ग्रेट अमेरिकन चेस

Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) looks back upon the history of comedy itself, his own career, and the careers of his various colleagues and co-stars as he takes us on a tour consisting of a showcase of classic cartoon shorts interwoven together through a loose narrative.

The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie is a 1979 compilation film directed by Chuck Jones consisting of repackages of classic Looney Tunes shorts. Made for approximately $500,000, the film was a combination of original footage directed by Jones to serve as linking material between the shorts as a celebration of Bugs Bunny's then 40 year anniversary. While Warner Bros. Was initially uncertain whether or not the film would be released directly to television, the movie was given a theatrical release upon completion and while exact box office records are unavailable it did do reasonably well at Guild Theatre in New York City where it set a house record opening day. The movie in the era of streaming where the individual cartoons are widely available doesn't quite pack the punch it once did, but there is a sense of reverence and history that comes from the film that makes it worth viewing especially for Looney Tunes completionists.

The movie is framed with Bugs lounging around his luxurious mansion (a parody of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" house in Bear Run, Pennsylvania) wearing a smoking jacket as he takes us through the various paintings adorning the walls of his home which serve as springboards into the various cartoons interwoven into the plot. Following an amusing tongue in cheek explanation on the history of comedy that goes from the Universes origin of the big bang, to prehistoric times and eventually the silent film era, Bugs Bunny then goes through various points of history such as discussing his "many fathers" which was made by Jones as a way of rebuking Bob Clampett's claims of him having been solely responsible for Bugs Bunny's origin all the way through to Bugs Bunny regaling us with the greatest adventures with his co-stars. In a way the movie feels like you're catching up with an old friend who's telling you what you may have missed in the interim and it's a pleasant experience to say the least. The final stretch of the film is fifteen minutes of Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner shorts tied end to end from different cartoons and largely abandons the Bugs Bunny framing device as we just go from backfiring Road Runner trap to backfiring Road Runner trap and this is probably the weakest part of the film as the Wile E. Coyote cartoons while good do follow a predictable rhythm that works best in small doses and it becomes rather tiresome when it goes on for three times longer than it was intended to.

The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie is an interesting time capsule of a film that works as a celebratory milestone of the endearing appeal of the Looney Tunes characters and a reflection upon their storied history. Following the advent of Home Media and especially streaming making individual shorts more widely available the point of this film and others of the same genre has largely been left extinct and by the cultural wayside, but there's an endearing charm to this first film.

I personally enjoy the Looney Tunes compilation films, coming from a huge fan of the Looney Tunes cartoons. I hadn't seen this in a while until just about two days ago, but thought could it be better than Daffy Duck's QuackBusters?. My overall conclusion is that while Daffy Duck's QuackBusters has the best storyline I think The Bugs Bunny/Road-Runner Movie despite the misleading title is the most entertaining of the compilation films.

I've often seen these compilation films criticised for cutting/shortening the original cartoons. I admit it, they do, however I don't personally see this as a problem as such. Besides, I was busy being delighted at how many cartoons and Looney Tunes characters there were to savour.

Bugs is the star of the cartoon, and a wonderful job is done to keep him true to the characterisation immortalised in the original cartoons. And fans of either Daffy and Porky, I am of the former and quite like the latter although he is often sidelined, will be delighted to know they have plenty of screen time. Elmer is a delight to watch in the cartoons he's featured in, and likewise with the Road-Runner and Wile E.Coyote.

Spotting the original cartoons are a sheer delight. A vast majority of them are masterpieces, Operation:Rabbit, Long-Haired Hare, What's Opera Doc, Duck Amuck and Duck Dodgers in the 24.5 Century to name a few, and there are some very, very good ones like Bully for Bugs, For Scent-imental Reasons(possibly my personal favourite of the Pepe Le Pew cartoons) and Ali Baba Bunny. The Road-Runner and Coyote cartoons as an overall series is uneven but when they are good they are really good, some of the ones featured are so to speak Zoom and Bored and Zip N Snort spring to mind. The highlight of the film though is the long but very energetic and spirited chase that thankfully does have the classic feel of the originals.

The story is fast-paced and entertaining with seldom a dull spot. The animation is spot on both in the original cartoons and the links, which is an achievement because I remember 1001 Rabbit Tales and Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie having animation that was somewhat inconsistent in comparison.

The music is full of energy and liveliness, the writing is witty, fresh and hilarious very often and the sight gags are inventive. Not to mention the voice work, Mel Blanc voicing all the Looney Tunes characters except for Elmer gives a truly bravura performance here. Overall, hugely entertaining. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This compilation of classic WB short cartoons is (expectedly) highly uneven, but generally enjoyable. Among the highlights: Bugs Bunny as a vengeful symphony conductor, he and Daffy Duck arguing about whether it's "duck season" or "rabbit season" (this sketch has a hilarious punchline), the surrealistic (and also somewhat sadistic!) "Duck Amuck", etc. The final "Road Runner" segment does go on a little too long. Overall, this is a nice way to spend 95 minutes mindlessly and painlessly, and also a good opportunity to see some of those shorts that you may have missed on TV. (**1/2)

Finally I got to see what I always wanted to see, the compilation of the best short films of Looney Tunes, the best jokes, best scenes, best characters, all the best. Highly recommend.

"The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie" is a good example of the compliation film. It's one of those films that are a kind of Whitman's sampler that serves as a good introduction to a wide variety of short subjects. While it is true that these shorts are better seen in their original form, why trash these neat features? At least the Warners compliations are seamlessly edited and the bridging material is often above average.

It helps to know that this film was originally released as "The Great American Chase". In fact, that title is STILL in the film. It is in the opening 20 minute prologue that is engaging and original but irrelevant since the title was changed. Adults will forgive it, but from my own experiences (when I first saw the film 16 years ago on tape), kids will get restless.

But after that, we get to the good stuff. The film is a sampler of Chuck Jones' work, hence the title "Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie". Road Runner was Jones' creation as was Pepe Le Pew (both are featured in the film, but the Road Runner gets the bulk of the second half) and Jones reinvented Bugs Bunny in the 50s and 60s from his previous incarnations. There are many good shorts included in the film. Daffy Duck's battle with the animator and his brush. Bugs Bunny vs. Wile E. Coyote: Genius. Classic Road Runner/Wile E. footage. Bugs fights Marvin the Martian on Mars. I can't list them all, but you get the idea.

Most critics dislike these films because they cut the original shorts. But most of these shorts are edited by Cartoon Network for TV (for time and more recently, racial comments)and precious few are available on video. So we should be grateful that at least there is one way we can at least see these shorts in some format (very little is actually edited, most of the shorts are intact) We can see a lot worse these days.

**** out of 4 stars