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BUGS BUNNY'S LOONEY CHRISTMAS TALES (TV)

Summary

An animated Christmas special featuring Looney Tunes characters in three holiday-themed shorts.

The first short, “Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol,” is a version of the Charles Dickens novella “A Christmas Carol” featuring Looney Tunes characters. Ebenezer Scrooge (portrayed by Yosemite Sam), a cruel businessman, mistreats his employees and refuses to embrace the “Christmas spirit” embodied by a passerby (Bugs Bunny). He angrily throws out a troupe of carolers and fires Bob Cratchit (Porky Pig) when he believes he has stolen a lump of coal for his stove. Cratchit’s problems multiply when Scrooge decides to foreclose on his mortgage and evict him by midnight, and Bugs decides to do something about it. Scrooge tries to sleep that night, but Bugs and the carolers do their best to keep him awake and pestered. Bugs then disguises himself as a ghost and frightens Scrooge, claiming that he is there to take him to hell. Scrooge pleads with him not to take him and promises that he will change and atone for his misdeeds. Scrooge dresses up as Santa Claus and decides to distribute money to the poor and needy. He hires Cratchit back as a partner and allows him to keep his house.

The second short, “Freeze Frame,” features Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner through a snowy mesa. Wile E. discovers that road runners dislike the cold and are easy to catch in snow drifts, and to that end he purchases a large snow machine to make “instant snow.” However, the device proves to be prone to backfiring, and he ends up hurling it off of a cliff. He then decides to try to trick the Road Runner into running into a snowy alpine area, and chases him onto a frozen lake with ice skates. This plan backfires as well when Wile E. falls into the lake as the Road Runner escapes. He also tries to catch the Road Runner with the aid of jet-powered skis, a dog sled, a rocking-horse and lasso, and a giant snowball, but all of these attempts fail as well.

In the third short, “The Fright Before Christmas,” the Tasmanian Devil is flown over the North Pole on Christmas Eve, and he breaks out of his restraints. He bails out of the plane and lands near Santa’s workshop, where he accidentally puts on Santa’s outfit while it is hanging out to dry and also lands in Santa’s sleigh. The frightened reindeer take off into the night sky with the Tasmanian Devil in tow. He lands on Bugs’ rooftop as he is reading a Christmas story to his nephew, and he sends him to bed, mistaking the visitor for the real Santa Claus. The Tasmanian Devil slips and falls through Bugs’ chimney, and Bugs introduces himself to him. The Tasmanian Devil proceeds to eat anything he can get his hands on, including furniture and Christmas ornaments, as Bugs attempts to read him his nephew’s Christmas list. Bugs soon realizes who the Tasmanian Devil really is and tricks him into eating a life raft, which inflates and sends him floating off into the sky. Bugs and his nephew take up the reins of Santa’s sleigh in order to return it to him at the North Pole. Commercials deleted.

Details

  • NETWORK: CBS
  • DATE: November 30, 1999 8:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:23:13
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: 108068
  • GENRE: Animation
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Animation
  • SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1979
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Hal Geer … Executive Producer
  • Friz Freleng … Producer, Director, Writer
  • Chuck Jones … Producer, Director, Writer
  • DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Inc. … Producer
  • Chuck Jones Enterprises … Producer
  • Tony Benedict … Director, Writer
  • Bill Perez … Director
  • David Detiege … Director
  • Art Vitello … Director
  • Irv Anderson … Animation
  • Warren Batchelder … Animation
  • Bob Bransford … Animation
  • Malcolm Draper … Animation
  • Mark Kausler … Animation
  • Ruth Kissane … Animation
  • John McGuire … Animation
  • Phil Monroe … Animation
  • Tom Ray … Animation
  • Virgil Ross … Animation
  • Benny Washam … Animation
  • Don Williams … Animation
  • John Dunn … Writer
  • Doug Goodwin … Music by
  • Mel Blanc … Voice, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety Bird, Yosemite Sam, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Tasmanian Devil, Santa Claus
  • June Foray … Voice, Mrs. Claus, Clyde Bunny