The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie

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.

Looking back at all of these Looney Tunes movies that were just compilations, I am starting to wonder if a full animated movie with all new material would have worked. Unfortunately, we never got to see that. If it was anything like the Tom and Jerry movie, it wouldn't have worked. This film features roughly 14 minutes of new material. Someone should make a compilation showing all the new stuff. It's divided into three parts, the best easily being the third.

It features Bugs Bunny hosting an awards show. They give us the Oscar winning "Knighty Knight Bugs" right from the get go as it was the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win one. It is odd how that isn't one of the more remembered "Looney Tunes" cartoons. Well, I personally don't think it's one of the best. Again, Leon Schelsinger was more prolific than Friz Freleng. Well, he was dead at this point. ***

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

The late and great Friz Freling was without a doubt one of Warner Brothers' best animation directors in the studio's history. With a total of 5 Oscars and 2 Emmys under his belt (according to the film) while working for the Warners, he has created some of the most memorable animated shorts in film history, such as the Oscar-winning short "Knighty Knight Bugs" and the incredibly jazzy "Three Little Bops". Since the success of Chuck Jones' "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie" in 1978, it would only be fair if director Friz Freling had his own showcase film featuring some of his best work with the studio, thus the creation of "The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" in 1981.

As I mentioned before, this film is a showcase of Friz Freling's best work while working for Warner Brothers Pictures. The difference however, between this and Jones' film is that story arcs are inserted in between the different shorts specifically chosen for this feature film. Because of this, the movie is split into three separate acts: "Satan's Waiting'", which focuses on Yosemite Sam's numerous failed attempts at catching/destroying Bugs, "The Unmentionables", which focuses primarily on shorts featuring the gangster Rocky, and finally "The Oswald Awards", which focuses on a fictional award ceremony specifically made for cartoon characters. In-between the shorts are animated story arcs made for the movie that are also directed by Freling, which is always welcome. However, a person who has viewed many a Looney Tunes short will notice that some of the shorts have been edited either for time constraints or to blend in with the current scenario, which I can understand. Thankfully, all of these shorts in their complete form can be found on numerous Looney Tunes compilation DVDs and Blu-Rays.

The main question is this, however, does this work in the movie's favor? The answer is a definite yes, because this is the studio's own special way of saying "thanks" to one of their own for their dedication and hard work that got them to where they're at today as a motion picture studio that specializes in entertaining audiences of all ages, and since Looney Tunes shorts are viewed by both children and adults all over the globe, this would work extremely well as a family feature. As a fan of animation myself, I really dug this flick. Anyone who is a dedicated fan of the Looney Tunes franchise will most likely enjoy this flick for what it is, and it is also a great addition for family movie nights.

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.