Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers

"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 am a big Looney Tunes fan and have been for goodness knows how long. Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers, while as far as these cartoon spoofs go not as good as Carrotblanca and Duck Dodgers in the 24.5 Century, was very enjoyable and one of the better newer instalments. I did have mixed feelings on some of the animation though, the colours are beautiful and the characters even the intentionally badly-drawn impostors are drawn more than decently, however some of the background art lacks fluidity particularly in the Yosemite Sam segment and this could have been improved by some tighter editing. Also I thought I noticed an inconsistency; Elmer says something like "there's a wabbit down there, and I am trying to put him in wabbit stew" and that struck me as odd because I could have sworn Elmer was a vegetarian. That said, the story is a fun spoof on a classic film as well as having some distinctive lines and gags that you can recognise from the cartoons of the 40s and 50s and a very atmospheric and thrilling climax. Bugs has some wonderful one-liners, while I enjoyed seeing Elmer pointing his gun in Bugs' hole and Bugs and Yosemite crossing each other like they did in the old cartoons while they even manage to bring in the classic "Duck Season" "Rabbit Season" scene from Rabbit Fire here. The characters are great and in general stay true to their personas, Bugs steals the show, but Daffy and Yosemite fare best support wise. If there was one character I missed though considering the subject matter, it would be Marvin the Martian, he is a great character and quite underrated, and I think he would have been right at home if used. Jeff Bergman does a very worthy job considering he had huge shoes to fill voicing all the characters. All in all, fun and one of the better newer instalments. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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".

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!!!

I saw this cartoon on Nickelodeon back in 1996 and for many years thought I'd dreamed it up...before rediscovering it on the Boomerang channel last year. At least now I have it archived on good old VHS tape so I can prove its existence. Not only does this cartoon poke fun at the limited animation popular at the time, but it also pokes fun at *itself* and its Warner Bros predecessors. The fact that the folks at the studio didn't take their formula for success so seriously that they thought it was above parody (ha! Like anything is "above parody"!) is a wonderful breath of fresh air.