Looney Tunes: October 2002
Cover
Wile E. Coyote is falling from a great height. He holds a sign which reads, "Please buy this comic before I hit the gound." At the bottom of the page are the words, "In this issue: A Tribute to Chuck Jones"
Credits
Synopsis
Road Runner speeds along as Wile E. Coyote watches. The bird makes a sudden stop at a big screen TV showing free cartoons. While Road Runner stops and watches cartoons, the coyote sneaks up behind him, planning to hit him with a big mallet. As Wile E. takes aim, he gets interested in the cartoon that is being shown. In a moment, both Road Runner and Coyote are sitting together and laughing at the cartoons they are watching. Road Runner even offers top share the popcorn-like bird seed. When the cartoons end and the screen goes dark, the old chase resumes. At the end of the story is a sign "Chuck Jones, 1912-2002" with the year 2002 crossed out. Written below is, "as long as cartoons run!"
Did You Notice...
Page 1: The pseudo-Latin names of the Road Runner and Coyote, chuckous lotta luckous and jonesious danger pronious show not just the difference between the tow, but their creator, Chuck Jones.- The identifiable cartoons, One Froggy Evening, What's Opera, Doc?, and at least one of the "Hunter Trilogy" were all directed by Chuck Jones. Also, the characters Michigan J. Frog, Pepe Le Pew, Marvin Martian, Sam Sheepdog, Ralph Wolf, daydreamer Ralph Phillips, Marc Antony, and Pussyfoot are all inventions of Chuck Jones.
Technical Nits
Credits
Synopsis
Many bull riders, even Yosemite Sam, have been thrown by the bull at a rodeo. Bugs Bunny's exit from his hole is partly blocked by the bull, but he manages. The rabbit sets up with a beach chair, umbrella, and some carrots. As he starts to relax, the bull charges and sends Bugs flying.
Bugs returns dressed western style and holding a red cloth like a bullfighter's muleta. The bulls charges, but stops comes to a sudden and worried halt as the rabbit reveals the red-hot branding iron he was holding behind the cloth. When the bull runs away, Bugs fires the branding as if it were an arrow and sends the bull flying.
It's not over as the bull returns and flattens the rabbit. Bugs plays traffic cop and stops the bull long enough to saddle him. The rabbit doesn't ride him, at least for very long, but when the bull throws Bugs, he lands on his feet and the bull gets an anvil hitting him. Bugs isn't done yet, and dresses as a cow. The bull is smitten and tries to kiss, but the rabbit substitutes a hose from a gas cylinder for his lip and inflates the bull. As the bull floats in the air, Bugs again applies the hot branding iron and pops the ballooning bovine.
Now the bull ups the ante and puts on a set of extra large horns. Bugs responds with his own set of high-tech horns, complete with radar. Again the bull charges, and comes to a panicked stop. The rabbit's artificial horns blast the bovine. Bugs Bunny wins as he rides atop the bewildered, and singed, bull.
Did You Notice...
- This story is inspired by Bully For Bugs (Jones, 1953) where Bugs Bunny shows up in a bullfighting arena and has to deal with the bull. Chuck Jones made the cartoon, according to one story, because he had been told not to make any bullfighting cartoons.
- Toro is Spanish for bull.
- Bugs calls the bull by, or at least mentions, the names of various beef cuts or products.
- Page 3: Bugs' line about what is behind curtain number one refers to the game show Let's Make A Deal where contestants had the option of risking what they had by exchanging for something hidden behind one of three curtains.
Technical Nits
Page 4: A bull and a steer are not quite the same thing. Without going into the details, steers tend to be more docile than bulls.- Page 4: Bugs seems to be holding his brand, BB, upside-down. If he branded the bull that way, the letters would be backwards in the resulting brand. Bugs holds the brand the right way on page six.
- Page 8: It seems strange to have roses thrown at a rodeo. Is this a rodeo or a bullfight? They are not the same thing, even if Bugs does use some elements of bullfighting in this story.
- Page 8: The number of tries is wrong. It should be 5,000 rather than 4,999. The story started with an announcer declaring that 4,999 had tried to ride the bull, so Bugs would be the 5,000 to make the attempt.
Credits
Synopsis
Elmer Fudd follows tracks to rabbit hole where he sees a pair of ears poking out. Elmer grabs the ears and pulls them only to find that instead of a rabbit they are attached to a lit bomb. Bugs jump up to congratulate blown up Elmer, as that bomb was the one millionth trick the rabbit pulled on him. He starts a celebration by allowing Elmer a free shot at him, but only after giving Fudd a pair of too-dark goggles and tying his gun barrels in a knot. The rabbit also returns all the many guns that were destroyed through the years.
Bugs starts a retrospective by showing, on a TV, when he and Elmer first met as infants. At that time, Bugs tricked Elmer into going after a bear. Bugs brings the bear back and it mauls Elmer again. Next up is a series of bit showing Bugs in disguise to trick Elmer. The rabbit has dressed as an old lady, a young woman, and Abraham Lincoln. This leads into some firsts, such as the first time the rabbit tricked Elmer over a cliff and the first time an anvil was sprung on Elmer. Bugs presents Elmer with an award from the Association of Anvil Manufacturers and an anvil on top of the more typical cup slips off and clobbers Elmer.
Daffy Duck is introduced and the television shows a bit of the classic rabbit season and duck season mix up with signs. Daffy and Bugs are amused by the scene, but Fudd is miffed. Daffy claims it's dirty rotten skunk season and Pepe Le Pew shows up to insist that dirty rotten skunks are better looking. Bugs consoles Elmer by presenting him with a gold watch, after having a policeman extract it from Yosemite Sam's person. The rabbit also give Elmer a scrapbook of all the tricks he pulled and a big cake.
Elmer is rightfully suspicious of the cake, but a candle isn't the dynamite he suspects. Instead, the candle is a very large coiled snake. Daffy, who has been reading through the scrapbook, points out that the count is wrong. The next trick will be the one millionth. Bug suggests that means they have to do everything over again next time. This idea scares Elmer enough to make him run from Bugs and Daffy. When Daffy says it's too bad that the one millionth trick wasn't pulled, Bugs replies that the watch he gave Elmer explodes. With an explosion in the background, Pepe Le Pew closes the story and notes it's strange that they call him a dirty rotten skunk.
Did You Notice...
- The restrospective format and appearances by guests from the past are things that were part of the radio, and then television, show This Is Your Life.
Technical Nits
- Page 3: Young Bugs' footpads are not colored in.
- The TV seems to have three knobs in some panels and at least four knobs in others.
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Last updated 29 February 2004