During the course of “A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court” (later retitled “Bugs Bunny in King Arthur’s Court”), Yosemite Sam becomes so annoyed with an excessively verbose Bugs that he yells at him to shut up. The poor viewer watching this made-for-television special may have the urge to share that angry sentiment with all of the on-screen characters. This Chuck Jones-devised mess is one of the most obnoxiously talkative animation productions ever made.
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One month after “Bugs Bunny in Space” premiered on CBS, another prime-time special with the Looney Tunes crew turned up: “Bugs Bunny’s Howl-O-Ween Special.” I was 13 when it premiered on October 26, 1977, and at the time I was appalled by the haphazard sloppiness of the presentation. I just watched it again for the first time since that initial viewing and my negative opinion has not changed.
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“Bugs Bunny in Space” was hastily assembled to cash in on the unprecedented audience frenzy created by “Star Wars,” which premiered three months before this half-hour television special was broadcast.
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“Bugs Bunny’s Easter Special” marked the launch of a string of prime-time television specials that sliced-and-diced Golden Age cartoons with new animation into productions tied around a specific theme. In this case, the theme was Easter – the secular aspect of the holiday, not the religious celebration (thus, we never get to hear Bugs say, “I knew I shouldn’t have taken that left turn at Nazareth”).
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The 1976 made-for-television special “Bugs and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals” marked the first time since “False Hare” in 1964 that an original production starring Bugs Bunny was created by Warner Bros. Why did it take 12 years for Warner Bros. to bring Bugs back? And why did Warner Bros. wait until 1976 to produce an original prime time special featuring its animated characters?
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In December 1975, the feature-length documentary “Bugs Bunny Superstar” had its theatrical premiere. The film was conceived as a behind-the-scenes look at the rise of the Warner Bros. animation unit that was informally known as Termite Terrace. But “Bugs Bunny Superstar” was not a Warner Bros. production. Instead, it was independently produced by first-time filmmaker Larry Jackson through his Hare-Raising Films company and released by United Artists.
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Bugs Bunny’s first theatrical film since “False Hare” in 1964 was “A Political Cartoon,” an independently produced short released in 1974. Filmmakers James K. Morrow and Joe Adamson licensed Bugs Bunny from Warner Bros., while Mark Kausler animated the character to resemble his mid-1940s appearances and Mel Blanc provided his inimitable voice.
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