Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie

This is a decent, at times uproarious Warner Bros. cartoon compilation, with all the beloved characters delivering the expected laughs. It showcases some classic moments for legendary animator Friz Freleng, while linking it all together with new material.

Bugs kicks off the proceedings by introducing the short that won Freleng an Oscar, "Knighty Knight Bugs", in which the unflappable rabbit sets out to steal back the wondrous "Singing Sword" from the dastardly Black Knight (a.k.a. Yosemite Sam).

From there the action is divided into three acts: "Satan's Waiting", in which great Bugs vs. Sam moments are interwoven into a tale of Sam desperately trying to weasel his way out of Hell by offering Satan a replacement. Sam was always my favorite Looney Tune character, and watching him stew and rant and persistently try to get back at Bugs is hilarious stuff.

"The Unmentionables" prominently features gangster character Rocky, as Bugs plays Eliot Ness parody Elegant Mess, crack Federal agent assigned to bring him down. Warner Bros. had had such success with gangster classics like "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy", so it was only natural for them to use the Looney Tunes to make fun of this particular genre. This is fun stuff, but this viewers' least favorite segment of the movie.

Finally, we get to a cracking conclusion, "The Oswald Awards", a spot on skewering of Hollywood awards shows. The rivalry between Bugs and foul tempered Daffy Duck reaches a real fever pitch here. There's some good material with Sylvester and Tweety, and viewers are treated to an especially amusing short, "The Three Little Bops", which offers up a catchy ditty / spin on the old Three Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf tale.

It's still a treat to revisit these cartoon characters years later as an adult. Of course, with age and experience, one does appreciate more than just the priceless visual gags. There's some good material for adults, too, ex. a knight named "Sir Osis of the Liver".

Overall, a reasonably sharp and pretty funny collection of Looney Tunes insanity.

Seven out of 10.

In a three-act presentation, Bugs Bunny presents some old stories in a modern film. Act I sees Yosemite Sam deep in Hell with Satan. His only way out is to replace himself with another victim - and he picks Bugs bunny. Satan lets him out of Hell for several attempts to capture Bugs. In act II we see crime waves at a new high and Elegant Mess (Bugs) trying to stop the activities of mobster Rocky. In act III, the Oswald Awards (Warner Brothers gave up on trying to win an Oscar and thus made these instead) are presented to the actors who have made the most difference in the world of animation - an award that Daffy would give his beak to get.

I love the Warner Brother cartoons a great deal and will use any excuse I can get to watch the cartoons if I'm around - whether it be a hangover cure or entertaining kids when babysitting, I'll generally give them a try and find them funny. With this being a `proper' movie I felt I needed no such excuse and decided to sit and just watch it. Very quickly I realised that this cartoon was a barely concealed attempt to just show about 8 or 9 cartoons that had been edited together to roughly fit within each act. Of these cartoons, 4 or 5 are worth seeing, 1 or 2 are pretty poor and 2 are really great so, for my money, the film was just about worth watching. I have seen most of these cartoons before and my reviews are up for them on their specifics pages so I won't review them aside from my last comment, however what spoils them is the modern touches.

Most of the linking stuff is poor at best and doesn't really work. The animation is of a noticeably lower quality and it is forced to fit the cartoons they had available. The `stories' are pretty poor and it would have been much better just to do this as a sort of flashback film where the cartoons are just honestly presented rather than twisted. The cartoons are trimmed to fit the story but, worse than this, there are points where they have been undated to get rid of violence. The worst is the bit where Bugs throws a can up to shot it and ends up shooting Sam in the face - here they remove that and have him shot the can full of corks. Rubbish.

Overall this is just about worth seeing because the majority of the cartoons are enjoyable. However the presentation spoils some of them and is really stupid and disrespectful to the material. If this is your only way to see these cartoons then it is worth it but the question would be why not just go out and rent any of the dvd/video compilations that already exist and enjoy them as they were rather than as part of this last compilation.

Friz Freleng's "Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" is an excellent followup to Chuck Jones' "Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie" which itself was a surprisingly good feature. This film follows the same formula as the 1979 film: classic shorts are combined with new bridging material to create a new feature.

Freleng's film is even better than the Jones film. The structure is actually very clever for a cartoon. Freleng divides his film into three parts. The first part showcases Freleng's classic Yosemite Sam/Bugs Bunny shorts. The story is that Sam makes a deal with the Devil to bring Bugs to hell. Included here is Sam vs Bugs in Rome (with the classic scene where Sam crosses the lions pit on stilts and Bugs tosses tools to the lions)and the unbearably funny short where Bugs impersonates Granny to save her fortune from a lecherous Sam. This segment is so well edited and timed that it could work as an episode of a Bugs Bunny sitcom.

Part Two showcases Freleng's Rocky shorts, the small gangster who Bugs tangles with. It's funny, but a comedown from the previous segment. Still, as a spoof of "The Untouchables" and "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" (with Daffy Duck as the goose), it scores.

Part Three is the best of them all. "The Oswald Awards" is a vicious satire of the Oscars. The ceremony, undeserved wins, the false glamour, it's all here. Included here are four of Freleng's all time best shorts: Birds Anonymous (the best Tweety/Sylvester cartoon), Three Little Bops (in its' entirety), High Diving Hare and Show Biz Bugs, the definitive Bugs/Daffy showdown with a memorable finale.

This is an enormously entertaining movie. Kids will love it because of the onscreen antics of Bugs Bunny and his cohorts. Adults will love the hidden injokes and innuendos that are laced in these cartoons. True, while it is better to view them as individual shorts, this works extremely well for a compliation and it is better to see them this way than to not see them at all.

**** out of 4 stars

I personally wouldn't say that "The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" was the best Looney Tunes compilation ever, but it's still pretty entertaining. It starts with "Knighty Knight Bugs" (in which Bugs tries to steal the Singing Sword from black night Yosemite Sam), and then Bugs explains that the cartoon was directed by Friz Freleng, who directed this movie. In fact, Friz got an Oscar, but Bugs only got a carrot.

Then, we go the compilations: Yosemite Sam tries to kill Bugs but keeps getting sent to Hell (Satan is only too happy about this); Bugs becomes a cop and busts gangsters Rocky and Mugsy; and then, an Oscars-style awards ceremony at which the characters arrive in the most ostentatious limos imaginable. Nominees include the wolf and three little pigs ("Three Little Bops"), Sylvester and Tweety ("Birds Anonymous"), and others. But sure enough, Daffy believes that he and only he can win...or can he? I guess that if I have a problem with what they portray here, it's that the whole thing seems sort of like self-congratulation. Then again, the Looney Tunes cartoons often made fun of Hollywood - just look at "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" - so they might be poking fun at the pomp and opulence inherit in the numerous award ceremonies every year.

Overall, I pretty much liked "TLLLBBM". As far as I'm concerned, as long as they still had Mel Blanc providing the characters' voices, it was worth seeing. Still, I can't help but wonder why they stressed Friz Freleng's cartoons; they should have had at least something about Chuck Jones's works.

All in all, pretty worthy.

Yet another quick job by the Warner Bros. studio to get the 1980s crowd interested in their cartoons. "The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" is just a set of old cartoons from the post-World War II era that becomes linked by some new animation. Once again I have nothing against the cartoons, but they just seem out of their element in cinematic form. Kids go out and get some fresh air instead. 2.5 out of 5 stars.