All the Looney Tunes Films

(The shortened opening)

NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to. Looney Tunes are awesome!

(Cut to a clip of What's Opera, Doc?)

NC (vo): While everyone compared Disney to classical music...

(Cut to a clip of Speedy Gonzales, a 1955 short)

NC (vo): ...Looney Tunes were definitely jazz.

(Cut to a shot of Woody Woodpecker)

NC (vo): Some studios had the animation, but not really the writing.

(Cut to a shot of Rocky and Bullwinkle)

NC (vo): Other studios had the writing, but not really the animation.

(Cut to a montage of clips of Looney Tunes cartoons)

NC (vo): Looney Tunes had both; they had memorable characters, hilarious slapstick, and wonderful routines that are still remembered just as much as classic Greek mythology.

(Cut to an image of Bugs Bunny)

NC (vo): Like, the stories of Bugs Bunny could be retold...

(Cut to an image of a sculpture of Hercules)

NC (vo): ...as many times as Hercules.

(Cut to an image of Daffy Duck)

NC (vo): Or the stories of Daffy Duck could be told...

(Cut to an image of a bust of Zeus)

NC (vo): ...as many times as... this guy.

NC: (slapping his hands on the desk) You see?! Even Greek mythology has nothing on these guys! Or maybe...

(Cut to a poster for the Disney version of Hercules)

NC (vo): ...I just need to brush up on better sources.

NC: Bottom line: I love the Looney Tunes! But, something that's not often talked about are the Looney Tunes movies.

(Cut to a montage of clips from the movies in question: first, a variety of clip show films, such as The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie and Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island, among others)

NC (vo): Yeah, they're just kinda brushed aside as glorified clip shows, which is understandable in some respects, but it's still a lot of great animators and classic directors taking another stab at the characters they made iconic.

(Cut to footage of two later films: Space Jam and Looney Tunes Back In Action)

NC (vo): And we did get more high-budget movies down the line, too. In my opinion, they're still worth talking about.

NC: So today, we're gonna look at every Looney Tunes movie that has ever graced the silver screen!

NC (vo): The qualifications are, they have to have been released in cinemas, and there has to be some new animation that was created for the project. It can't be a direct-to-video film, and it also can't be just a compilation of anything else.

NC: With that said, let's take a look at the first Looney Tunes film...

(Cut to footage of the first Looney Tunes film...)

NC (vo): ...The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, directed by the legendary Chuck Jones in 1978. Why focus on Bugs Bunny and Road Runner in particular? Well, because those are the ones everyone claimed Chuck Jones did the best. So it makes sense to have them at the center.

NC: Now, keep in mind, VHS was not really around much yet.

NC (vo): So if you wanted to see Looney Tunes, you just had to wait for them to come on TV, and even then, it was just kind of random episodes. This was the first time you could see a specific group of the cartoons all together; specifically, the works of one of the greatest directors. To tie them together, they animated new footage of Bugs Bunny from his Frank Lloyd Wright-style home, introducing each short with a brief narration. He references the animators who created him, a brief history of chase comedy – that only a cartoon character could make up, and even some of the brief themes of why these shorts still hold up. It's kinda nice seeing Bugs more relaxed in between the shorts, like he's lived this whole adventurous life and now he's just reminiscing about it. It levels out, though, with some of the greatest cartoons and timing and energy to ever hit the screen, balancing calm and subdued with wild and insane perfectly. It's definitely worth checking out, especially if you're a Chuck Jones fan.

NC: But another great Bugs Bunny director named Friz Freleng thought his adventures shouldn't be over; they should keep going.

(Cut to footage of the next Looney Tunes film, The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie)

NC (vo): So he took over the next several Looney Tunes films, beginning in 1981 with The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie. While this was also a compilation of classic cartoons, it tried to weave more of a narrative. It weaves kind of like an anthology, this time focusing on Friz Freleng's greatest hits. The first act focuses on Yosemite Sam cartoons. He's trying to bargain his way out of Hell, with the devil saying he'll let him go if he has Bugs take his place. As you'd imagine, a many hating of rabbits ensues. The second act focuses on a parody of The Untouchables. These mostly focused on shorts with Rocky and Mugsy. They're popular gangster characters Bugs always takes down. The final part is an awards show known as the Oswalds, satirizing the Oscars. Kind of like the previous movie, this shows the characters in a more relaxed environment, which, of course, results in them being anything but relaxed, ending in Bugs and Daffy inevitably duking it out in who deserves the award more. Now, the downside some people have pointed out with some of these clip movies is that the narrative changes the structure of the joke.

(Cut briefly to the previous movie)

NC (vo): With the first one, Bugs introduces a cartoon untouched.

(Cut back to the second movie)

NC (vo): But here, there's extra endings and intros that alter the original cartoons' intent. A gimmick that really dies hard (a shot of the poster for Batman: The Killing Joke is briefly displayed) in Warner Bros. animation. But to this one's credit, sometimes the jokes are made a little funnier. In the original cartoon Golden Yeggs, it ends with Daffy having to fill up several cartons with a surprising new gift of laying golden eggs. It the original, it just kinda stops here, but in the movie, you actually see him do it! And the reaction is pretty funny!

Bugs: Is there anything we can get for you, old chap?

Daffy: Yes! Get me a p-p-proctologist! Right away!

NC (vo): On top of that, we still have the originals we can watch, and it's nice to see these characters' stories kind of grouped together, particularly characters who aren't as big as names as Rocky and Mugsy.

NC: The film did so well that they quickly rushed out another one the very next year with

NC (vo): A 1001 Rabbit Tales. This is the first one to have only one narrative throughout the entire film. But, given that they still have to squeeze in the shorts, it's pretty disjointed as you'd expect. Bugs and Daffy are not books salesmen, who are trying to ccompete for who can sell the most books.