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The Movie:
Back in 1975 director (and animation fan) Larry Jackson
released a low budget compendium of Warner Brothers cartoons, Bugs Bunny Superstar. As a
young, but avid, cartoon buff, I cajoled
my mother to take the family to see the film.
I was dying to see Bugs Bunny on the big screen.
I had grown to love these shorts through
their constant airing on Saturday mornings, and was always surprised at
how
much better they were than literally everything else shown at that time. The art was better, the gags were better,
even the colors were more vibrant and intense.
Once I learned that they were created for movie theaters, I knew
I had
to see one in a theater.
So I was excited when we bought our tickets and popcorn and
settled down in our seats in a sparsely populated theater.
I was hoping for a compilation of cartoons
but what I saw was much, much more. Yes,
there are some great shorts but in between the nine cartoons Larry
Jackson
included interviews with the creators of the Looney Tunes.
It's equal parts documentary and cartoon
anthology and the result is an amazing film that's a must-see for any
Bugs
Bunny buff.
Orated by Orson Welles, Bugs
Bunny Superstar is more the story of Looney Tunes than just their
most
famous character. The film shows where
the cartoons were created, a small building, demolished long ago, on
the
Warners lot affectionately know by the artists who worked there as
Termite
Terrace, and introduces viewers to some of the famous animators who
worked
there including Bob Clampett (in a really bad toupee who serves as a
sort of
host), Tex Avery, and Friz Freleng.
Together they discuss how the shorts were created, and there
are some rare films of the animators acting out the action from the
cartoons to
get the movement of the characters right.
Bob Clampett tells how Bugs got the carrot he's always chewing
on (it
was inspired by scene Clark Gable did in It
Happened One Night) and as well as discussing what it was like to
work on
the Warners lot back in the day.
That's not to say the documentary part of the film is
perfect. Robert McKimson and Chuck
Jones, though mentioned are notably absent and Bob Clampett does take
credit
for a lot. It's been reported that Chuck
Jones was furious at the way Clampett took credit for a lot of what
went on in
Termite Terrace and refused to mention him in his autobiography. Clampett's bits are obviously scripted too,
and he's pretty stiff as an actor. My
main problem is that the documentary section, that is roughly a third
of the
total run time, is a bit superficial.
They never dig really get beneath the "we all had a lot of fun"
type
comments or discuss the problems and pressures that they faced. Even with these deficiencies, this is a
unique document that has a lot of information.
In between the reminiscences of the directors, there are
nine classic Looney Tunes cartoons. The
mix works very well, viewers get to see what the interviewees are
talking about
right away. A Wild Hare, the first
'official' Bugs Bunny cartoon is included, along with several other
appearances
of that "wascally wabbit," but the 'toons aren't limited to Bugs. Tweety, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, Henry
Hawk, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, and my favorite character, Daffy Duck, all
get
appearances too. It is an excellent selection of Looney Tunes that
serve as a
great introduction to the studio's output.
The cartoons in this movie all date from before 1948.
In the early days of television when they
needed some cash, WB sold their entire pre-1948 catalog to a company
that in
turned flipped it and sold the movies to United Artists.
It was though UA that director Larry Jackson
was able to get the licenses for the cartoons that are included.
The cartoons presented in this film are:
What's Cookin' Doc? (1944)
A Wild Hare (1940)
A Corny Concerto (1943)
I Taw a Putty Tat (1948)
Rhapsody Rabbit (1946)
Walky Talky Hawky (1946)
My Favorite Duck (1942)
Hair-Raising Hare (1946)
The Old Grey Hare (1944)
The DVD:
Originally released on DVD in the Looney Tunes Gold
Collection Volume Four, Warner Brothers has now put the movie on a
stand alone
disc available through the Warner Archives web sites.
If you have the Gold Collection set don't
automatically disregard picking this up too.
The Gold Collection splits the movie between two discs, which I
always
found a bit strange. It's very nice
having the film on a single DVD. In
addition, the Warner Archives release has a commentary track by
director Larry Jackson. See the 'extras'
section for more details.
Audio:
The original two channel audio track is fine, and about what
you'd expect from a 35+ year old film.
There's a bit of cracking in a couple of parts, but nothing
significant. It's a decent sounding
movie.
Video:
The full frame image looks very good. It
hasn't been restored but the colors,
especially the Technicolor shorts, are great and the level of detail is
good. There are a few specs of dirt here
and there but nothing distracting. It's
a great looking disc.
Extras:
Most Warner Archive releases are bare-bones affairs, but this
film has a couple of great extras. The
first is an image gallery with a lot of behind-the-scenes images, but
the real
jewel is the audio commentary by director Larry Jackson.
In his non-scene specific track he talks
about how the idea came about and relates a lot of the troubles that
occurred. His original idea was to have
a framing sequence that was a parody of Citizen Kane.
A pair of reporters would come across the
demolished Termite Terrace in the middle of a studio lot and search out
just
what went on in the building was and why it was destroyed.
The great thing about the idea was that Larry
knew Orson Welles and asked him to do the narration.
That would have been magnificent, but Mr.
Welles did not think too much of the idea.
It was also interesting to hear why Bob Clampett had so much air
time: he insisted on being the host and
having final cut of the movie in exchange for the use of his Looney
Tunes
memorabilia collection. Since he had
just about everything that had been saved, it was either agree to his
terms, or
do without.
Final Thoughts:
This is a really great release. The movie
is funny and informative (though
you have to take Bob Clampett's claims with a grain, or better yet two,
of
salt) and well worth owning just by itself.
The commentary is a wonderful bonus and much more entertaining
that I
was expecting. Highly
Recommended.
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