Customer Reviews

Bugs Bunny Halloween Hijinks [VHS]

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I have long looked for a compilation of Loony Tune halloween cartoons. I recall from my childhood wonderful run-ins between Bugs Bunny and witches, abonable snowmen, and vampire-like creatures. Who can forget the episode when Daffy Duck was caught in a Mad Scientist's lab and was being chased a Dr. Jekyle/Mr. Hyde type. The ones I recall being my favorite were the ones with Porky Pig that had spooky themes. Where am I going with this? Just to say these wonderful episodes are NOT on this video. They simply take excerpts from some of those cartoon, link them together with some newer, poorer animation, and give you a very unsatisfactory sampling of what is out there. Someone please call Warner Brothers and plead with them to put out a good set of their spooky Loony Tune cartoons and to file this one away in file 13! I strongly recomend NOT buying this one.

I want to echo the other reviewers' comments on the absolutely awful new animation on this video, as well as add that the original creators of Bugs Bunny must be rolling over in their graves over the way new (HORRIBLE!) footage was spliced into our old favorites. The video box showed the Jekyll/Hyde and Bugs and Vampire (Hocus-cadabra!) cartoons, and this is what I thought I'd get. Wrong!! Not only did they chop up the old ones and add crummy new animation (Bugs Bunny looks like a saber-toothed rabbit in most of them), they changed the great vampire voice to the witch's, in order to connect it with a weak storyline.

In short, don't waste your time or money - even as a rental!!

In the animated-cartoon desert that was the 1970's, nearly the only way any "new" Bugs Bunny cartoons came about was when they were recycled via half-hour TV specials that strung together "classic" animation with inane storylines. Unfortunately, one of those specials occupies the second half of the Halloween-themed videocassette, Bugs Bunny's Halloween Hijinks.

Happily, the first half of the tape makes its purchase worthwhile. It compiles three late-1980's Looney Tunes cartoons that began the LT revival that has continued sporadically with theatrical short subjects (such as 1995's Carrotblanca) and the major feature Space Jam. These three cartoons were written and directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon, two animation buffs who exhaustively researched the Warner Bros. cartoon legacy in the '70s and then found themselves in the happy circumstances of being able to create some Looney Tunes of their own.

All three cartoons have horror-movie-spoof themes. The lead cartoon, Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (1990), not only plays off Invasion of the Body Snatchers but rethinks Bugs' usual battles (with Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and Daffy Duck) as a daily 9-to-5 grind to which he has to attend. In itself, that rethinking of the decades-long Bugs canon scores some points for its makers. The cartoon also cleverly uses the limited-animation concept (probably inspired by Warner Bros.' often notoriously low budgets for these 'toons) as part of the plot, as Elmer & Co. become, as Bugs puts it, "badly drawn" zombies.

The second cartoon, The Duxorcist (1987), was the one that made the news as the first new Looney Tunes short in 20 years. It's not quite a classic but certainly worthy, as Daffy in his element--winning over a limited-intellect blonde, sloping around like Groucho Marx--poses as a paranormalist trying to rid an apartment of some possessive ghosts.

The third cartoon, Night of the Living Duck (1988), shows comic-strip fan Daffy having a delusional dream where he works the room at a nightclub populated by famous monsters. Daffy finds help by gulping down a bottle of Eau de Torme, which gives him the dulcet tones of Mel Torme (who good-naturedly lent his croon to this cartoon). The short also borrows from Looney Tunes legend; the title of the song Daffy/Mel croons is Bugs's catchphrase, "Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives."

The tape's second half is the 1978 TV entry Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special. As previously stated, it compiles footage from the older Looney Tunes, and it has its moments. But rather than being memorable for its laughs, it's more watchable from a film-buff viewpoint, as you compare the smoothly drawn older cartoons with the ghastly latter-day "linking" footage. (In particular, in the new footage Bugs's front teeth look like something that wouldn't be out of place on The Lochness Monster's visage.)

Fortunately, the three cartoons that head the tape makes its purchase and viewing worth your time.

I have long looked for a collection of Loony Tunes that have a Halloween theme. I purchased this thinking I had finally found one. It was not the case. Rather than putting entire cartoons on the program, they have taken clips from old cartoons and strung them together to make only semi-coherent stories. I really wish Warner Brothers would put out a collection of classic spooky cartoon with the entire cartoons intact! This one is a big dissapointment.

I borrowed this tape from the library since I'm not old enough to order over the internet. The first half of the cartoon is better, since the 'Halloween Hijinks' is a spliced-together TV special. 'Creature Features' is funnier, with 3 cartoons. First cartoon is 'Invasion of the bunny snatchers' where carrots from space clone Bugs Bunny's enemies; the clones are really nice. Second is 'The duxorcist', where Daffy has an exorcism for a posessed lady. This cartoon was a new part of the movie Quackbusters, which was another spliced-together special. Third is 'Night of the living duck' where Daffy gets hit on the head and appears in a Monster's nightclub to sing. I liked this part of the video better. The other half is made from old cartoons and in some places doesn't make any sense. At one point the witch goes from green to white skin colour and Porky's voice turns into Bugs' voice for one line. You could buy this video, but turn off the VCR after the first half.

This "special" is so incredibly bad it could become a cult classic. Here are some things to look for;

*Porky's voice changing in mid-sentence
*The Witch's complexion changing from green to white
*Using the same exact animation for two Witch scenes
*Bugs Bunny inexplicably turning into an umpire

This is a festering piece of garbage. The people who attempted to "improve" these classic Looney Toons and Merrie Melodies should be deported and sterilized.

I saw this on Cartoon Network and it was very funny. It was a spoof on the pod people, but with carrots. The animation is just downright halarious at some points ( made on Nudnik ) you'll know what I mean when you see it. All of Bugs' rivals are in the film ( Yosimite Sam, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck ). This is a funny movie for any Bugs fan. Check it out.