The less said about “Bugs Bunny’s Bustin’ Out All Over,” the better. This CBS-aired special was another Chuck Jones mess, with two of the worst Bugs Bunny shorts ever conceived plus a Road Runner romp that was strictly okay.
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Tag Archives: Chuck Jones
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
In 1979, Warner Bros. finally released a feature-length film centered around Bugs Bunny. And while “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie” had a few problems, its arrival in theaters signaled a commercial potential that the studio had overlooked for too long.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court (1978)
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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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bugs and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals (1976)
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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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Transylvania 6-5000 (1963)
Transylvania 6-5000 (1963)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Story by John Dunn
Animation by Bob Bransford, Tom Ray, Ken Harris, Richard Thompson
Music by Bill Lava
Bugs Bunny is burrowing his way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but winds up in Pittsburghe, Transylvania. After engaging in a brief conversation with a two-headed lady vulture, he ventures to an eerie castle (which he mistakes for a motel) in search of a telephone to call his travel agent. The castle belongs to the vampire Count Bloodcount, who convinces Bugs to spend the night. Unable to sleep, Bugs finds a book of magic phrases and begins to read them aloud, not realizing that he is changing Count Bloodcount into a bat and then back into his human form – always at the worst possible moment.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Mad as a Mars Hare (1963)
Mad as a Mars Hare (1963)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Story by John Dunn
Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Bob Bransford, Tom Ray, Harry Love
Music by Bill Lava
Marvin the Martian amuses himself by viewing the Earth through a telescope. He watches a rocket launch from the Florida peninsula – and within seconds, the spacecraft crashes through his observatory and lands on Mars. The rocket’s sole occupant is Astro-Rabbit Bugs Bunny, who claims the planet with a metal carrot-shaped canister that opens to wave a flag marked “Earth” and mechanized instruments that play “Yankee Doodle.” Marvin’s attempt to capture Bugs backfire when Bugs accidentally disintegrates him. Marvin tries again but uses one of his weapons incorrectly and turns Bugs into a behemothic “Neanderthal Rabbit” who crushes him.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Compressed Hare (1961)
Compressed Hare (1961)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Story by Dave Detiege
Animation by Bob Bransford, Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Tom Ray, Harry Love
Music by Milt Franklyn
“Compressed Hare” is one of the stronger Bugs Bunny cartoons to emerge in the early 1960s, with inventive gags and stylish animation that harkened back to the series’ halcyon days in the late 1940s and early 1950s. There is even a sampling of Raymond Scott’s instrumental “Powerhouse” that had been missing from the cartoon soundtracks for too many years.
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