Le Monde fou, fou, fou de Bugs Bunny

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.

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.

I do like these compilation films a lot, my favourites being QuackBusters and Bugs Bunny/Road-runner Movie. Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie is entertaining but it is rather uneven too, part of the reason why this is my least favourite of the Looney Tunes compilation films.

I admit I quite liked Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie's story structure, which is done in the equivalent of three acts. Act 1 involves Yosemite Sam and the Devil. I confess I dislike Devil's Feud Cake as a cartoon intensely finding it unfunny, unoriginal and little more than recycled material. However, it served perfectly as a premise and in the context of this film, and the result is actually is an entertaining, well-timed and in general well-edited segment, if rather high on predictability.

Act 2 focuses on Bugs and Rocky. For me this was the least effective of the segments making up the film's structure. Nothing's wrong with it as such, it is very clever and funny and less predictable than the previous segment. What lets it down, is that as an overall segment it is not as well-timed or edited. What elevates it though are the spoofs based on the Untouchables and the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg, which were among the highlights of the film.

To coin the phrase save the best until last. That is the case with the last act. Using an Oscar awards ceremony as the premise of the segment, it is quite a vicious but overall hilarious satire. And also I think the best animation of the film is in this segment.

The animation is mostly good, more in the cartoons featured than in the links, but there are some inconsistencies. The links sometimes do look cheap and lack the feel of the original shorts, something they'd perfect later. While the cartoons are beautifully animated mostly, there is one exception, and that's Devil's Feud Cake, it does look cheap compared to the rest and in all honesty despite having a cool idea and that it has Bugs and Sam in it it is one of the main reasons why I don't like that cartoon.

The music however is absolutely wonderful, the writing funny and witty and the sight gags in general fresh and inventive. The cartoons(Devil's Feud Cake excepted) range to good to outstanding, High Diving Hare and Birds Anomynous belonging in the outstanding category, while the characters are delightful. Bugs is undoubtedly the star, but that is not to dispute Rocky and Yosemite who are both excellent as well. The voice acting especially from Mel Blanc is brilliant. All in all, nice and entertaining but it was lacking a tad for me. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I've never seen a Looney Tunes movie better edited than this one. The new footage in this film is worthless, but the first two acts are well enough edited to win an award for best editing. I don't really like the new footage in Act I, but it doesn't take away the excitement of the good editing.

***1/2 out of 4 stars.