Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975)

Just what I expected

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Blistering performances.

. . . Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4, called BUGS BUNNY SUPERSTAR, PART 2. Apparently, Warner Bros. lacked the imagination to recognize that many people would eventually find Disc 2 slipped into a plain, generic holder, by itself, to be purchased for a quarter at a garage sale. This would pose no problem for a legitimate product from a self-respecting firm. On-screen information would enlighten viewers regarding where to find Part 1 of SUPERSTAR, and any other parts in existence. Since Part 2 includes five complete Looney Tunes (RHAPSODY RABBIT, WALKY TALKY HAWKY, MY FAVORITE DUCK, HARE-RAISING HARE, and THE OLD GREY HARE)--the second and third of which have NOTHING to do with Bugs Bunny, the supposed "superstar" of the overall title--SUPERSTAR would need at least 218 parts to include ALL 1,090 Classic Looney Tunes acknowledged by Wikipedia. As for the connective tissue squeezed between these five SUPERSTAR Toons, it's as rotten as a week-old swamp corpse (like that ones the Olympic water athletes have to swim, row, paddle, and sail through this week in Rio). Speaking of which, one-time Hollywood notable Orson Welles provides 50 words or so of highly perishable narration here.

Bugs Bunny Superstar (1975) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Orson Welles narrates this documentary that's hosted by Robert Clampett as he tells the story of Bugs Bunny as well as some of the other famous characters including Daffy, Porky, Sylvester and Tweety. This documentary clocks in at 90 minutes and features several shorts in their entirety. These include MY FAVORITE DUCK, HAIR RAISING HARE, THE OLD GREY HARE, RHAPSODY RABBIT, WALKY TALKY HAWKY, THE WILD HARE, THE CORNY CONCERTO, I TAW A PUTTY TAT and WHAT'S COOKIN' DOC? These shorts are of different quality but there's certainly not a bad one in the bunch.The real highlight is the actual documentary because Clampett serves as a terrific host and we're given all sorts of promotional materials as well as several behind-the-scenes stories including some video footage of the original crew messing around on the set of Warner. There's some great stories about various Hollywood legends who would show up at the studio wondering how the animation was done. We get a nice bit of education on not only the studio and the characters but also how exactly these shorts were made. Fans of Bugs Bunny will certainly enjoy watching the shorts and hearing the stories.

I'm surprised to read so few comments about Bugs Bunny, Superstar. So I'll chime in. Besides, it'll give me som'in' positive to say. They're all here - not just Bugs. This nine-cartoon compilation also features Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Silvester, Henry-the-Chicken-Hawk, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky, Daffy. It's kind of a "Best of." I thought that it was very, very good. There is some narration by Orson Welles and the difficult-to-pull-off segue from cartoon to cartoon is filled by interesting home-movie-type, black-and-white glimpses of how it was where the comics were created - the people behind the characters - the artists, the musicians, the voice (singular - Mel Blanc). But imagine this: I didn't hear the word "computer" during the entire film! This is one of the few videos that I would actually buy - I could watch it over and over. Must be the kid in me. Speaking of kids, I'll bet there's generations of 'em, the majority of whom have seen Bugs, Elmer, Porky, Daffy, Tweety, Sylvester. But I'll also bet that the majority of CURRENT cartoons are NOT known from generation to generation. Might that be a testament to how deservingly enduring these Looney Toons are?

This superb compilation, appropriately narrated by another American cultural giant, Orson Welles, features the best of the 1940s Looney Tunes output, not just Bugs, but Sylvester, Tweetie, Daffy, Porky and Foghorn: 'What's Cookin' Doc', 'A Wild Hare', 'A Corny Concerto', 'Rhapsody Rabbit', 'I Saw A Putty Tat', 'Walky Talky Hawky', 'My Favorite Duck', 'Hair Raising Hare' and ''Old Grey Hare' (see my individual reviews).As a piece of cultural history, this semi-documentary is inadequate - there is no attempt to explain the subversiveness of these irreverent, flippant, violent, beautiful cartoons in the context of Disney-dominating ick-animation and gloomy, propaganda-laden World War Two - to which many of these cartoons tacitly refer, revealing complicated truths other 'real' films couldn't dare, such as the barbaric effect fighting barbarians can have on 'our' side; there is no analysis of the glorious pretention-pricking of both Hollywood and high culture, or Bugs' androgynous proteanism, or how the cartoons retained a level of fresh invention while seemingly locked in repetitive formulae; of the powerful psychoanalytic premisses of each short, in which a wild, elusive, lawless animal stands in for our stifled desires, especially as World War Two gives on to the post-war world of Joe McCarthy and chums.Rather, the in-between nostalgic bits celebrate harmless anecdote and japery, putting animation on its proper, neutered level. The cartoons themselves triumphantly bely such a project.