Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979 TV Short) User Reviews

fine Looney Tunes action

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 2 July 2015]

This is 3 Christmas themed episodes. In the first one, Yosemite Sam is Ebenezer Scrooge and Porky Pig is Bob Cratchit. Scrooge not only fires Cratchit but he also evicts his family. Bugs Bunny decides to take matters into his own hands and scare the Christmas spirit into him. In the second one, Wile E. Coyote tricks Road Runner into a colder climate hoping to slow him down. In the third one, Tasmanian Devil escapes a transport plane over the North Pole. He takes on the guise of Santa Claus and comes to Bugs Bunny's home.

The Christmas Carol feels a little rushed. It's highly compressed but that's the nature of Looney Tunes episodes. The Road Runner is interesting because they get a different setting. The hijinx continue to be the same. The third one is most notable for the little used nephew of Bugs Bunny, Clyde Rabbit. These are all fine Looney episodes but limited as a Christmas special.

Decent anthology

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 5 June 2016]

By all means, 'Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales' is not as good as the classic Looney Tunes cartoons and doesn't see these great characters at their very best, but it is decent and very watchable stuff and makes for some good entertainment at Christmas.

Anthologies tend to have segments that are better than others, and 'Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales' is no exception. For me, the take on 'A Christmas Carol', named 'Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol', was the best. 'Freeze Frame' with Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote and 'Fright Before Christmas' with Taz and Bugs (not to mention Clyde) are watchable and reasonably entertaining, with 'Freeze Frame' being the better of the two, though neither showcase the best of either character's best talents and the best ideas and gags for Looney Tunes were long gone when this was made.

In all three segments, there is a made-for-TV feel which does see some stiffness in the character designs and a lack of finesse, but it is colourful with some nice background detail and a good sense of Christmas with the wintry setting. It is true that the music is not up to the standard of Carl Stalling (or Milt Franklyn even), but while it is not completely action-enhancing there are some nice sounds, it doesn't sound cheap, it has energy and at least it fits.

All three segments have their amusing moments, without being hilarious and all three could have been more consistent with the humour. What there is is mostly timed quite well, without feeling too tired or hurried, though 'Fright Before Christmas' has too much of a recycled feel to the gags at times. The most successful humour-wise is 'Freeze Frame, which while nowhere near one of the classics of that particular series of cartoons it feels more like a Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon than most of their later efforts, which saw some of the duds in the Looney Tunes canon. 'Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol' is also quite fun, with the best moments belonging to Yosemite Sam, perfectly cast in the Ebeneezer Scrooge role.

Narratively, the cartoons fare okay. 'Freeze Frame' is a bit samey and routine, and 'Fright Before Christmas' is quite predictable, but 'Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol' is a fun and quite clever take on the classic story and would have been even better if it was longer and less rushed. The characters are true to personality, especially Yosemite, Bugs and Coyote. As said Sam is perfectly cast in the Ebeneezer Scrooge role, Bugs is his usual smart, zany and likable self and Porky Pig is touchingly humble and timid as Bob Cratchit. It is a shame though that too many of the other characters while nice to spot and true to their classic personalities don't have enough material or screen time to shine properly.

Roadrunner is amusing in 'Freeze Frame', much less annoying than he was in the late 60s RR/C cartoons, and doesn't feel too much of a plot device, though Coyote is funnier and more interesting and is great fun. The two work well together. No problem can be had with Bugs in 'Fright Before Christmas' either, and Taz is fun while Clyde is a memorable supporting character. Mel Blanc does a blameless job with the voices, and while she doesn't have as many roles to fill (only two to Blanc's twelve) June Foray does more than dependably too.

Overall, decent if not great. 6/10 Bethany Cox

3 in 1 for the holidays

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 15 November 2017]

Here we have a 22-minute cartoon that is actually a collection of 3 short cartoons in one. Before I give you the individual reviews for each one of them, let me say that I really liked the transitions between these films, not just because of the singing that added a solid deal of holiday atmosphere, but also and especially because they somewhat elaborated further on the stories by including characters from these cartoons for the intermissions. And here are the three reviews in chronological order:

Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979) 6/10 - Return to the quality days

"Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol" is an 8-minute cartoon from 1979, so this one will have its 40th anniversary soon. The names of Freleng and Blanc, but also Dunne make it obvious that this is another Warner Bros Looney Toons short film and the title gives away that this one is for the holidays. The Christmas Carol is a classic of course and here we have WB's take on the subject. They used Yosemite Sam for the central character, which is fine and the other inclusions (Bugs, Porky mostly) are okay too The one thing that did not impress me was Tweety as Tiny Tim. Sorry but as Porky's son, they really had to use a pig there. Oh well, lets just say he was adopted. Then again, I am not a great Tweety fan, so maybe this played in too for me. But this is one part that was rushed and Tiny Tim really deserves better. But perhaps they wanted the fun to still be in the center of it all and not make a tearjerker or anything. Still I believe that a half-hour television special at 21-24 minutes could have been the better choice doing more justice to the story as it was all incredibly rushed to fit in this minimal running time, also the part with the ghost(s) that was basically just Bugs pranking Sam here and the supernatural element is missing entirely. Maybe they realized this themselves and already made it a minute longer than these cartoons usually are. Despite some criticisms here, this was nicely done and it is definitely among Warner Bros's better efforts bringing back the spirit of the Golden Age of Animation a couple decades later. Especially worth seeing in the month before Christmas. I give it a thumbs-up.

Freeze Frame (1979) 6/10 - Christmas greetings from Coyote

"Freeze Frame" is a 7-minute cartoon from over 35 years ago and it was directed by the legendary Chuck Jones later in his career, way into his sixties already at this point. It stars Road Runner and Coyote and it is really the setting that makes a difference here. They are not in the dry desert this time, but in the cold snow. I wonder if this came out during the holidays. It certainly would have been a good fit with the atmosphere and also all the Christmas melodies in the background. Apart from that, it's the usual. Coyote tries to catch Roadrunner and always fails of course, even with the help of the most modern gadgets. It all backfires and Coyote keeps getting in trouble with all the new inventions that were actually supposed to help him catch his nemesis. I won't go into detail about particular gadgets or scenes, but there were a couple funny ones included in here and the last shot with the Christmas sign was cute too. A good watch during the holidays. Recommended.

Fright Before Christmas (1979) 6/10 - Bugs is forgettable here, but the other two save the day

"Fright Before Christmas" is a television short film from 1979, almost 40 years ago now, that runs for 7 minutes and was a collaboration by Freleng, Blanc and Foray, some of Warner Bros' finest reuniting for this little Christmas movie that has Bugs going up against a Taz who is just as destructive as always when he turns into that whirlwind, even if it is the season of giving and he is wearing a red-white Santa dress. I am a big Taz fan, so he was the highlight for me here. The shared highlight I would say as Bugs' little nephew is just divine cuteness and it is a bit of a shame that he does not appear in (many) other cartoons. It's probably because he does not deliver comedy whatsoever, but still quite a shame in my opinion. But luckily we got him here. Bugs himself was a bit forgettable this time, cool as always in the face of danger, but Taz clearly carried this one from the entertainment perspective, even if he found his master as usual in Bugs. Overall, a must-see all year for my fellow Taz lovers and everybody else if they don't hate cartoons and old animation can check this one out during the holiday season. I give it a thumbs-up.

This was originally meant to compete with the . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 17 November 2016]

. . . ever-expanding roster of PEANUTS seasonal half hour television events, though it cannot hold a candle to the first two about Halloween and Christmas. Clocking in at 23 minutes and 31.17 seconds (without the 1979 ads), it consists of three pretty much unrelated parts: BUGS BUNNY'S CHR!STMAS CAROL (7:47), FREEZE FRAME (6:01), concluding with FRIGHT BEFORE CHR!STMAS (6:18). Of this pedestrian trio, the middle segment (FREEZE FRAME, which features Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, and lots of snow in the desert, plus a plethora of Acme Co. winter offerings) is the best, probably because its the shortest. (These running times add up to LESS than the overall length of the original half hour special, due to the connective segues featuring the whole Looney Tunes gang.) The CHR!STMAS CAROL bit is especially lame, using Dickens name and title, plus a few characters names, but little else. (Mr. Magoo can run circles around Bugs' crew when it comes to this story.) Regarding the final part of the triptych: Taz as Santa Claus?!! Need one say more?

Great one!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 4 July 2005]

I thought that the characters were really funny and all had great personalities. The animation in My opinion was crisp, clean, and really clear. Not to mention beautiful! Most of the characters in this show are hilarious Looney Tunes characters that we all love. in My opinion these characters are the funnies and talented ever seen. In fact, The things that goes on in this series' cartoons are in My opinion nuts which that is what makes them hilarious! There are so many to like and laugh at and the silly things they do! If you like the original Looney Tunes and animated films then I strongly recommend that you watch this movie today!

Very Cute Christmas Looney Tunes

[Rainey-Dawn · 10/10 · 23 November 2016]

Three different cartoons, three funny short films - a really fun anthology. "Scrooge" AKA "A Christmas Carol", "Freeze Frame" and "The Fright Before Christmas".

"Scrooge" AKA "A Christmas Carol" - Yosemite Sam is Scrooge, Porky is Bob Cratchit and Bug Bunny is becomes the Ghost to frighten Sam/Scrooge into becoming a decent person. A really cute version of the story.

"Freeze Frame" - Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The Coyote is back up to his usual trick trying to catch the quick bird. Some funny stuff in this segment.

"The Fright Before Christmas" - Tasmanian Devil ends up as Santa Claus in this fun version of the poem. Bugs will set everything back right in the end as usual.

A fun family film! 10/10

Pleasant entertainment

[slymusic · 20 December 2013]

"Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales" is a very nice television special featuring a fair number of familiar Warner Bros. cartoon characters, beginning with that "wascawwy wabbit"! The film appears to have been made long after the golden age of the theatrical cartoon shorts that Warner Bros. was grinding out, so the quality of this particular special is good but not outstanding. Some of the characters (Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew) have virtually nothing to do, and the music score is definitely not of the top-notch quality of Carl W. Stalling but still palatable, even throwing in a little cheesy disco. In short, not the best Looney Tunes cartoon ever made, just a pleasant bit of Christmas amusement. Yosemite Sam makes a perfect Scrooge, Porky Pig makes a suitable Cratchit, and the Tasmanian Devil provides an interesting "twist" on Santa Claus. (If I were in Bugs Bunny's shoes, I'd be pretty sore at Taz for wrecking my house!)

Want me to share my favorite scenes? When Bugs conducts the small choir singing "Jingle Bells", he has the singers holding the word "sleigh" so long their faces turn blue! Wile E. Coyote repeatedly gets buried by a snow-cloud maker. Porky stops the camera's iris-out so as to get in the last word: "Happy Holidays". Taz turns green and burps loudly after eating a green tree bulb. Bugs is hilarious in his ghost disguise when he introduces himself to the petrified Sam Scrooge. Sam is likewise funny when he shouts, "You rackin-frackin carolers! I'll deck your heads with Christmas lumps!" (Incidentally, when Sam bounces down the staircase and mutters his odd curses, I could "swear" I hear an "f".)

Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones directed this nice little Christmas special, and Mel Blanc supplied most of the vocal talent, with a little help from June Foray. What a wonderful team! Find "Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales" on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5, and add some looney humor to your Christmas.