Fright Before Christmas (1979)

Purely Joyful Movie!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

"Fright Before Christmas" is a television short film from 1979, almost 40 years ago now, that runs for 7 minutes and was a collaboration by Freleng, Blanc and Foray, some of Warner Bros' finest reuniting for this little Christmas movie that has Bugs going up against a Taz who is just as destructive as always when he turns into that whirlwind, even if it is the season of giving and he is wearing a red-white Santa dress. I am a big Taz fan, so he was the highlight for me here. The shared highlight I would say as Bugs' little nephew is just divine cuteness and it is a bit of a shame that he does not appear in (many) other cartoons. It's probably because he does not deliver comedy whatsoever, but still quite a shame in my opinion. But luckily we got him here. Bugs himself was a bit forgettable this time, cool as always in the face of danger, but Taz clearly carried this one from the entertainment perspective, even if he found his master as usual in Bugs. Overall, a must-see all year for my fellow Taz lovers and everybody else if they don't hate cartoons and old animation can check this one out during the holiday season. I give it a thumbs-up.

. . . Bugs Bunny begins his 19-item Christmas Gift List to the Tasmanian Devil, as the latter Looney Tunes character substitutes for Santy Claus during this 1979 animated short, FRIGHT BEFORE CHR!STMAS. The other 18 desires on the hare's wish list are 2)a trip to Venus, 3)10 tickets to the World Series, 4)a world-championship caliber hockey team, 5)a South Pacific carrot farm, 6)a stereo, 7)a television, 8)a "controlling interest" in IBM (which stood for International Business Machines back then), 9)a subscription to the Comic Book of the Month Club, 10)Frank Sinatra's old address book, 11)twin Ferraris with custom license plates, 12)a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Chemistry Set, 13)Jet roller skates, 14)a second-hand diamond, 15)a TV show on Mars, 16)a kitten, 17)a pony, 18)a little brother, and 19)a partridge in a pear tree. WHO wouldn't want all that?

Forming as part of the special 'Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales', 'Fright Before Christmas' as well as the other two cartoons featured is watchable but doesn't come close to the peak/classic years.As said, it's not bad. There are some nice vibrant colours in the animation and the wintry setting is beautifully evoked. The character designs are sadly quite scrappy however, especially a quite poorly drawn Taz. The music is no Carl Stalling or Milt Franklyn (thank goodness that it's also no Bill Lava though when using canned music), and a couple of parts sound on the cheap side, but most of it has a good deal of energy, is nicely orchestrated and unlike a lot of later Lava efforts it fits with the action while not exactly enhancing it like Stalling and to a lesser extent Franklyn were able to do.In terms of the humour, there are some amusing lines from Bugs and a couple of inventive gags revolving around Taz's eating. They don't come consistently though, there are not quite enough laughs and some of them are rushed so they're almost throwaway and others feel recycled. The story is predictable, sometimes painfully so, with it reading like a standard Bugs and Taz cartoon except in a different setting. The ending feels rushed and abrupt.Bugs is smart, amusing and likable and Taz is suitably beastly, their chemistry also convinces and is suitably fun and antagonistic, though both have had better written and more imaginative material in their peak years. At least though they haven't been distorted like some of the best Looney Tunes characters (i.e. Daffy) were in the mid-late-60s output, which was when Looney Tunes started to decline. Clyde is an adorable supporting character, without being too cloying. Mel Blanc does just fine as he always does as does June Foray, again they've been more inspired when they've had better material, it's not bad material just not up to the usual high standard maintained in Looney Tunes' classic years.Overall, alright but less than great. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Originally part of the Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales TV special, this cartoon starts with the Tasmanian Devil breaking free from his crate on a plane that's supposed to be taking him to Australia. He parachutes from the plane (which is kind of smart for Taz isn't it) and lands in the North Pole where he winds up dressed as Santa and taking off in the sleigh pulled by reindeer. As Bugs Bunny is reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to his nephew, Santa Taz arrives at their house. Taz does his usual shtick, eating everything in sight. Bugs takes this all in stride before the whole thing ends somewhat abruptly.It's not very good, even if we don't compare it to any of the great theatrical Looney Tunes shorts. The animation is crude and the gags recycled. But it was made-for-TV so maybe we shouldn't expect too much. Speedy Gonzales appears in a throwaway joke. I didn't laugh once but perhaps little tykes will like it more.