The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie

Name	The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
Image
Director	Chuck Jones Phil Monroe Classic Cartoons: Chuck Jones Maurice Noble Tom Ray
Screenplay	Chuck Jones Michael Maltese
Story	Michael Maltese
Producer	Chuck Jones
Starring	Mel Blanc Stan Freberg Paul Julian Nicolai Shutorev Arthur Q. Bryan
Editing	Treg Brown
Music	Dean Elliott Milt Franklyn Carl W. Stalling William Lava John Seely
Production Companies	Chuck Jones Enterprises
Distributor	Warner Bros.
Released	1979-09-14
Runtime	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

Bugs Bunny takes audiences on a tour of his opulent mansion, delving into the rich history of comedic chase sequences that define the essence of Looney Tunes. As he showcases his lavish abode, Bugs reminisces about the pioneers of cartoon comedy and his famous adversaries, each contributing to the evolution of slapstick humor.

Throughout the tour, snippets from classic shorts highlight iconic rivalries from the Looney Tunes series. The final segment of the tour follows Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, blending snippets from multiple shorts into one pursuit.

As the tour concludes, Bugs looks out into the night sky, watching the Road Runner and Coyote as constellations engaged in their eternal chase.

Cartoons in order of appearance

Cartoons with Bugs Bunny and others

• Rabbit Seasoning (one brief scene only)
• Hare-Way to the Stars
• Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
• Robin Hood Daffy (shortened)
• Duck Amuck
• Bully for Bugs
• Ali Baba Bunny
• Rabbit Fire
• For Scent-imental Reasons (shortened)
• Long-Haired Hare (shortened)
• What's Opera, Doc?
• Operation: Rabbit (shortened)

Cartoons with Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote

• Hip Hip-Hurry! (Intro chase scene with mock-Latin names, the audio shot of dizzy and thinking Wile E. Coyote and the boulder attempt)
• Zoom and Bored (The scene where Wile E. gets tricked off a cliff and uses a jackhammer)
• To Beep or Not to Beep (lasso and catapult scenes)
• Zip 'N Snort (Human bow and arrow and the giant cannon scenes)
• Guided Muscle (Human bow and arrow scene and the slingshot scene)
• Stop! Look! And Hasten! (The road-wall scenes, ACME bird seed on bridge scene and the ACME leg muscle vitamins scene)
• Wild About Hurry (ACME giant rubber band scene)
• Going! Going! Gosh! (Slingshot scene and Wile E. Coyote disguising himself as a woman scene)
• Zipping Along (Human-cannonball scene and the wrecking ball scene)
• Whoa, Be-Gone! (Teeter-totter scene, the trampoline scene and the high wire structure and dons a wheel-head scene)
• Hot-Rod and Reel! (Trampoline scene)
• There They Go-Go-Go! (Rock avalanche scene)
• Scrambled Aches (Spring coil scene)
• Fast and Furry-ous (ACME super outfit scene)
• Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z (ACME Bat-Man's outfit scene)
• Hopalong Casualty (Earthquake pills scene)
• Beep Prepared (The ending scene where Wile E. uses an ACME little-giant do-it-yourself rocket sled)

Voice cast

• Mel Blanc – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Marvin The Martian, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew, Dr. I.Q High, Hassan
• Paul Julian – The Road Runner (archive sound)
• Arthur Q. Bryan – Elmer Fudd (archive sound)
• Nicolai Shutorev – Giovanni Jones (singing voice) (archive sound)
• Charlie Dog, The Instant Martians, Penelope Pussycat, and El Toro are seen but do not speak

Production notes

In the introductory segment, Bugs Bunny recounts his encounters with various antagonists from past cartoons. This is followed by a satirical overview of comedy history and a pivotal scene where Bugs addresses his "several fathers." Authored by Chuck Jones, this scene serves to refute claims made by animation director Bob Clampett in the 1970s that he solely created Bugs. Clampett's absence from Bugs' acknowledgments reflects the discord between Jones and Clampett.

The 1975 documentary film Bugs Bunny: Superstar prominently features Clampett and comprises a compilation of cartoon shorts, marking one of the earliest attempts to delve into the history of Warner Bros. cartoons. However, the film downplays Bugs' other creators, contributing to the ongoing conflict between Jones and Clampett. All shorts showcased in The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie are under the direction of Chuck Jones.

This film's fusion of vintage animated footage with new animation sets a precedent for subsequent theatrically released Looney Tunes movies until Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988). It is dedicated to the memory of Chuck Jones' late wife, Dorothy Webster, who died prior to the film's release.

Release

The film was released between April–May 1979 in some test markets as The Great American Chase. The film was shown at the 17th New York Film Festival on September 29, 1979, at Alice Tully Hall. The film opened at the Guild 50th Theatre on September 30, 1979. It set an opening-day record at the theater with a gross of $6,280.

Television

It aired on HBO, CBS, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.

Home media

Warner Home Video debuted The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie in VHS and Betamax formats in 1979, as part of its initial 20-title release (catalog number WB-1003). It was reissued in 1981 and also on CED the same year. In 1983, a corrected version was released on VHS and Betamax to address previous time-compression issues. Subsequent releases in 1986 reverted to time-compression until 1997.

On February 3, 1998, the film was re-released on VHS and LaserDisc as part of Warner Bros.' 75th Anniversary VHS promotion. It was included in the Looney Tunes Movie Collection DVD set alongside Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales in 2005.

The film is available for purchase or rental on the Apple iTunes Store and has been featured on Netflix, both offering remastered HD quality. Additionally, it can be streamed or downloaded in HD on Google Play, Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Store, Movies Anywhere, Vudu, and Xfinity.

References

• Lenburg, Jeff, The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons, 1999, Checkmark Books, 6 June 2020
• Variety Magazine, August 1, 1979, Film Reviews: The Great American Bugs Bunny-Road Runner Chase, McCarthy, Todd, Todd McCarthy
• The New York Times, September 29, 1979, Film Festival: What's Up, Road Runner?, Buckley, Tom, May 10, 2020
• Variety Magazine, Post-Fest 'Bugs Bunny', September 12, 1979
• The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie MA, 2022-09-22

External links