"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":