Elmer Goes Geico

Thanks to GAC Forums user "FlapperPrower" for alerting us to a new Geico car insurance commercial featuring Elmer Fudd:

1990 Sylvester Figure

While I was home in Fort Worth, Texas for Christmas week, I stopped by the Montgomery Street Antique Mall, one of my favorite places to go for old, oddball cartoon memorabilia. I ran across a collection of stuff manned by an older woman in a wheelchair who collected cartoon cat stuff, especially Sylvester. I told her I was interested in the Sylvester figure in the picture below. She was asking 20 dollars for it, and I told her that was a little more than I wanted to pay for it, but that I was a huge Sylvester fan and was already going to buy another of her items. She made a deal and gave me both items for 15 bucks.

This vinyl figure, which has a rotating head, poseable arms and a hat and vest, was made by the Applause company in 1990, and is obviously inspired by both the 1960's "Bugs Bunny Show" and the Dakin Company WB cartoon figures of the same era. As an added plus, he can either wear his hat, or hold it in a "tipping" pose, as I photographed him.

Eat at Joe's

Nabisco's Bugs Bunny Cookie Clubhouse

Back in 2007, I did a lengthy post on the history of Nabisco's Bugs Bunny cookies. In that post I mentioned in passing how kids could mail away for a clubhouse kit. I had never actually seen one before... until now. We got an e-mail from Mark Hosking who found our blog while looking for more information about the Bugs clubhouse. He has one in mint condition from 1982 available on eBay as we speak. The thing is pretty impressive and huge. Yes, it was a lifesize cardboard clubhouse decorated with Looney Tunes characters. Check out the eBay link below for more pictures and even a YouTube video.



Click here for the eBay link.

Thanks, Mark!

The Great Santa Claus Caper (1978)

Time for some more yuletide cheer as our little Chuck Jones Christmas party continues. I have to admit, Jones' later stuff is starting to grow on me. Like the Chipmunks special, here's another Jones take on some existing characters. 1978's The Great Santa Claus Caper was the first of two TV specials Jones did that starred the dolls Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy (1979 saw the Halloween special, The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile). The story is pretty simple and clearly aimed at kids, but the highlight is a very Wile E. Coyote-esque wolf who plots to make Santa's workship more efficient by covering all the gifts in a substance he calls "Gloopstick". The crazy Gloopstick machine feels very Dr. Seuss-ish to me. The show is filled with the familiar voices of June Foray, Daws Butler, and Les Tremayne. I don't believe either of the Jones "Raggedy Ann" specials have been released onto DVD.

Mel Blanc's Christmas Tree

In 1953, Mel Blanc recorded a novelty Christmas tune called "Christmas Tree". An adaptation of the old German teaching song "Schnitzelbank", it gave Blanc the opportunity to sing in the character of a crazy German professor. It inspired one kid named L. Rapchak. It inspired him so much, in fact, that 50 years later, he decided to create a Youtube video. The backstory he gives at the beginning explains the rest, but it's absolutely hysterical.

A Chipmunk Christmas

When you think of Alvin and the Chipmunks, the only things that usually come to mind are the original Christmas song that launched a million cornball records and bad cartoons. Most recently, they've made their way into bad CGI movies too! But not many people realize that in 1981, Chuck Jones lent his inimitable charm to a Christmas special featuring the musical rodent trio. In the 1970's and 1980's, Chuck Jones created a number of works for television that have been largely forgotten and underappreciated. As with the "Merry Cricket" special Jon drew attention to in our last entry, Jones took a break from his anarchic Looney Tunes past and focused on telling a good story with great animation. The result is a rarely-seen take on Alvin and the Chipmunks, but possibly the best of all.

Excuse the poor quality and overlap of the segments, but this is all I could find of this rare Holiday treat. Fans of the 1960's Chipmunk cartoons should keep an eye out for a dream sequence featuring the inventor Clyde Crashcup, who in Jones' interpretation looks a lot like Dan Backslide from the classic Merrie Melodie short "The Dover Boys"!

A Very Merry Cricket (1973)

We all know Chuck Jones' classic TV special based on Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but I thought it might be fun to revisit some of Jones' other Christmas-related cartoons during the next few days.

During the 1970s, Jones independently produced a few TV specials including the one below. 1973's A Very Merry Cricket is actually a sequel to an earlier Jones special A Cricket in Times Square based on the book by George Selden. Don't worry, if you haven't seen the first one, you'll get a recap in this. It features the voices of Les Tremayne and Mel Blanc and is actually quite charming.



Six of these Jones television specials (including all three "Cricket" cartoons) have been gathered on a single DVD release titled The Chuck Jones Collection.

"The Fright Before Christmas" (1979)

Keeping up the Christmas theme we've got going here, I think it's appropriate to bring attention to this short from 1979. It was originally part of the "Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales" TV special, which can be found in its entirety on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection 5 DVD.

This short marked the first time anyone other than Robert McKimson (who passed away two years prior) had attempted to do a cartoon with the Tasmanian Devil. Friz Freleng stepped up to the plate and knocked one out of the park. While some of the animation is a little wonky, Freleng's wit and timing are still there, and Taz is put to good use as an accidental Santa Claus imposter. The fun of it lies with the idea of Bugs immediately seeing through Taz's disguise, but playing along anyway. The special isn't shown much anymore, in fact it will be shown on TV in its entirety for the first time in at least 5 years on Cartoon Network this month. But this particular short has been rerun many times over the years, and helped establish the once-obscure Taz as one of Warner bros.' most popular stars.

Sylvester and Tweety Portuguese Car Commercial

Here's a Portuguese car commercial featuring Sylvester and Tweety. Can't tell you much more about it than that, but it has some nice animation of "Titti e Silvestro". And you thought we were gonna post another Road Runner commercial, didn't you?

A Musical Interlude

Christmas Village People

Here's one of the odder Looney Tunes Christmas related items I have stumbled across. You know those elaborate, expensive ceramic Christmas villages? Would you believe that the folks at Department 56 made a set of Looney Tunes characters you could plop down in the middle of your village? Needless to say, I didn't pay anywhere close to the $40.00 (!) retail price that they asked for these guys in 2001. I found it over the summer at a flea market for about $5, and have been hanging on to it until now to post here.



The craziest thing is, Bugs, Taz, Tweety & Sylvester come with this realistic kid and Mom (who is taking a picture of her child). I would think a quartet of random cartoon characters would look a little out of place in your Christmas village. Maybe these are supposed to be statues of the Looney Tunes and not the "real" Bugs, Tweety, etc. It isn't very clear. The set also came with a theater marquee (boasting a LT cartoon festival) that could fit onto a Department 56 movie theater (sold separately, of course).

The figures look nice. Here's a picture of my cat preparing to devour Sylvester.

Deck the Halls, Doc

If Matthew's weakness is Looney Tunes PVC figures, I guess mine would be Looney Tunes Christmas ornaments. I dug out the ol' holiday decorations a couple days ago and snapped this group shot of most of my LT tree ornaments. Most of them were made by Hallmark over the years. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I really like the miniature replica of the vintage '50s "Porky's Lunch Wagon" lunch box (complete with thermos!) and the one with Bugs and Tweety eagerly watching Looney Tunes on their TV (it even plays a snippet of "Merrily We Roll Along"). You'll even notice this year's "Rabbit of Seville" ornament in there (I gave in and paid full price for it... instead of waiting until the post-Christmas clearance sales).

Update on new Looney Tunes Claw Machine prizes

If you have a couple bucks to gamble, have a claw machine near you, and love Looney Tunes, keep a lookout! As reported previously, claw game company Sugar Loaf has been producing stuffed Looney Tunes character dolls...but on a grander scale than I thought!

The photo below shows my conquests so far: Road Runner, Pepe Le Pew, Daffy Duck, Marvin Martian, and Elmer Fudd.



But that's not all! Other characters I have seen include:

Wile E. Coyote
Foghorn Leghorn
Yosemite Sam
Tweety
Taz
Bugs Bunny
K-9


Good luck!

Bosko's Parlor Pranks (MGM, 1934)

Here's a Harman and Ising rarity featuring our old friend, Bosko. This was actually their first cartoon for MGM after leaving Warner Bros./Leon Schlesinger. This was also only one of two cartoons where Bosko retained the same design as in Harman & Ising's WB cartoons. What makes this cartoon interesting is that it is a pure cheater cartoon! Nearly every bit of footage is recycled from old WB Bosko cartoons. It feels like watching Bosko's "greatest hits" reel (in color!)... see if you can ID where H&I lifted the footage in 1934's "Bosko's Parlor Pranks":

Porky Portrait

The Wichita Eagle has posted a profile of Kansas native and Termite Terrace legend, Melvin "Tubby" Millar

The town of Portis, Kansas has a limestone memorial dedicated to Millar and Porky Pig:



(Image from this Flicker page.)

Can the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee Save the Road Runner?

From the 1980s, will Wile E. choose the Road Runner or Honey Nut Cheerios??

Looney Tunes Return to Cartoon Network 11/15/09

Yes, you read that correctly.

The classic Looney Tunes shorts are returning to Cartoon Network this Sunday. The return kicks off with a six-hour marathon from 1pm-7pm (ET, PT). Starting the following day, CN will run an hour of Looney Tunes each weekday from 11am-noon (ET, PT). A schedule of shorts isn't available yet, but I will update when it does. So, cancel all your plans for Sunday and enjoy the return of Bugs, Daffy, Porky and friends.

UPDATE: A partial schedule is now available, I have posted it on the Golden Age Cartoons forums. CLICK HERE

Below is a promo the network has been running for the Sunday marathon. It pokes a little fun at the characters' absence from the network in recent years.

Love is in the Air

The Looney Tunes news keeps rolling in!

Remember earlier this year when the state of New Mexico had a float in the Rose Parade featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote? Well, the state's float for 2010 will feature another Chuck Jones creation: Pepe Le Pew!





You can see the video of the float design's unveiling onYouTube.

Merrie Melodies

It looks like Bugs Bunny will be returning to TV soon. I am waiting to get some more information to pass along here and on the GAC Forums, but Looney Tunes are now showing up on various TV listings as airing on Cartoon Network starting on November 15. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's the introduction to Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends a compilation show that aired on Fox in the early 1990s. This fast paced intro was done by Darrell Van Citters' crew and features a number of cameos by both major and minor favorites from the Looney Tunes universe. If it looks familiar to you, it was later reused (with different theme music) by Kids WB for their own show called That's Warner Bros.!.

It's that time again! Another Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote commercial!

Just when we thought there couldn't possibly be any more commercials out there featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Jon found this little gem buried in an ancient commercial break posted by a Youtube user. I've made it easier for everyone by editing the other ads out and isolating it for your viewing pleasure.

Wile E. Coyote discovers that the Donnelly Directory Yellow Pages have "Every number for every service". At least, they did when they existed back in 1988!

Dance to the Beat of Looney Tunes!

Hey, it looks like Mise-Looney-ous is showing some signs of life again! To keep the momentum going, here's a follow-up to the hilariously awful album cover Matthew posted the other day. Thanks to reader Silvia Santis who e-mailed us the following. Yes, there was another one...

I Fought The Claw...

...And I won! I got lucky at the the claw machine in my local grocery store today and managed to snag 2 nice looking Looney Tunes characters, each on the first try. Each is about 12 inches tall. Total cost: $1.00!


(Click for larger picture)

I managed to snag Pepe and Elmer, but there was also a Marvin Martian who was too close to the glass wall to grab. These are brand new, dated 2009, and made by "Sugar Loaf", the company who makes the machines themselves. As a nice touch, the little hang-tag has the characters' name on the back. Helpful, I suppose, for kids who have never seen a Looney Tune. That's probably a lot of kids, sadly.

Ugliest Looney Tunes Artwork Ever?

We've highlighted some ugly artwork and merchandise featuring the Warner Bros. cartoon gang in the past. Over the weekend, Jerry Beck sent me something that makes even the old public domain video covers look like Golden Age masterpieces!

"I'm passing this to you for use on your blog (from Terry Guy) - have you EVER seen this hideous piece?:


Also, Terry Guy's flickr photoset features a bunch of pictures taken at the Museum of Modern Art Looney Tunes exhibit back in 1985:

MOMA Looney Tunes Exhibit

Check out all his photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryviews/sets/72157609017867008/

-Jerry Beck"

As Terry Guy describes the ugly record cover:

"My vinyl-collecting buddy Anton gifted me with this oddity, "A sampling of the albums released in January 1972 by Warner/Reprise, programmed especially for in-store play." Includes tracks by Frankie & Johnny, Claudia Lennear, Deep Purple, Linda Lewis, Richard Thompson, Dionne Warwick, The Beach Boys, Ralph McTell, Alexis Korner & Snape, Gram Parsons, Wilderness Road, Barbara Keith, Paul Stookey.

So, none of it is cartoon music, and I've never gotten around to playing the two discs in the album, but I continue to marvel at the unique representations of these characters."

I will say this for it, it's a funny image, just not in a GOOD way! The Looney Tunes characters playing in a band for a music sampler put out by Warner Bros. is a clever idea, but the drawings look like what might happen if the characters aged 20 years and were stuck playing on a washed-up rock stars nostalgia circuit. Bugs is in need of a facelift, Porky's clearly battling depression and alcoholism, Daffy's years of drug use have rendered him a shadow of his former self, and Sylvester's explosive weight gain is cause for concern. Whey there are five identical Tweeties above them, it's impossible to say...but he's looking a little strung out himself.

Oh, the shame of it!

Want to make your dog hate you this Halloween? Make him wear THIS:

Halloween Tricks and Treats

Awhile back, I posted the above advertisement for a Brach's Candy-sponsored Halloween promotion from 1990. Shortly after, a kind person (my apologies, I have long since lost track of who it was) e-mailed us a radio ad for it. I figure it is a perfect time to post it. Click here to download the MP3.

Bugs has also spent past Halloweens trick-or-treating with his good friends Underdog and Jaws.



A mid-1990's coloring book cover.



Finally, if you want to see something really scary --- Cartoon Network is running Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special a few times between now and October 31. Check your local listings... if you dare. We discussed this "classic" back in 2007, just ignore the now-defunct in2TV references.

Bargain Bin Looneys

Some new Looney Tunes merchandise has surfaced. I can't say it's very exciting Looney Tunes merchandise, but it's got to the point where even these bargain bin offerings are newsworthy.

First, reader Brandon Pierce sent this picture of a new series of LT coloring books he spotted at his local Albertson's supermarket. It's interesting to point out that it appears that Speedy has risen through the ranks and is now considered popular enough to headline his own coloring book cover, a spot usually reserved for heavy-hitters like Bugs, Tweety and Taz.



I found this set of 4 "Looney Tunes Mini 3D Effects Puzzles" by "Hobbico, Inc." among the $1.00 stocking stuffers at an A.C. Moore craft store a couple weeks back. They are dated 2008, so maybe I am looking at old stock. The gimmick is that each puzzle has a ViewMaster-like 3D look to them when you put them together (the packages didn't really photograph that great). Anyway, check out the new "modern" Looney Tunes logo in the corner. I don't think I have seen that used anywhere before.

Hallmark 2009 Rabbit of Seville Ornament

You may have noticed there was no mention of annual Hallmark Looney Tunes ornaments on the blog this year. That's because there was only one... and I didn't even feel it was worth mentioning (Tweety listening to an iPod). However, the Hallmark folks have made sure our trees don't go without a good Looney Tunes ornament for 2009. Check out this recently released "limited edition" ornament based on Chuck Jones' classic "Rabbit of Seville".



A little pricey ($16.50? Does anyone know if it plays any music or something?), but it looks like it may be worth it.

Sylvester risks one of his 9Lives

For a period in the late 70s, Sylvester was the spokes-cat for 9Lives' brand of dry cat food and even appeared on the boxes of the stuff. Here's a commercial from 1979:

Commentary on "Daffy Dilly" (1948)

Here's an all-time classic that has never been released to DVD (unless you count 99% of it being included in the recent DVD release of "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters".) Anyway, I think it's a crime that it hasn't been released complete and restored yet, and I felt the need to give me 2 cents on it.

Here goes.

Commentary on Daffy Dilly
Uploaded by MatthewHunter. - Check out other Film & TV videos.

Kanye West Goes Daffy

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. Jon's in the process of tying the knot (congratulations Jon!) and I've been pretty busy and, to be honest, haven't seen any Looney Tunes related news or items of interest recently. But we'll be back to full steam soon.

I also apologize for what I just couldn;t resist doing. You've all seen it or heard about it...rapper Kanye West's upstaging of country singer Taylor Swift on the MTV Awards. I took footage of the incident and dubbed West's voice using lines from Daffy Duck in "Show Biz Bugs". Some things are just too hard to resist!

Green Day Does "Food Around the Corner"

It would seem that Tre Cool, drummer for the rock band Green Day, is a Looney Tunes fan. A fan's home video of an early Green Day gig in 1994 has surfaced on Youtube, in which the band performs "Food Around the Corner", the flea's song from Bob Clampett's 1943 classic "An Itch In Time"! There are a couple different performances on Youtube, so they must've done it several times. In this version, Cool and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong do it as a country-fied harmony piece, and it must've caught their punk-rock fans off guard! Here's the clincher: It's GOOD! See for yourself!

David DePatie Interview on YouTube

Here's an interesting YouTube find - a two-part twenty-minute interview with David DePatie. In part one, DePatie talks about the final days of WB's animation department, his friendship with Friz Freleng, the formation of the DePatie-Freleng studio and the origins of the Pink Panther:



In Part 2, DePatie talks about the studio's transition to television, the DePatie-Freleng Warner shorts, and the 1970s TV series, Here Comes the Grump.

Review of "Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle" by the Angry Video Game Nerd

James Rolfe, aka "The Angry Video Game Nerd", an internet cult-favorite sensation, has had a long-smoldering feud with Bugs Bunny. The premise of his internet "series" on gametrailers.com is that he is an angy nerd who plays really terrible old-time video games and gives them reviews they deserve. He once reviewed "The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout", and in the process had a fight with Bugs Bunny (actually artist/actor/cartoon fan Mike Matei in a costume!). This is the sequel to that legendary face-off...and unlike "Birthday Blowout", this game really does deserve the Nerd's wrath.

WARNING: This video contains coarse language and is violent, crass and offensive...but funny as heck!

Video Games | ScrewAttack | Angry Video Game Nerd: Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Looney Tunes Glasses Commercial

Here's a commercial for the 1979 series of Pepsi Looney Tunes glasses. These were actually given away at any restaurant that served Pepsi products, but this ad is for "Del Taco". Pepsi did a LOT of these cartoon glasses during the 1970's, Matthew talked about the great 1973 Looney Tunes glasses in this post. The ad below isn't anything groundbreaking and doesn't even contain any animation... but it has Mel Blanc doing all the voices, making it worthy of a Misce-Looney-ous post!

Commentary on "Terrier Stricken" (1952)

Here's a Chuck Jones Claude Cat cartoon with some impressive animation. "Terrier Stricken" (1952) is one of three cartoons with Frisky Puppy, and is a remarkable film to look at.

terriercomment
Uploaded by MatthewHunter. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Commentary on "The Music Mice-Tro" (1967) and "Plop Goes The Weasel" (1953)

I haven't done any new voice-over commentaries in a while, so I thought it would be fun to do a couple new ones. I have no idea why, but one of the two I did, "Plop Goes the Weasel" (1953) was rejected by Dailymotion.com, where I usually upload these. If anyone knows of a video-host site that doesn't randomly reject stuff upon upload, let me know.

Anyway, my initial goal for this entry was to look at two cartoons that are overlooked. Someone once requested that I do this and choose one from the golden age that should get more attention, and one later stinker that should remain overlooked. For reasons unknown, Dailymotion didn't mind the latter. But You will!

So, here's my take on "The Music Mice-Tro". -Gulp.-

"The Music Mice-Tro" (1967) Commentary
Uploaded by MatthewHunter. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.

Update: Guess video site "Zoopy" didn't care. Here's one of the best Robert McKimson Looney Tunes of the early 50's, "Plop Goes the Weasel". This is a great, overlooked gem starring Foghorn Leghorn, and I hope you'll see why!

The New Pussyfoot...Be VERY Afraid!

Here's yet another entry in Warner Bros.' list of "How to ruin Looney Tunes". The less said, the better...

WB's Lil' Abner, Part 2

A big thanks to GAC Forums user "Fibber Fox" of the Yowp blog for sending along this newspaper story from Sept. 26, 1968. This reveals that Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was indeed developing a primetime Lil' Abner animated series (in color) for the 1969-70 television season.



Click here for a closer look.

An abandoned WB Lil' Abner cartoon

I thought I should document this oddity before it disappears. Currently on eBay is this 1969 model sheet and inhouse memo of Al Capp's Joe Btfsplk, World's Worst Jinx character from the "Lil' Abner" comic strip. The memo says how the title of the project (was this going to be a short? TV pilot?) has been changed from "Al Capp's Lil' Abner" to "Joe Btfsplk, World's Worst Jinx". Of course, this Warner Bros.-Seven Arts cartoon was never made. The model sheet looks very McKimson-esque to me (this same seller also has quite a bit of other original McKimson art up for bid as well, which supports the theory).

Maybe someday we'll know more about it!







(Thanks, Jerry!)

Wile E. Coyote meets...Scooby Doo?!

Here's a bizarre promo from the Cartoon Network in India. Wile E. Coyote (via re-used animation from the old cartoons) chases the Road Runner, but Scooby and Scrappy Doo keep getting in the way. This is notable only for how surprisingly bad it is. Usually the foreign Cartoon Network has better ads than our own!

Another Kool-Aid Commercial!

Here's something we haven't posted on Misce-Looney-ous awhile (no, not another Road Runner commercial... for now): a commercial with Bugs promoting Kool-Aid! From 1966, here's Bugs (sporting a stylish shirt) helping a little boy named Jimmy make some friends by whipping up a batch of ice-cold pre-sweetened Kool-Aid.



Gee, Jimmy is kind of a jerk. Not only does this kid not seem impressed that THE Bugs Bunny appears out of nowhere to visit him, but he doesn't even save Bugs any Kool-Aid and then ditches him at the end of the ad as he runs off with his new friends!

Looney Tunes Aflac Commercial

Here's a commercial I've been trying for a while to track down, and thankfully someone has found it! Here's a commercial from 2004 for Aflac insurance. The Aflac Duck gets mixed up in a Road Runner and Coyote chase, while Bugs and Daffy (both voiced by Joe Alaskey) try to remember the company's name.

Another Road Runner Commercial

Wile E. Coyote attempts to catch the Road Runner with a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix.

McDonald's "Space Jam" Commercial

Here's a commercial for a set of stuffed toys offered by McDonald's as a tie-in for "Space Jam" in 1996.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Dead Tweety

I recently asked "fail toy" expert and professional toy designer, Mike Mozart of JeepersMedia, if he had any "fail" Looney Tunes in his massive collection. He posted a quick video reply on his Twitter account, showing off a "dead" Tweety doll:



Be sure to check out Mike's oddball toy review videos on YouTube.

Ceramic Figures from 1979

I thought I'd share a recent flea market find. Here are a trio of ceramic Looney Tunes figures from 1979. I have had the Porky figure in my collection for awhile, but I only recently stumbled across Sylvester (who seems to be striking the girliest pose possible --- c'mon, it even looks like he's wearing lipstick!) and Wile E. Coyote (which actually looks really nice). I am not sure which company made them or how many are in the set, but if you have any more info feel free to leave a comment.

David Alvarez Looney Tunes comic book art on Ebay

David Alvarez, by far the best of the modern Looney Tunes comic book artists, is selling some pieces of his original Looney Tunes artwork. Well worth a look!

David Alvarez on Ebay

I've always thought the Dave Matthews Band was one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Those who know the groups' music need no explanation. They're releasing a new album in June, but have a new "single" from it out as of a couple weeks ago.

Sadly, their saxophonist, Leroi Moore, passed away this past year, and as I understand it the new album is dedicated to him. So is my Looney Tunes clip video of the new song, "Funny the Way It Is". I just felt compelled to create this, as Dave Matthews' lyrics are so vivid. I hope you will enjoy this music video.

Also note that this is our blog's 400th post!

Read David Gerstein's Blog Today!

Our pal David Gerstien has started his own blog, David Gerstein's Ramapith: Prehistoric Pop Culture Blog and everyone here should go check it out. I am going to assume topics will cover some his favorite characters (seen above in my hastily assembled collage). In fact, Misce-Looney-ous readers will enjoy his recent post about the comic strip adaption of "Bosko - Shipwrecked!".

In honor of the occasion, I am going to take the opportunity to post another track from the 1950's record Woody Woodpecker's Family Album. "Hopalong Oswald" features Mel Blanc providing the voice of Oswald's Uncle Jack Rabbit. Click here to download "Hopalong Oswald".

UPDATE --- Don't miss this amazing new post of David's where he uncovers the long "lost" ending to "Hare-um Scare-um"! I don't know how he plans to top that!

Coyote Wins Again

Well, might as well post this while it is still timely. This 2003 promo for the Acme Hour from Cartoon Network Latin America shows what happens when Wile E. switches from Acme to a generic brand.

Super Looney Tunes Happy Meal Commercial

We've covered the McDonald's Super Looney Tunes Happy Meal toys from 1991 here on the blog before. Now here's the commercial that promoted them:

You Can't Eat Without It

Jerry Beck over on Cartoon Brew mentioned recently how an unofficial homemade video of the Coyote catching the Road Runner has got some attention in the Latin American press. What would Wile E. do if he really caught the bird? Well, not much if he was all out of Heinz Ketchup!



This is from a series of print ads from Egypt dated 2008. You can see all the Looney/Heinz ads on this site. Without any ketchup, Sylvester refuses to eat Tweety, Yosemite Sam can't eat Daffy, Bugs doesn't know what to put on his carrots, and Taz won't eat his... trash can full of rotten fish (huh???).

More Safeway Looney Tunes "Eating Right"

I had seen this product, part of Safeway's "Eating Right" products line, before, and then it disappeared before I could pick it up. Thankfully it has since reappeared! Other than the fact that the apple slices are rather bland and the peanut butter is very gloppy and messy to eat, I loved the artwork of Wile E. Coyote as a scientist! Perhaps this will tide him over until he finally manages to snag that meal he's always wanted...

The Three Little Bops - Live

Here's another YouTube find. Since I don't know anything else about it besides the description, I will quote that. It was uploaded by a YouTube user called "ikespaceman" who says: "At the Blackstump Festival in Australia in 1993 the Belvedere Blues Band performed the soundtrack to the famous 1957 cartoon Three Little Bops. The performance was recorded through the desk and I was recently given a copy, so I thought I'd edit the sound to the pictures. Hope you like it."

I have to admit, it is impressive that they played through the entire soundtrack live. Minor nitpick is that they changed the punchline at the end of the short. Check it out:

Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure

This is pretty neat. Someone has posted a video of the "Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure" dark ride at Six Flags Over Texas. The ride, which opened in 1992, features audio animatronic versions of the LT gang in a western-themed plotline. Look for Bugs, Elmer, Daffy, the Road Runner and Coyote, Porky, Speedy and others to pop up. It's almost like being there.

Road Runner Round-up

If there's one thing we've discovered over the course of running this blog, it's the fact that the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote may be the most-used characters in the Warner Bros. canon for commercials and other "Misce-Looneyous" material. Here are a couple of fun bits I'll bet a lot of readers here have never seen before.

First up, here's a special that Cartoon Network made back when they showed Looney Tunes (seems like forever ago, doesn't it?) They actually got the major network football pre-game commentators (Len Dawson,Chris Collinsworth, Nick Buoniconti and Jerry Glanville, who is more cartoonish than Wile E. himself!) to do commentary on a marathon of Road Runner cartoons back in 2000. It was, of course, part of a yearly series of "Big Game" marathons designed to compete with the Super Bowl. They also did "Tom Vs. Jerry", 'Sylvester vs. Tweety" and "Bugs vs. Daffy" in the same fashion. Sadly, the clips we found only included the "pre-game" stuff...there was also a full cartoon with football-style play-by-play commentary by John Madden and Pat Summerall! But enjoy what we DID find:





And now for more Road Runner. Did you buy the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2" DVD set a few years ago? No? Shame on you! In fact, (expletive deleted) you! But if you want to own the original "Adventures of the Roadrunner" on DVD, that is where you will find it. This was originally a TV pilot created in 1962, shortly before Chuck Jones was let go from Warner Bros. for moonlighting on a UPA-produced feature film called "Gay Purr-ee". The pilot was not used for TV after all, instead it was released as a featurette in theaters, and later re-edited and re-scored into three shorts. The first of these, "To Beep or Not To Beep", was released theatrically, the other two, "Zip Zip Hooray" and "Roadrunner A Go Go" done for TV. The difference is, there is footage in the pilot that was never used in the three shorts, and Milt Franklyn died before the shorts were edited, so the shorts were redubbed by Bill Lava. You'll recognize a lot of this footage if you have seen the three shorts, but there is much more to it. If you don't own Golden Collection 2, go find a copy and buy it!

"The Great Scavenger Hunt": Rare mini-comic story from Looney Tunes Meals

We've already mentioned the Tyson frozen "Looney Tunes Meals" from the early 90's in an earlier post. Now, we have uncovered some real pieces of Looney Tunes merchandising history: Some of the "prizes" that were given away in the boxes of these things!

The Looney Tunes Meals usually included trading cards, a trivia game, a sheet of character stickers, an activity booklet, or, in this case, a collectible comic book. I'm sure nobody ever collected them all, but these little comic stories supposedly fit together in a sequence. The overall plot involved Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck competing in a scavenger hunt, with each "episode" involving a different Looney Tunes character or characters. In this case, it's Bugs Bunny meeting up with Speedy Gonzales to take a photo of some Aztec ruins, but running into hot-tempered prospector Yosemite Sam. It's pretty lame, with its heavy-handed "PSA" style teachings on water safety, but it's surprisingly well drawn, especially the work on Sam. I have cut-and-pasted the panels into two full pages (the original booklet is about the size of an index card.) Enjoy, and stay tuned for images of the trading cards, stickers and other prizes, plus a similar story starring Daffy Duck and the Roadrunner.

The Great Scavenger Hunt, Part 1
The Great Scavenger Hunt, Part 2

Turner Classic Movies - Chuck Jones Tribute

Just a reminder - be sure to tune into Turner Classic Movies tomorrow night (Tuesday, March 24) as they will be presenting an all-night salute to Chuck Jones. The tribute includes the premiere of the all-new half-hour documentary, Chuck Jones : Memories of Childhood by filmmakers Peggy Stern and John Canemaker. This will be followed by a festival of some of Jones' most famous cartoon shorts and a showing of the MGM animated feature, The Phantom Tollbooth (1970). TCM has set up a very detailed section over on their website. I have also started a discussion thread over on the GAC Forums.

Invasion of the Looney Tunes figures!

If you've read this blog long enough, you've seen the logos at the top with PVC toys of the Warner characters. But you probably have no idea just how many I HAVE. Thanks to Jon, I have added several more to my already ridiculous collection...and now have too many to count! It was time to dust them all off and clean the top of my fridge where I keep them anyway, so I lined them all up and took a picture.

You're probably wondering how I managed to amass so many of these little things. Well, it's amazing what can accumulate when you collect something for over 20 years. Some were gifts, some came from the now-defunct Warner Bros. stores, and many were souvenirs from my many travels over the years. (Not everyone can say they have a Daffy Duck figure from Paris or a Speedy Gonzales from Germany!) It all started with about 5 of them that came as a Christmas present when I was about 4 years old (I'm 25 now), and I was somehow addicted from then on. If it was at a flea market, at an antique mall, at a garage sale, on a box of candy, or at a theme park gift shop, you can bet I bought it.

They have HELP for drug addicts, alcoholics, and the mentally insane...but I'm afraid this is an addiction I have to live with!

Click the image to see 'em all!

Hilariously Hideous Christmas Ornaments from 1978

A big thanks to our pal David Gerstein for sending along this flea market find... a set of horrible, yet amusing Looney Tunes Christmas ornaments from 1978. Made by "Liberty Bell Christmas", the ornaments include barely recognizable versions of Bugs, Elmer, Merlin the Magic Mouse, Petunia Pig, and Speedy Gonzales.



We also can't forget this pink-haired Honey Bunny (yikes!):



Thanks, David!

The Amazing Shelf o' Looney Tunes Crap!

It may be hard to believe, but I have amassed quite a bit Looney Tunes junk over the years (I know, shocking isn't it??). I recently finished setting up what I have appropriately dubbed "The Looney Tunes Shelf" in my new house. Let's take a closer look!



Not everything made the cut, though. Due to limited space, I had to thin things out a bit. I had more LT junk than I knew what to with!



Well, this box chock full of dusty Looney trinkets will soon be on its way to Matthew... so this stuff can clutter his place! Maybe he'll post about what exactly is inside the "Box Full o' Fun" here on Misce-Looney-ous someday?? Stay tuned!

PS... Matthew I apologize in advance for the disturbing amount of Tasmanian Devil and Space Jam figures I stuffed in there...

Make Your Home Looney

Want to liven up your house a little? Have more money than you know what to do with?Well, now you can purchase the remains of a closed Australian Warner Bros. Studio Store! Among the items available from the seller include a huge Bugs Bunny Show-esque storefront mural, one of those Yosemite Sam taxis or even a Wile E. Coyote statue the size of your house.

Commentary on "Little Go Beep"

Our pal Brandon Pierce has created a video commentary on the 2000 Looney Tunes short "Little Go Beep" created by Earl Kress. I found it on Youtube and thought it was well worth a posting here. Also included is an audio clip from "Stu's Show" from Shokus Internet Radio, in which Earl Kress discusses a little of the short's history with Stu Shostack and Jerry Beck. essential viewing!

Warner Bros. Sing-Along: Oh, the HORROR!

Back in the late 90's, Warner Bros. created a direct-to-video Looney Tunes special entitled "Looney Tunes Warner Bros. Sing-Along". The idea was an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of Disney's sing-along videos for kids, which compiled musical moments from classic Disney movies.

It seems innocent enough, in theory. Until you try to WATCH the thing. I'd never been brave enough to even try, let alone buy the video. Someone put it on Youtube recently, and I'm sorry I ever clicked on it! Basically, it's a "cheater" cartoon using "Show Biz Bugs" as the loose framework. What makes it so bad is the random redubbing of the voices. Billy West and Joe Alaskey are talented enough, but when they're used to redub classic footage of Mel Blanc, but not consistently (some of Blanc's original vocals remain and the difference is jarring)it's just grating. Then there's the chorus of kids who "sing along" to such original tunes as "Call Me Wacky Daffy Duck", which completely ruins any hope of enjoying what could have been the only enjoyable part of this "special".

Watch if you dare...there's a reason they only made one of these!

A new commentary, and some other fun stuff

Jon seems to keep track of what you, the readers of Misce-Looney-Ous, want better than I do. He has gotten several requests for more of my commentaries, and one specifically asked for a Sylvester cartoon. I figured "what the heck",and I'll give the people what they want!

Here's a 1955 Sylvester cartoon entitled "Lighthouse Mouse", directed by Robert McKimson. This is probably my favorite Sylvester/Hippety Hopper cartoon, and it has some great gags and hilarious animation. So, as requested, here's me talking over a Sylvester cartoon!

Lighthouse Mouse-Commentary
Uploaded by MatthewHunter

But that's not all. Here are a couple of new music videos I created...one is a sort of takeoff on one that I posted earlier...the Sylvester Disneyland towel dance. Except this time, it's the same concept and looped animation set to the old internet classic, the "Hamster Dance".


WHAT? Is that STILL not enough for you people? Fine. Try "Always Where I Need To Be", a hit song by British rock band The Kooks, a song so dance-able it just had to be given the Looney Tunes treatment.

Looney Tunes kids' play area in Woodfield Mall, Schaumberg, IL

I came accross this interesting item while surfing the net. A company called Taubman Centers, Inc partnered with Warner Bros. before this past Christmas season to create a children's play area in the Woodfield Mall, Schaumberg, IL. It looks pretty cool...kids can play on and around statues of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Pepe Le Pew, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, and more favorite characters. If I ever become an eccentric billionaire, I want one of these in my house!

Foghorn and Miss Prissy host The Bugs Bunny Show

Here is some rarely seen color footage from an episode of The Bugs Bunny Show hosted by Foghorn Leghorn and Miss Prissy.

Bugs Bunny Show-Foghorn Leghorn and Miss Prissy

"Sylvester Dries off and Dances to Unfitting Music": a new Youtube classic

Normally, I ignore random Youtube videos that are crafted just for the sake of making no sense. But in my neverending quest to find long-lost treasures related to Looney Tunes to share with you, the readers of this blog, I have run across way too many random "poops" and "remixes". That said, let me share one with you that actually made me smile, for no reason other than the complete absurdity of it. A Youtube user by the name of "Videoguy" got his hands on an episode of "The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries" and a tune called "Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade", and created a 2-minute video of Sylvester, in an animation loop, dancing with a towel while drying himself off at a swimming pool. Scoff if you want, but this could give the "dancing banana" GIF animations a run for their money. And I dare you not to crack a smile in spite of yourself.

"Sylvester Dances While I Play Unfitting Music" by "Videoguy"

"Lady Play Your Mandolin" by Mitch Miller

Here's an interesting bit I found on Youtube: the Mitch Miller Singers performing "Lady Play Your Mandolin". Looney Tunes (technically, Merrie Melodies) fans will recognize this tune as the concept and soundtrack for the first Merrie Melody of the same name.



Here's the cartoon, for your reference.

Nick Nostalgia

There's something about watching these old Looney Tunes On Nickelodeon intros, bumpers and commercials that takes me back to being 12 years old again. A Dailymotion user named "sledgewrench" has created a 4 minute long compilation of material from back in the show's heyday. Some of the material has been presented here on the blog before, but it also includes some stuff I haven't seen show up online before (such as promos for "Spring Fling" and "Spotlight" marathons). You have to hand it to the promo people at Nick, they sure got us excited about watching this "gleeful, mindless violence".

Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon promos (1991-94)
Uploaded by sledgewrench

There is one Nickelodeon commercial that still eludes us. Around the time Nickelodeon revamped their Looney Tunes show, adding a new intro and phasing out the black-and-white cartoons (this was circa 1992, I believe), they ran a promo saying how the show would feature more of the Looney Tunes you love, and "No Bosko, sorry Bosko." Does anybody know where we could find this one?