gripping and a lot of fun. This movie is a very straightforward retelling of the story without any real commentary or cinematic flourishes. The movie may add nothing new to this well-known story, but it tells it quite well. The hour and a half flies by and there is never a moment, when it is anything less than a lot of fun. Besides simply being based off a wonderful true story, this movie's other not so secret weapon is Paul Walter Hauser as the title character. He is fantastic here and brings a real sense of humanity to every scene he is in and absolutely grips you to the screen.       

This is a very basic but gripping telling of a great true story.       

Movie Review: The Friend

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A very effective dramedy. 

Despite much of the plot revolving around a woman befriending a dog, this is not the very sentimental movie some might think it would be. Nor is this film full of the type of silly slapstick of the type from the Disney animal movies from the 1950's and 60's. Instead, this movie is reflection on death, suicide and friendship as our main character must take care of her friend's dog after her friend commits suicide. This movie looks at this delicate subject matter with pure respect, intelligence and sophistication. Here is a movie that pulls on your heartstrings without ever feeling emotionally manipulative. Much of this is because of how much we grow to care about the main character and can relate to her. It helps that both her relationship with the dog and his previous owner feel fully former. Her relationship to her dead friend leads to some very emotional and thought-provoking moments as she has to come to terms with his suicide and not knowing why he did it. This is all done with the upmost taste and respect but also lead us to think deeply about just what it means to commit suicide. The relationship with the dog evolves over the course of the film in a way that feels completely real and believable. All of this is helped by a great performance from Naomi Watts, who feels so completely real and natural in this role. While Bill Murray doesn't have as much screentime, he really shines in this role, once again proving that he is just as great at both comedy and serious drama. 

This movie does have its flaws though. The main human characters are writers and because of this the dialogue and narration can often be very literary. Sometimes it can be too self-consciously so. There are times when it can sound like the writers are trying too hard to sound literary. Also, for a dramedy, the humor never once made me laugh out loud. The humor is not bad by any means, but I would have liked to have one real laugh here. 

Despite its flaws this is a very smart and emotional film. 

Cowboy Church #213

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Whispering Hope. This beautiful hymn comes from the pen of Alice Hawthorne (the pen name for poet Septimus Winner), who is best known for her contributions to children's music with songs like, Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? and Ten Little Indians.

This is followed by The Petersens with an original tune titled Goodness of the Lord. Katie Petersen co-wrote this song with her friend Liv Leggett, both of whom were inspired by Psalm 27. 

Afterwards is Henry Burr's 1905 recording of Saviour, Lead Me, Lest I Stray. 

Next is Mel Tillis with Just a Closer Walk with Thee. This old hymn's origin remains a mystery with no one knowing exactly how old it is. However, it is believed that this song must date back before the Civil War, because some personal histories have stated that there were “slaves singing as they worked in the fields a song about walking by the Lord’s side.” If this is true it shows the power of God and music as they could sing praise to the Lord even when being oppressed as part of one of the greatest injustices of American history. There is however a song published in 1885 called Closer Walk with Thee which had a very similar chorus. Just a Closer Walk's popularity grew in the 1930's with it being sung at several churches. The arrangement we know today was done by Kenneth Morris in 1940. The following is from Horace Clarence Boyer's book, How Sweet the Sound, “While traveling between Kansas City and Chicago in 1940, songwriter Kenneth Morris got off the train to stretch his legs. While standing on the platform, he overheard a porter singing some of the words to 'Just a Closer Walk with Thee'. Not thinking much about it, Morris boarded the train and went on his way. The words and melody of the song kept repeating in his head and he knew he had to learn the rest of it. At the next stop, Morris got off the train and took the next train back to the previous stop. There he managed to find the porter and Morris persuaded him to sing the song while he copied down the words. Morris soon added to the lyrics and published it in 1940.” 

Next is Johnny Cash with Dark as a Dungeon. In the liner notes for the Unearthed box set John stated, "You say it sounds like a song I should have written? I always thought that too. Merle Travis wrote that song in the '40's and I recorded it over the years two or three different times, but I never really got it the way I wanted it. But I kept on trying. I really don't know how to explain what the ingredient is that makes it a winner or a reject. It depends on the song, the performance, on a lot of things. Merle's been dead 10 or 12 years now, but I told him that I would keep trying until I get it right and I did. Hence this version here. 

Then comes Kris Kristofferson with the title track off his 1972 album, Jesus Was a Capricorn, one of the finest country albums of the 1970's. This title track is a true cowboy-hippie classic that I love. 

Now for George Jones and Tammy Wynette with their 1972 cover of the Tom T. Hall classic, Me and Jesus. This recording comes from the duo's 1972 gospel album, We Love to Sing Songs About Jesus.

Today's musical selection ends with The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. This hymn began with a man named Anthony Showalter. As a fan of gospel music and an elder in a Presbyterian church, he held many "singing schools" at various churches in the south. One day he received two letters from former students who were struggling after their wives had passed. To respond to these letters, Showalter consulted scripture. He came across Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." After reading this verse lyrics for a song chorus went through his head and he wrote down, "“Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.” After using this in the letters to his former students he sent this chorus to his friend hymnist, Elisha Hoffman. In the letter he also wrote, “Here is the chorus for a good hymn from Deuteronomy 33:27, but I can’t come up with the verses.” Hoffman then wrote the rest of the lyrics to which Showalter put to music. The hymn was published in 1887.

Now for a message from the reverend Billy Graham.

Now for a 1948 episode of the Abbott and Costello radio show guest starring that cowboy hero, Red Ryder. 

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalms 18:2

Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. Jeremiah 32:17

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #225

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection starts with a classic Mickey Mouse short film, The Steeple Chase (1933). This movie was originally planned as a musical, but there are no songs in the finished film. The horse Thunderbolt would inspire the Mickey Mouse comic strip character Tanglefoot. The following are a couple of exhibitor's reviews from The Motion Picture Herald. "STEEPLE CHASE: Mickey Mouse— Another good cartoon from Mickey. You'll like it. - J.A. Verchot, Opera House, Abbeville, S.C. Small Town Patronage." "STEEPLE CHASE: Mickey Mouse— Let me repeat, the biggest thing in this cartoon is the rental. Running time, 10 minutes.  - A.H. Edwards, Orpheum Theatre, Orwinsburg, Pa. Small Town and Rural Patronage." 

Next comes the Honey Halfwitch cartoon, From Nags to Witches (1966). This movie is directed by Howard Post, who also created the character. Post is better known for his comic work rather than his animation work. He created the comic strip The Dropouts and DC Comics character Anthro. He had also worked for Harvey Comics on various Casper comic books and on the Heathcliff and Care Bears comics for Marvel as well as being an editor on Looney Tunes Magazine and Tiny Toons Magazine for DC. The Honey Halfwitch films are a series of thirteen theatrically released cartoon shorts. This movie marks the 4th of these shorts. 

Now for the Terry Toons short, Shipyard Symphony (1943). Though this patriotic short was made for World War 2 America, it is still quite entertaining today due to some strong music and gags. This may actually be one of my favorite Terry Toons from this era. 

Next is Donald Duck in Honey Harvester (1949). This marks the second or third battle between Spike the bee and Donald Duck. The two had went up against each other in Inferior Decorator (1948) and a prototype for Spike bugged Donald in Window Cleaners (1940). Some of this film's story had come from an unfinished 1939 story outline entitled Donald's Roadside Market. This story outline also provided story material for the Donald Duck cartoons Donald's Garden (1942), Golden Eggs (1941) and Old MacDonald Duck (1941). This short film made its TV debut on an episode of the Disneyland TV show entitled The Donald Duck Story (1954). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for Bugs Bunny in Super Rabbit (1943). The ending of this short film resulted in the U.S.M.C. acknowledging Bugs Bunny as an honorary marine with the title honorary Marine Master Sergeant Bugs Bunny. 

Next is Krazy Kat in The Awful Spook (1921). These silent cartoons from the Bray Studio have a much closer resemblance to the comic strip where the character originated than the later talkie Columbia cartoons. 

Now for The New Three Stooges cartoon, Lastest Gun in the West (1965). Like in all these cartoons, The Three Stooges are voiced by themselves. Curly Joe felt that the show was hurt by the fact that the live action intro and outro segments would be repeated, even when the cartoon was new. He felt this would lead people to see an opening they recognized and change the channel thinking it was a repeat.

Now to end with the greatest short film ever made. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.

Resources Used

 Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin.

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by David Gerstein and J.B. Kaufman

The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

X-Men First Class (2011)

 

With X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) in the works, Fox planned to make another movie following the origins of Magento. This film would soon find itself in development hell and would eventually be cancelled. Ideas from that cancelled film would find its way into X-Men: First Class. This movie came about when producer Simon Kinberg read the comic book series, X-Men: First Class and suggested to 20th Century Fox, that they should adapt this series as the next X-Men film. 

The storyline takes place in 1962 and as the title suggests it revolves around the formation of the first group of X-Men. The bulk of the story involves the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr (later to become Magento) as they form this group of mutants. However, when a dark figure from Erik's past comes around, he is consumed with vengeance creating a strong rift between him and Charles. 

After X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, showed the franchise starting to falter, this movie shows it again reaching the heights of the first two films. There is a lot to love about this movie. All the characters both old and new are great, with each of them feeling fleshed out and real to us (an impressive feat for a film with this many characters). Each gets their own arc here and each arc is given the proper time to develop. Though there are action scenes here, it is these characters and their arcs which are at the forefront. The 1960's setting is also perfectly utilized. This is not one of those movies where a time period is employed as a setting but only superficially so. Instead, the time period is integrated into every part of this story, which is just as much about Cold War America as it is about superheroes. With Cold War America as its setting, this movie helps explore the themes of prejudice and the replacement theory in a very intelligent and smart way. 

This film does have a few flaws though. The special effects are often times not that great and can't hold a candle to those in other superhero movies from the same time period (Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Thor (2011) came out the same year). This can get a little distracting at times, especially during the action scenes. Meanwhile some of the action scenes seem underwhelming and not have the weight or scale that they should have. 

This movie also benefits from a very strong cast. James McAvoy is wonderful as a young Charles Xavier (a role he would reprise in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Pheonix (2019). Michael Fassbender is equally wonderful as Magento. a role that he seemed to completely understand. Kevin Bacon does a very good job as the film's villain, providing a character that may have a point but still comes off as completely evil. Jennifer Lawrence's career was just on the cusp of taking off with this film. The year before she had starred in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone for which she had won an award for best actress at the Stockholm International Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards. The year after this movie she would receive the role she is best known for as Katniss in The Hunger Games (2012) as well as Silver Linings Playbook (2012) for which she would win an Oscar for Best Actress at only 22 years old. She is wonderful in this X-Men role, showing how great of an actress she is even this early in her career. She would reprise her role as Mystique here in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Pheonix (2019). Zoë Kravitz is great as Angel makes one wish this character would also be brought back for more X-Men movies. However superhero fans will know her for playing Catwoman in The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and The Batman (2022). Nicolas Hoult is quite good as Beast, though no one can top Kelsey Grammer in the role. He would later reprise the role in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Pheonix (2019). Hugh Jackman's cameo as Wolverine is laugh out loud funny and the best use of an F-bomb in a PG-13 film. 

Though the producers originally did not want Matthew Vaughn as the director, because he had briefly started working on X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) before backing out of that film, after seeing Vaughn's satirical superhero film Kick Ass (2010), Kinberg approached Vaughn to direct First Class. Discovering that this film was both a prequel and a soft reboot of the franchise, Vaughn became interested in this movie because of the greater freedom it offered him.  

Upon its release this movie earned $55.1 million on its first three days. While this was less than the last movie had earned on its opening days, it was slightly more than the first film. Critics gave this film mostly positive reviews. While the critics admitted that the movie had flaws, they praised the casting and intelligent social commentary. 



 

Movie Review: Bob Trevino Likes It

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A wonderful dramedy. 

For this movie director/writer Tracie Laymon reached into true events in her own life to bring us this story of a young woman with no friends and a selfish father who doesn't give her the love and affection she needs finding a deep friendship with a man she meets online with the same name as her dad. In lesser hands such a story might have come off as too sentimental and emotionally manipulative. However, Tracie Laymon's personal connection with the story makes it anything but that. This movie and its characters feel completely real to us. We care deeply about the main character. It is easy to feel a real connection to her and anyone who has ever struggled with self-worth can see themselves in her. It is not long into the movie that we simply want to jump in the screen and give her a big hug. Because of this we personally feel hurt when dad disowns her and feel the same joy that she does when she meets this new friend. 

the friendship at the heart of this movie is also completely believable and natural. We truly feel the platonic love between these two characters, and this leads to some genuine tearjerker moments. The performances of Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo are truly fantastic and make this movie feel all the more real. There is also a real chemistry between these actors allowing us to feel the friendship between them in every scene. The humor is not as abundant as one might expect from such a dramedy, but it is legitimately funny with some real laugh out loud moments.

A wonderful movie.    

Movie Review: A Minecraft Movie

 

Michael's Movie Grade: D+

A visually appealing but otherwise bland video game adaption. 

For a movie that has a message about the importance of creativity, there is very little to be found here. This is a very paint by the numbers film. The storyline simply follows a format with little personality or passion. There are times when it feels like the filmmakers have as little interest in these characters and their arcs as I did. These characters are as simplistic and bland as possible, and the character arcs feel like the filmmakers simply going through the motions. There is not one reason to care about any of these characters. The humor in this movie often times misses more than it hits. In fact, with the constant barrage of jokes, I only chuckled a couple of times and I never laughed out loud. The world building is very minimal here and this fantasy world never once felt real. 

As much as I didn't like this film, it had a few aspects that made me wish I enjoyed it more. One is that visuals looked wonderful. Like The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) before it, the visuals make this film look like a video game come to life. Another is Jack Black. He obviously had the time of his life making this movie and it shows every second he is on screen. The other reason is that I really like how this film is not afraid to get really silly and absurdist with its humor. There is a certain playfulness to the humor that I admired here but unfortunately despite this the gags themselves weren't funny. 

While not as awful as the worst video game adaptions, I couldn't help but wish this was much better. 

Red Skeleton: TCM's Star of the Month

 

As a fan of classic film comedy, I am always very happy when TCM has a comedian as their star of the month. For this month, the star of the month is none other than Red Skelton. Starting every Monday at 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern, TCM will be playing a block of Red Skelton movies. 

Though many know Red best for his work on radio and TV, he had a very impressive film career as well. Like many classic movie comedians, though he was in some great films most of his filmography is made up of programmers that simply provide a fun way to spend an hour and a half. However not every movie needs to be Casablanca and sometimes a fun vintage programmer is exactly what I want to watch, and I plan on watching as much of Red Skelton as I can. 

Below is a list of the Red Skelton movies that will be playing.

Monday April 7th

Whistling in the Dark (1941) Director: S. Sylvan Simon. 5pm Pacific. 8pm Eastern

Whistling in Dixie (1942) Director: S. Sylvan Simon. 6:30pm Pacific. 9:30pm Eastern

Whistling in Brooklyn (1943) Director: S. Sylvan Simon. 8pm Pacific. 11pm Eastern

Maisie Gets Her Man (1942) Director: Roy Del Ruth. 9:45pm Pacific. 12:45am Eastern. 

Panama Hattie (1942) Director: Norman Z. McLeod. 11:30pm Pacific. 2:30am Eastern

Monday April 14th

Ship Ahoy (1942) Director: Edward Buzzell. 5pm Pacific. 8pm Eastern.

I Dood It (1943) Director: Vincente Minnelli. 7pm Pacific. 9pm Eastern. 

Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) Director: Roy Del Ruth. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern.

Merton of the Movies (1947) Director: Robert Alton. 11pm Pacific. 2am Eastern. 

Monday April 21st

Bathing Beauty (1944) Director: George Sidney. 5pm Pacific. 8pm Eastern.

Neptune's Daughter (1949) Director: Edward Buzzell. 7pm Pacific. 10pm Eastern.

Texas Carnival (1951) Director: Charles Walters. 8:45pm Pacific. 11:45pm Eastern. 

Three Little Words (1950) Director: Richard Thrope. 10:15pm Pacific. 1:15am Eastern.

Tuesday April 22nd

A Southern Yankee (1948) Directors: Edward Sedgwick and S. Sylvan Simon. 12:15am Pacific. 3:15am Eastern.

Watch the Birdie (1951) Director: Jack Donahue. 2am Pacific. 5am Eastern. 

Monday April 28th

The Fuller Brush Man (1948) Director: S. Sylvan Simon. 5pm Pacific. 8pm Eastern.

The Yellow Cab Man (1950) Director: Jack Donohue. 6:45pm Pacific. 9:45pm Eastern

Excuse My Dust (1951) Director: Roy Rowland. 8:30pm Pacific. 11:30pm Eastern

 





 

Movie Review: A Working Man

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

An enjoyable if formulaic action flick. 

The storyline here does its job and little more. You side with and care about the main character, who comes off as very likable. At the same time the villains are the lowest sort of despicable scum you can imagine. This may be all the storyline really offers but frankly no one is watching for the story and for better or worse this is exactly the type of film you think it is going to be with no surprises. This being said there is quite a bit of dumb fun throughout this movie. The action scenes are quite exciting being well filmed, choregraphed and paced. Also, with how horrible this movie makes the villains, there is a cathartic charm to watching them be killed. While the villains seem like over the top cliché movie villains, sadly people like this exist and seeing them get their just desserts supplies the audience with a certain wish fulfillment. Also helping this film is Jason Statham as the lead character. He has proven himself to be a good action star, who can elevate any action film, and he definitely elevates this one.   

All this being said, the film is so similar to many other action movies that it is hard for it to stand out. Instead, it just simply blends in with so many similar action films that overtime you will forget you have watched it. 

This is far from a great movie but there is enough dumb fun to make it a fun trip to the movies. 

Video Link: One Night in the Tropics (1940) - 365 dollars

One of my favorite Abbott and Costello skits.

Movie Review: The Penguin Lessons

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A surprisingly really good movie. 

The Penguin Lessons is in some ways two movies in one. There is the movie about a grumpy cynical man who becomes a better person after befriending a cute animal (in this case a penguin). There is also the film about the political turmoil in Argentina in 1976. What makes this film work is how well these two different types of stories are integrated together. Some of the ways this is done are pretty subtle. In many ways the penguin moves the other side of the story along making both parts feel completely connected. The penguin also helps imitate the change in the main character, which has a great effect on the political side of the story. These two different sides of the story also work very well on their own. The penguin story is sweet, charming, touching and even quite funny (I laughed watching this more than I expected to). What this movie has to say politically (about how good people should not stay silent when injustice is going on around them) is nothing revolutionary, but it is import and well told. Another key ingredient as to why this movie works is of course Steve Coogan's performance. He is an actor, who never fails to give a great performance, and he is perfect here, going from comedy to drama seemingly effortlessly. He also gives the character a certain likability and charm, even in the early scenes where he is a bit of a jerk. 

This movie does have a few flaws though. Even at less than two hours, it still feels longer than it needs to be and some of the early scenes can drag a little bit. The supporting characters are also quite bland and underdeveloped. 

All in all, despite some flaws, this is an excellent film. 

 

Video Link: The Harley Quinn Fartacular | Is It Actually That Bad?? - Casually Comics

Silent Film of the Month: You're Darn Tootin' (1928)

 

Run Time: 20 minutes. Studio: Hal Roach Studios. Director: Edgar Kennedy. Supervising Director: Leo McCarey. Titles: H.M. Walker.  Producer: Hal Roach. Main Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Otto Lederer, Anges Steele, Monty O'Grady, Christian J. Frank, Rolfe Sedan. Cinematographer: Floyd Jackman. Editor: Richard C. Currier.

Some of the best ideas for Laurel and Hardy comedies came from the simplest of places. In early January 1928, a gagman at the Hal Roach Studio saw a concert in the park. He mentioned this concert to Stan Laurel and supervising director, Leo McCarey. From this simple conversation came one of the most popular of Laurel and Hardy's silent output. Production for the film began that same January.

This short film features Stan and Ollie as musicians. They are playing in a band that is performing a concert in the park. When they ruin the concert and unintentionally drive the conductor crazy, they are fired. They try to make a living as street musicians but have little luck at this either. When the two get in an argument with each other this ends up leading to a massive conflict involving every passerby and the tearing of clothes. 

This is a masterpiece of comedy. Not only are the gags funny on their own but the comedy here is perfectly structured. Though this film starts out quite funny, it continuously gets funnier as it goes on. Each gag sequence builds perfectly on the last until the film reaches its hilarious climax. The story itself may be slight, but it flows completely naturally and never feels as episodic as it easily could have in lesser hands. This is why when Robert Youngston later used the climax here for his compilation movie The Golden Age of Comedy (1958), it didn’t have the same effect as it does here. It is still funny there, but it is not as laugh out loud hilarious as it is when you watch the full short. 

Those used to Laurel and Hardy's sound movies may be surprised to see that Stan is much more assertive here than he would be later. However, the Ollie character is completely formed here being the same character we know from the later films.   

The bit where Stan and Ollie first start playing as street musicians begins with a single shot of the two doing a bit of business that lasts a whole 50 seconds. This shot perfectly shows just how great of a comedy team these two were, even this early in being a team. The scene is funny, and we never notice that the camera is held so long. Later there is a rare use of a tracking shot as Stan and Ollie walk down a street before Ollie falls in a manhole. These types of tracking shots were not common in silent slapstick comedies. However, this is the only way such a gag could be shot.  

This film was directed by Edgar Kennedy, who is much better remembered as an actor. He has been called the master of the slow burn for his talent at showing his anger rise up slowly during frustrating moments. As an actor he is instantly recognizable to classic comedy fans as he worked with many of the most popular comics of the silver screen. Over his career he has appeared in film with Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand, W.C. Feilds, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, the Our Gang Kids (also known as The Little Rascals) and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. He even briefly was a Keystone Kop. He also starred in a series of short comedies. That series ran from 1931 to 1948 and would feature 103 entries. He would even occasionally appear in dramatic movies such as San Fransico (1936) and A Star is Born (1937). His directing career would be much less prolific with most of it dedicated to comedy shorts. He did direct one other Laurel and Hardy short, From Soup to Nuts (1928). Some of the other short films he directed starred the likes of Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin and Hal Graves. Actor Rolfe Sedan (who played a drunk in this film) would later state, "Edgar Kennedy - there was a wonderful guy. He was a man who knew his business as a director." This seemed to be the common consensus among those who worked on the films Kennedy directed as he was well respected by everyone on the set.  

This film was shot in a total of ten days. The first three days of shooting were January 17-19 and consisted of the concert scenes (shot at Exposition Park in Los Angeles). On January 20th and 21st, some outdoor scenes were shot on the Roach Lot. The crew took Sunday the 22nd off from shooting. They then resumed shooting outdoor scenes (including the big pants ripping finale) on the 23rd, 24th and 25th. The final two days (January 26-27) of shooting were done indoors on a set on the Roach lot and consisted of the boarding house scenes. The film was released to movie theaters on April 27, 1927. 

Frank Spauto (who played a bit role in the film) later spoke about the filming of the pants-ripping finale. "We worked for two days on that thing. The pants-ripping was probably towards the end of the second day. Truthy, I don't remember Kennedy directing this one. But the director was on a platform truck with two cameras; then they had a camera over on the far side of this flatiron-shaped building, a camera on the left side of the scene and one by the curb. This fellow on the truck directed the whole thing, but he had two assistant directors who would get the people placed and tell them where they should come in. The first kicking would start it all, and we extras would be somewhere around the building. Some of us where out of range with the camera. And the director would say, 'Action. Start coming in slowly now ... you get in there ... don't go to fast. Don't mob up. Then you walk in, you look, and you start kicking'!" 

The main cameraman on this film was Floyd Jackman. Floyd's older brother Fred had been a very prolific cameraman for the Mack Sennett Studio in the late teens and it wouldn't be long before Floyd also joined the movie business. Floyd had made a few westerns for Warner Brothers before moving to the Hal Roach lot. His first movie at the Roach lot was the dramatic feature film, Call of the Wild (1923). He would go on to work on the various short comedies starring the likes of Charley Chase, Mabel Normand and Max Davidson. You're Darn Tootin' was his last known film, as he would leave the movie business to become a dentist. His assistant cameraman on this film was Earl Stafford, who had begun his movie career at the Mack Sennett studio shooting short comedies starring the likes of Harry Langdon and Bill Bevan.

The little kid here is Monty O'Grady. This is one of the rare Hal Roach films he appeared in. His most famous role is in the classic Mary Pickford movie, Sparrows (1926). After the silent era, O'Grady would briefly leave movies, only to come back in 1938 as an adult. From 1938 to 1996, O'Grady would become a constant presence in movies and TV shows, though mostly as an extra. He was 11 when he made this picture and lived to 84 years old, passing away two days after his 84th birthday (March 8, 2000). The conductor is played by Otto Lederer. Though not well remembered Otto Lederer was in around 120 movies from 1912 to 1933. However, from 1932 to 1939, he would work primarily as a makeup artist. Probably his most famous role was in the revolutionary part-talkie film, The Jazz Singer (1927), where he played the comedy relief. He was born in 1886 in Prague and passed away at The Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, California on September 3, 1965. The landlady is played by Agnes Steele. Born on August 22, 1881, in Melbourne, Australia, she mostly played small uncredited roles in movies from the early 1920's until her death on March 3, 1949. This is her only known role at the Hal Roach Studios. She was in the feature film, My Old Dutch (1926), which also features Edgar Kennedy. It has been speculated that perhaps this is how she ended up in this short. The policeman was played by Christian J. Frank. He was born in New York in 1890 and began his screen career in 1920, mostly working in small roles like his one here. Silent comedy fans might recognize him from his roles in the Harry Langdon films, The Sea Squawk (1925) and His First Flame (1927). He continued acting in movies until 1948. He passed away on December 10, 1967, in Los Angeles. 

The title for this film must have been considered too American for overseas audiences as in the UK, it was released under the name, The Music Blasters, which many comedy historians believe was the working title for this short. 

A few gags in this film may need explanation to a modern audience. On intertitle states “Very well, Sister McPherson, we go.” This is a reference to Aimee Semple McPherson, a Megachurch founder who was especially well known for her sudden 1926 disappearance and the large media circus around her return. She was also very well known for always asking for donations. The year this film was released Variety ran a story about her during a radio broadcast asking a worship musician to play another song, but the mike accidently also picked up her telling the musician to keep it short so that there would be time for collection. Earlier in the film there is a shot of the sheet music for the concert which states that it was arranged by W.C. Polla. William Conrad Polla was a popular novelty pianist around this time, who wrote the song Dancing Tambourine. He was also known for making orchestral arrangements for pieces by composer William Christopher Handy, best known for the jazz and blues standards Saint Louis Blues and Beale Street Blues. Below is Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra's 1927 recording of Dancing Tambourine.  

Here are two exhibitors' reviews from Exhibitor's World Herald. "YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN': Laurel-Hardy - Good except finish which took off good flavor. Two Reels. - M.W. Mattecheek, Lark Theatre, McMinnville, Ore. - General Patronage." "YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN': Laurel-Hardy - Without a doubt this team cannot be beat. A Laurel and Hardy poster on your front means twenty minutes of real entertainment in your theatre. Print very good. Two Reels. - Stephen G. Brenner, New Eagle Theatre, Baltimore, Md. - General Patronage." An issue of the Motion Picture News (dated June 9, 1928) stated, "'Valley of the Giants' at the United Artists theatre was another unsuccessful film that was noticeably below par from every standpoint. The real hit of the bill was the Laurel-Hardy comedy, 'You're Darn Tootin'.' Even this though couldn't make a good show all alone, so the box office was very weak as a result."   

For anyone interested, this film can be watched on YouTube below. It is also on the essential Flicker Alley Blu-ray set, Laurel and Hardy: Year Two. 




 

Resources Used

Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies by Randy Skredvedt

Laurel and Hardy Year Two Blu-ray set liner notes by Randy Skredvedt

Laurel and Hardy Year Two Blu-ray set audio commentary by Randy Skredvedt

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/614766/youre-darn-tootin/#articles-reviews?articleId=445867

https://moviessilently.com/2024/08/18/youre-darn-tootin-1928-a-silent-film-review/

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Silent Films on TCM for April 2025

 

As I know many of you, like me, are fans of both silent movies and TCM. Here is a list of silent films that on playing on TCM this April.

Wednesday April 2nd

Sherlock Jr. (1924) Director: Buster Keaton. Starring Buster Keaton and Kathryn McGuire. 1am Pacific. 4am Eastern. 

Sunday April 6th

The New Klondike (1926) Director: Lewis Milestone. Starring Thomas Meighan and Lila Lee. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern. 

Sunday April 13th

The Oyster Princess (1919) Director: Ernst Lubitsch. Starring Ossi Oswalda and Harry Liedtke. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern. 

Thursday April 17th

The Life and Passion of the Christ (1907) Director: Ferdinand Zecca. 4am Pacific. 7am Eastern. 

Sunday April 20th

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) Director: Fred Niblo. Starring Ramon Novarro and May McAvoy. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern. 

Sunday April 27th

Dogs of War (1923) Director: Robert F. McGowan. Starring Our Gang. 8:30pm Pacific. 11:30pm Eastern. 

The Temptress (1926) Director: Fred Niblo. Starring Greta Garbo and Antinio Moreno. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern. 

Monday April 28th 

The Mysterious Island (1929, part talkie) Director: Lucien Hubbard. Starring Lionel Barrymore and Jacqueline Gadsden. 11:45am Pacific. 2:45pm Eastern. 

Cowboy Church #212

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Read the Bible and Pray. This recording comes from the husband-and-wife duo's 1959 gospel album, Jesus Loves Me. They are backed by Jack Marshall's Orchestra and Choir. 

This is followed by Glen Campbell with Softly and Tenderly.  The song was written by an Ohio businessman named Will Thompson in 1880.  As well as writing gospel songs Thompson also wrote quite a few secular songs and parotic songs. When the songs he wrote were rejected by publishers he created his own company, Will L. Thompson & Company. This company would not only publish music by sell musical instruments. Softly and Tenderly first appeared in 1880's Sparkling Gems, Nos. 1 and 2, a collection of songs from the company. When evangelist Dwight L. Moody was on his death bed he told the songwriter, "Will, I would rather have written ‘Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling’ than anything I have been able to do in my whole life." This was appropriate as Will decided to make songwriting his career while at a meeting held by Moody. 

Afterwards is Henry Burr with his 1918 recording of Just a Baby's Prayer at Twilight (For Her Daddy Over There). This is a sentimental World War One tune that still pulls on the heart strings today. 

Then comes Ricky Skaggs with This World is Not My Home. This recording comes from Ricky's 2009 album, Songs My Dad Loved.

Next is Raelynn with If God Took Days Off.

Next is Johnny Cash with The Old Rugged Cross. The song itself dates back to 1913 and was written by evangelist, George Bennard. Actually the first verse was written in 1912. It was written while Bennard was a part of a series of revival meetings in Albion, Michigan. He was worried about the complete disregard for the gospel around him and wrote this verse as a repose. Of writing it Bennard said, "I seemed to have a vision ... I saw the Christ and the cross inseparable." The song wouldn't be completed for several months, when he was leading meetings at a local church in Pokagan, Michigan. He played it for Rev. Leroy (the sponsoring pastor) and his wife, Ruby Bostwick, both of whom found themselves moved to tears. It was then incorporated into a service at that church on June 7, 1913. The song has the same effect today as it must have back then. This version of the song comes from John's 1975 album, Johnny Cash Sing Precious Memories. This album (which entirely consists of traditional gospel songs) abandons John's traditional sound for a more lush and orchestrated sound. Much of this was due to arrangements by Bill Walker, who had been the musical director for John's TV show. This album was dedicated to John's late brother Jack, who had died at the age of 15 in a sawmill accident. His death took its toll on John and affected him for the rest of his life. This is written on the back of the album, "Dear Jack, We lost you one sad day in May 1944. I was twelve years old. Some of these songs were the songs we sang at your funeral. As you were dying you gave us a description of heaven and singing angels. Could these be some of the songs the angels were singing? See you later. Your little brother J.R."

Then comes Kris Kristofferson with Love Is the Way. This song comes from Kris's 1986 album Repossessed, one of the great singer/songwriter's most political albums. 

Today's musical selection concludes with The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1941 recording of What Wonderful Joy. Though many don't want to give their loves to Jesus because they don't want to give up their sins, the truth is that the joy Jesus can give us is greater than anything we may get out of sinning. This song is about the incredible joy that only Jesus can provide. This recording is very much a duet between two members of the band. Lloyd Perryman and Bob Nolan share the main vocal duties on this song and both sound as great as ever. 

Now for some words from western writer Louis L'Amour.

Now for a message from Billy Graham.

Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. Proverbs 28:27

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. Proverbs 14:31

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Tweety's High-Flying Aventure (2000)

 

Tweety's High-Flying Adventure marked the first Looney Tunes feature film to be released direct to video. It also marks the first time that Tweety headlined a feature length movie. 

In this update of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, Cornel Rimfire is frustrated after again failing to capture Cool Cat. He claims that a cat must be the smartest creature in the world and that no one can outsmart them. Granny claims that her canary Tweety can outsmart any cat. This leads to a bet between Granny and the Cornel that Tweety can fly around the world in eighty days getting the paw print of a putty tat in each of those days. However, as Tweety goes on this adventure, he is followed by Sylvester who plans to eat him. 

Like most direct to video movies based off classic cartoons, this film is more charming than actually funny. Despite this though the movie always puts a smile on my face. The storyline is charmingly simple and silly in the best way possible. This feels like a feature length cartoon but at the same time at 70 minutes moves by quickly and never overstays its welcome. While none of the gags are really laugh out loud funny, none of them are bad either. Quite a few of them even made me smile. Our favorite Looney Tunes characters (even the ones who receive just little cameos) are just as likable and fun here as in their classic shorts. Even the new character, a female canary named Aoogah (who would later appear in another Looney Tunes direct to video movie, King Tweety (2022)) is quite likable and charming. 

This film's background art has a crayon-based look reminiscent of a child's artwork. While there is nothing wrong with this type of artwork and it often looks very nice, it doesn't always mesh well with the more traditional look of the characters. This movie also has a few song numbers in it. Unfortunately, the songs are rather bland and instantly forgettable. 

This movie had three credited directors and three credited writers. The credited directors are Karl Toerge, Charles Visser and James T. Walker. Karl Toerge would later direct the Tom and Jerry TV short, The Mansion Cat (2001) as well as all the episodes of the children's TV show, Dinosaur Train. He is much more prolific as storyboard artist working on such TV shows as BraveStar, The Smurfs, Sonic the Hedgehog and Baby Looney Tunes. Charles Visser was a director on such TV shows as Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Scooby and Shaggy Get a Clue and The 7D. He also directed another Looney Tunes direct to video movie, Bah Humduck: A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006). James T. Walker has had a long career as an animation timing director having worked on many TV shows for Hanna-Barbera, Disney and Warner Brothers Animation (including The Looney Tunes Show and New Looney Tunes) as well as many direct to video movies starring the likes of Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo and many of the DC superheroes. All three of these directors had worked with Sylvester and Tweety previously in the excellent TV series, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries.  

The credited writers are Tom Minton, Tim Cahill and Julie McNally Cahill. Tom Minton has worked as a writer and storyboard artist on such TV shows as Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Tiny Tunes Adventures, Animaniacs, Baby Looney Tunes, Duck Dodgers, Tom and Jerry Tales, Littlest Pet Shop and New Looney Tunes. The husband-and-wife team of Tim Cahill and Julie McNally Cahill have worked on such shows as Animaniacs, Histeria, Baby Looney Tunes and The Tom and Jerry Show. They are credited as developing the TV series Littlest Pet Shop as well and they also worked on the direct to video movies Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2001) and Baby Looney Tunes: Eggs-traordinary Adventure (2003). Again all of these writers worked on the TV series The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, making this movie a spiritual successor to that wonderful TV show.

Like most Looney Tunes movies, this film benefits from a very strong voice cast. The majority of the major Looney Tunes characters were voiced by Joe Alaskey. He provided the voices for Tweety, Sylvester, Bugs, Daffy, Marvin, Colonel Rimfire, Henry Hawk and Pepe Lew Pew among others. Alaskey is best known for his work with the Looney Tunes characters, however his voice acting career is more varied than that. He voiced Plucky Duck in Tiny Toons Adventures, Grandpa Lou in Rugrats, Droopy in the direct to video Tom and Jerry movies, Stinkie in Casper (1995) and even Richard Nixion in Forest Gump (1994). He did not voice Yosemite Sam, despite having voiced that character previously in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Tiny Tune Adventures. Sam was instead voiced by Jim Cummings, who also voiced Taz, Rocky, Hubie and Cool Cat. Cummings is probably best known for his work at Disney, where he has voiced Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Pete in a wide variety of films and TV shows. Cartoons fans might also know him for voicing Cat in CatDog and the Powerpuff Girls villain Fuzzy Lumpkins. Jeff Bennett voiced Foghorn Leghorn and Bertie. Bennett is probably best known as the voice of Johnny Bravo. He also voiced The Joker in Batman: Brave and the Bold. The voice of the abominable snowman and Mugsy as well as various animal sounds were provided by Frank Welker. Welker has been the voice of Fred in the Scooby-Doo franchise since 1969 and in 2002 became the voice of Scooby as well. He is also known as the voice of Megatron in many entries in the Transformers franchise. He is also an expert at making animal sounds and his animal sounds can be heard in such shows as The Simpsons, Dexter's Laboratory, Rugrats, Futurama and Superman: The Animated Series. June Foray voices Granny and Stan Freberg voice Pete Puma. They had both voiced these characters in classic theatrical cartoon shorts (or short in the case of Pete Puma). Kath Soucie returns as the voice of Lola after voicing her in Space Jam (1996). T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (better known for her live action roles in the TV shows, That's So Raven, Cosby and In Living Color) voices the new character Aoogah. Other voice artists in this film are provided by Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNeille, Pat Musick, Julie Bernstein, Steven Bernstein and Elizabeth Lamers.

This movie was released on VHS on September 12, 2000, and later to DVD on September 11, 2007. Even though I like this film, it has not exactly been a fan favorite. It has a 55% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (there are no critic reviews) and a 5.7/10 score on IMDB. 

The same year this movie was released there was a video game adaption for the Game Boy Color. This video game was a simple platformer, where players can play as Tweety and travel ten different locations looking for putty tat pawprints. The game received lukewarm reviews with many reviewers considering it visually appealing but formulaic. It is too bad I didn't have this game as a kid (which I was a kid at the time of its release) because I could picture kid me playing this game a lot, when I see videos of it online.