Eric Stevenson
This was the first feature length "Looney Tunes" movie made. The fourth one was actually titled "Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie", but this is still technically the original. It features various Looney Tunes cartoons which were done in the other movies. I generally don't watch documentaries, but I'll make an exception for this, because it focused on narrative in the Looney Tunes series. Unlike the other films, this one was done with live-action bits between the cartoons. Judging from the title, it's mostly about Bugs Bunny, but does talk about the franchise in general and features about 23 minutes of new material.The best part might have been hearing how Mel Blanc had to spit out carrots after every take. It is false that he was allergic to them. He just hated them! There's no cartoons after 1949, presumably because that's the year Leon Schlesinger died. Apart from Mel Blanc, he worked on more Looney Tunes cartoons than anyone else in history, even more than Chuck Jones or Friz Freleng. He was the producer and not the director, which is probably why he's not remembered as much. ****
preppy-3
Documentary on the creators of Looney Tunes and how they created the various characters. Intespersed are some great cartoons--6 Bugs Bunny ones, a Tweety Bird one, a Foghorn Leghorn one and a Porky Pig and Daffy one.
The documentary is narrated by Orson Welles (!!!!). It might have seemed like a good idea but his deep, heavy voice and total inability to tell a joke correctly really dampens it. There are some interesting little tidbits about Looney Tunes--how they were originally made just for adults and how there was a big outcry when people realized Tweety Bird was naked (!!!). But the real reason to see this are the cartoons. They're in great shape in strong, bright colors. Also they show ones that don't usually appear at other retrospectives--I only recognized 2 of the Bugs Bunny ones. All of them are great but "Carny Concereto" and "Rhapsody Rabbit" are exceptional.
Ignore the docu stuff and concentrate on the cartoons. Lots of fun!
KDWms
I'm surprised to read so few comments about Bugs Bunny, Superstar. So I'll chime in. Besides, it'll give me som'in' positive to say. They're all here - not just Bugs. This nine-cartoon compilation also features Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Silvester, Henry-the-Chicken-Hawk, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky, Daffy. It's kind of a "Best of." I thought that it was very, very good. There is some narration by Orson Welles and the difficult-to-pull-off segue from cartoon to cartoon is filled by interesting home-movie-type, black-and-white glimpses of how it was where the comics were created - the people behind the characters - the artists, the musicians, the voice (singular - Mel Blanc). But imagine this: I didn't hear the word "computer" during the entire film! This is one of the few videos that I would actually buy - I could watch it over and over. Must be the kid in me. Speaking of kids, I'll bet there's generations of 'em, the majority of whom have seen Bugs, Elmer, Porky, Daffy, Tweety, Sylvester. But I'll also bet that the majority of CURRENT cartoons are NOT known from generation to generation. Might that be a testament to how deservingly enduring these Looney Toons are?
Nolan Price
I am 34 years old and I watched this movie for the first time today with my two boys. It has been a long time since I have laughed this hard at a show. The boys thought I was just as funny because I would tell them about my childhood days while we watched. Family entertainment and quality time together...you cannot beat it!
AD
