[7.0/10] Not the Looney Tunes’ best outing, but a perfectly acceptable dose of yuletide-themed fun from the classic characters. This is one of the last hurrahs of the original crew, with Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Mel Blanc, and June Foray all teaming up to put this together. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite have the charm or winning sense of madcap fun of the original theatrical shorts. Still, there’s charm here.
The Christmas Carol spoof doesn’t have much going for it. The “casting” of Sam as Scrooge and Porky as Crachit is solid enough. But Bugs' methods for playing tricks on Sam in a quasi-victorian setting aren't especially clever. Him pretending to be a ghost to spook Sam into repentance is a solid bit, but otherwise this is an underwhelming effort from Freleng.
Jones’ contribution, the middle section featuring a Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner confrontation, is the stand out of the special. There’s tons of clever gags in here, from Coyote’s misadventures with the snow-making machine, to the inevitable instances where his efforts at giant snowball making backfire on him. There’s plenty of classic capering here, and the Coyote’s closing well wishes for the holidays are the icing on the cake.
The final segment, which sees Bugs going toe to toe with Taz-as-Santa, is another fine-but-nothing-special outing. The short has basically one gag -- Taz wants to eat things, and Bugs’ methods to toy with the guy are nothing to write home about. There’s a few decent jokes, like Bugs’ extended Xmas list, but otherwise this is another one that’s solid but not spectacular. Likewise, the wraparounds are more a bout of mild but cute bits than anything especially mind-blowing.
Still, if you like the Looney Tunes, and you’d like to enjoy them in a seasonally-appropriate setting, this more than fits the bill, especially with such a short runtime.
Surprisingly enough you have to buy it on Amazon to see the entire special these days. Who knows why Boomerang only has 9 minutes of it. The entire Scrooge part is what they cut out.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-12-11T02:38:47Z
[7.0/10] Not the Looney Tunes’ best outing, but a perfectly acceptable dose of yuletide-themed fun from the classic characters. This is one of the last hurrahs of the original crew, with Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Mel Blanc, and June Foray all teaming up to put this together. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite have the charm or winning sense of madcap fun of the original theatrical shorts. Still, there’s charm here.
The Christmas Carol spoof doesn’t have much going for it. The “casting” of Sam as Scrooge and Porky as Crachit is solid enough. But Bugs' methods for playing tricks on Sam in a quasi-victorian setting aren't especially clever. Him pretending to be a ghost to spook Sam into repentance is a solid bit, but otherwise this is an underwhelming effort from Freleng.
Jones’ contribution, the middle section featuring a Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner confrontation, is the stand out of the special. There’s tons of clever gags in here, from Coyote’s misadventures with the snow-making machine, to the inevitable instances where his efforts at giant snowball making backfire on him. There’s plenty of classic capering here, and the Coyote’s closing well wishes for the holidays are the icing on the cake.
The final segment, which sees Bugs going toe to toe with Taz-as-Santa, is another fine-but-nothing-special outing. The short has basically one gag -- Taz wants to eat things, and Bugs’ methods to toy with the guy are nothing to write home about. There’s a few decent jokes, like Bugs’ extended Xmas list, but otherwise this is another one that’s solid but not spectacular. Likewise, the wraparounds are more a bout of mild but cute bits than anything especially mind-blowing.
Still, if you like the Looney Tunes, and you’d like to enjoy them in a seasonally-appropriate setting, this more than fits the bill, especially with such a short runtime.