Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers

Hey "oscaralbert --any words you don't understand are probably Yiddish! Which "nudnik" definitely is! It means an annoying person, someone who persistently bothers you, with questions and such. So the cartoon appears to be a swipe at someone or something they found annoying.

Weak parody of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Call me a stick in the mud but the newer Looney Tunes cartoons stink to high heaven. By "newer," I of course mean those made decades after the originals without the creative genius and talent of the people involved in making those classics. I have yet to see one of these cartoons that made me laugh or feel anything other than a longing for the older shorts. This is made worse here by the regurgitation of gags from the old cartoons. The characters (Bugs, Elmer, Daffy, Yosemite Sam) all feel like impersonations of their former selves. The animation is unimpressive and generic. The voicework from Jeff Bergman is passable but, again, feels like impersonations rather than the real thing. The new music is dreadful.

This is a tired, forgettable short. It lacks the humor, intelligence, and charm of the classic Looney Tunes. I do believe the people who made this were fans of the originals. I want to be positive because of that but I can't. Before you accuse me of not giving any new stuff a chance, let me point out something. At the same time this waste was being produced, Tiny Toon Adventures was on TV. That series was funny and had more in common with what made the classic cartoons work than this lame imitation. This is a boring, lifeless cartoon that spends so much effort on imitation that it misses the point of Looney Tunes entirely.

"Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers" is a funny parody of "Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers." I've only seen the classic 1956 version of the latter, but that didn't keep me from enjoying this Looney mini-movie.

Like the film it parodies, "Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers" is about a guy against alien copycats. In both films, the main character (in this case, Bugs Bunny) knows that his life is relatively routine (outsmart Elmer Fudd, cross Yosemite Sam, etc.) But one day, strange pods pop up out of nowhere, and the next day the same people have different attitudes; paler, but friendlier (and in this case, animated differently.) In a thrilling and slightly creepy climax, Bugs has to fight off his copy and bring back his original friends.

Bugs has his great one-liners, ("There's one for Ripley's...") but my favorite part is how extravagantly animated the Daffy replacement is. At one point, he's as jerky as Rocky and Bullwinkle, and the next minute his mouth is moving too smoothly for comfort.

I've been a fan of the REAL Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons for over 55 years. I know a "Good" one from a "Bad" one. THIS one, "Invasion of The Bunny Snatchers", rates in the "Good" category (if the only categories are "Good" and "Bad") among those made after the demise of the original Warner Animation Department. In fact, this one was made about 18 years after Warner's HAD no Animation Department. Just the fact that Greg Ford & Terry Lennon were able to get enough talented people together to make this cartoon is amazing in itself. But the fact that the characters even LOOK right (something the so-called "Warner Classic Animation Division" of today can't seem to do) is a testament to the people who made this cartoon. And for the bozo who said "The music was terrible" in his review, obviously had NO IDEA what he was listening to. The music in this cartoon was VERY cleverly edited from the raw orchestra tracks of Lord-knows-how-many EXISTING Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons! The only exceptions to this are a few solo piano tracks - one or two taken from existing cartoons, and the other couple of them were ACTUALLY RECORDED FOR THIS ONE! However, NO ORCHESTRA WAS HIRED FOR THIS CARTOON. All the orchestra tracks you hear, you've most likely heard before, with the exception of the closing credits music, "Little Kids Shouldn't Smoke", which was written for a 1930s Porky Pig cartoon, although this beautifully orchestrated version was written many years after the song was written. If you consider that essentially NONE of the original "Looneys" who made well over 90% of the existing cartoons from Leon Schlesinger Productions and then Warner Bros. Animation worked on this cartoon, I'd say this one is BRILLIANT!!!

This is a unfunny spoof of the far superior 1956 film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". The makers of this short seem to be confused about the difference between violence and hilarity. Sure, senseless violence can be funny, but here it is tedious and serves only as a reminder of how it has been done better so many times before.

"Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers" is not a terrible toon; it just doesn't live up to previous toons and the film it spoofs. For an hilarious spoof, watch "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century".