In 1979, Warner Bros. finally released a feature-length film centered around Bugs Bunny. And while \u201cThe Bugs Bunny\/Road Runner Movie\u201d had a few problems, its arrival in theaters signaled a commercial potential that the studio had overlooked for too long.
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Unlike the 1975 independently produced \u201cBugs Bunny Superstar,\u201d \u201cThe Bugs Bunny\/Road Runner Movie\u201d did not mix live action documentary footage with classic cartoons. Instead, director\/producer Chuck Jones created new animation to bridge the presentation of the vintage animation \u2013 or to be specific, a selection of post-1948 cartoons that were not part of the collection sold to Associated Artists Production two decades earlier. The new animation featured Bugs giving the viewer a tour of his luxury home and recalling his career on the big screen.<\/p>\n
Jones was clearly still pissed over Bob Clampett\u2019s domination of \u201cBugs Bunny Superstar\u201d (even though Clampett mentioned Jones was a \u201cgenius\u201d). In his film, the new footage of Bugs Bunny includes a brief mention of his \u201cfathers\u201d \u2013 Jones, Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Michael Maltese, and Mel Blanc, with Clampett conspicuously omitted.<\/p>\n
But Jones took the diva act one step higher by only including classic cartoons that he directed in this production. Thus, characters that were staples of the post-1948 output from the Freleng and McKimson units (including Yosemite Sam, Tweety and Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn and Speedy Gonzales) are noticeably absent from the line-up.<\/p>\n
Still, what remains is a collection of bona fide classic shorts, albeit with some minor editing here and there. Included are “Duck Amuck,” “What’s Opera, Doc?” and “Operation: Rabbit.” The film wraps up with a 19-minute \u201cThat\u2019s Entertainment!\u201d-style presentation of 31 gags from 17 cartoons featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bugs Bunny\/Road Runner Movie\u201d snagged a slot at the 1979 New York Film Festival, earning positive reviews that were leveraged for a successful commercial release and the encouragement for more Bugs Bunny features.<\/p>\n
Oh, an interesting trivia tidbit: the film was originally produced as \u201cThe Great American Chase\u201d and was test marketed in April and May of 1979 in a few cities with that title. But the film flopped in that test, hence the rebranding as \u201cThe Bugs Bunny\/Road Runner Movie.\u201d And if you watch this trailer of \u201cThe Great American Chase,\u201d you\u2019ll get a lesson in how not to market a film:<\/p>\n