Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979) - Part 3

So, a quick plot summary of 1979's "Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol" and what resemblance it has to the source material.

The thing to keep in mind is that this is really a Bugs Bunny vs. Yosemite Sam cartoon, set in the world of "A Christmas Carol" and is certainly not meant as a strict adaptation.

The fun in the Bugs/Sam cartoons stems from Sam's wild overreactions to Bugs's pranks. And Bugs needs some provocation for pulling those pranks. Not a lot, but some!

So, this cartoon puts that classic dynamic within the Scrooge framework.

That being said, it's perhaps more faithful than you might think.

Typically, the action starts in Scrooge's office, with him giving Bob Cratchit a hard time about using coal.

Bugs comes in like Fred, but his relationship with Scrooge is unclear. A unique touch is Scrooge receiving a mistletoe inspired kiss, which he does not appreciate.

Bugs gives Bob a piece of coal from Scrooge's fire, which Scrooge's cat notices, leading to some wacky antics, but also ultimately to Bob being fired. Thanks a lot, Sylvester!

Bugs goes home with Bob and meets his family, including Tiny Tim. Interesting to note that Bugs calls Bob (as played by Porky Pig) "Bob" and Bob calls Bugs "Bugs," so Bugs is playing himself, not Fred.

Scrooge has Bob's candle repossessed, then forecloses on his house, leading Bugs to drop in his catchphrase: "Of course you realize this means war!"

Now properly motivated, Bugs is ready to give Scrooge a hard time by scaring him into changing his ways.

He does so by putting on a white sheet as "The Ghost of Christmas" to haunt Scrooge and threaten to send him "down there."

Scrooge is really scared and quickly repents. He dons a convenient Santa suit and starts gving away the money that he had stashed under his mattress.

They all wind up at the  Cratchits' house and Scrooge makes Bob his partner for a happy ending. Well, happy until Bugs gives "Sam Scrooge" one more kiss!

The linking segment that follows in the original TV special has Yosemite Sam saying that he was only "play acting" and wants back that money he gave away!

So, some story elements made their way into this cartoon, but the biggest difference is that there are no actual ghosts.

I think the whole thing is a blast and a welcome throwback to those great old cartoons.

Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979) - Part 2

With a large group of characters under the "Looney Tunes" umbrella, the creators of "Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol" had the ability to cast the key roles with the proper players. How did they do?

They did a great job!

You first look in-house when casting your Scrooge and they had a likely candidate in Yosemite Sam! He's certainly ornery enough! Is his name here actually "Sam Scrooge" or is Yosemite Sam not good at remembering lines?

With Scrooge cast, what to do with Bugs Bunny himself? Do you make him Bob Cratchit, the seemingly second biggest role? No, that wouldn't work. Bugs is way too independent. What they did here was have him come into Scrooge's office like nephew Fred, although he does not seem to be Scrooge's nephew, then carry out the haunting in typical Bugs fashion. As always, Bugs is in charge every step of the way.

The Looney Tunes stable does have the perfect Bob Cratchit, however, in the form of Porky Pig! Porky always was able to play a sympathetic everyman convincingly.

As is often the case with big cartoon stars like Porky, he has a significant other, Petunia, who easily slides into the role of Mrs. Cratchit.

Porky does have a cartoon nephew named Pinky, who perhaps is playing the older Cratchit son. There's also a Cratchit daughter, perhaps played by a niece of Petunia?

Tiny Tim is an important role, and who better to portray him than Tweety, the tiniest Looney Tunes star of all! Some may say that if Bob Cratchit is played by a pig, then his son should also be a pig rather than a bird. But these are cartoon characters acting out a story for us, so anything goes!

I'm of the school, by the way, that Tweety's full name is "Tweety Pie," as evidenced by the title of his 1947 Oscar winning cartoon of the same name (also directed by Friz Freleng).

Tweety's frequent costar, Sylvester shows up as Scrooge's cat, which is pretty wacky.

Bugs also leads a group of carolers consisting of Pepe LePew, Elmer Fudd and Foghorn Leghorn!

So, a lot of classic characters here. Conspicuous by his absence is Daffy Duck. Did he refuse to participate if he couldn't play Scrooge?

Hmmm...

Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979) - Part 1

Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979)
Director: Friz Feleng
Scrooge: Yosemite Sam

It may seem odd, but that short film "Scrooge, or Marley's Ghost" from 1901 made me think of "bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol," another short film, but from 78 years later!

The main reason is that Bugs wears a white sheet similar to Marley's Ghost in the 1901 film. The main difference, of course, is that Marley is an actual ghost now and Bugs is a real live bunny!

What we have here is a fun cartoon short that was originally part of the TV special "Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales" in 1979.

Was that really 40 years ago?

It's great to hear the legendary Mel Blanc doing his usual stellar job with the voices. He was still in good form at that relatively late date.

And the director is the brilliant Friz Freleng, who was responsible for so many classic Warner Brothers cartoons. He knew how to get the best out of his cartoon stars.

I'm a huge fan of those vintage cartoons, so this is right up my alley.

The framing scenes make it clear that the members of the Looney Tunes gang are acting out the story for us, which I always think is a great idea, as it keeps the illusion that they're real personalities!

So, with a bunch of classic characters available, how did they do with the casting?