Mel Blanc may have had his inspiration for Captain Caveman nearly 3 decades before the Captain came to life.
Bugs Bunny ends up taking a flight, without a plane, but with a set of balloons, to Australia, in 1950's "Bushy Hare". Listen to Blanc's Aborigine voice.
These things we know are true. Flying insects are a problem around food, indoors or outdoors. If you don't believe me, ask a vendor at the local farmers' markets, for example. Flies & bees are all over the joint.
We also know that flies can see in all directions, and, presumably, that applies to bees, too. However, for comic effect, the insects in "Porky's Pastry Pirates" have humanoid eyes, which takes away their advantage.
"The Henpecked Duck" is Daffy Duck in this Bob Clampett farce, with Porky Pig as the presiding judge, Sara Berner voices Mrs. Duck.
Jeff Bergman has been a mainstay at Hanna-Barbera & WB for 30+ years, and recently, landed one of the biggest roles of his career, as he inherits the voice role of Mr. Potato Head in "Toy Story 5", taking over for the late Don Rickles.
This weekend, Jeff was interviewed on CBS Saturday Morning, so many of us finally got a face to go with all those voices, plus some archived footage of Mel Blanc with David Letterman.
Porky Pig stars in Friz Freleng's loose adaptation of Aesop's The Grasshopper & The Ant, "Porky's Bear Facts", as he contends with a lazy neighbor...
Philbert was a hybrid live-action/animated produced by WB for ABC, which passed on it. Rather than shop it around, the studio did some editing, and reissued Philbert as a 26 minute short subject in theatres.
Had it worked, William Schallert (ex-Dobie Gillis) might not have landed a role on The Patty Duke Show in the fall of 1963. Friz Freleng not only directed the animation, but wrote the story, too, a rare case of Freleng writing for live-action.
The mid-60's, we know, brought new ideas to Warner Bros..
One of those was 1964's "Bartholomew Versus The Wheel", about a dog who has a beef with wheels after a scooter runs over his tail. Mel Blanc provides the vocal effects for Bartholomew, the cat, and assorted others, while Leslie Barringer is credited as the narrator.
Directed by Robert McKimson.
Friz Freleng had a little fun with science fiction and the then-modern technology of the 60's with 1962's "The Jet Cage", starring Tweety & Sylvester. For once, June Foray (Rocky & His Friends) shares screen credit with Mel Blanc (The Flintstones, The Jack Benny Program).
Nearly 30 years after the FCC banned cigarette commercials, the staff of Pinky & The Brain decided to poke fun at the tobacco industry........
Herb Klynn & Format Films (The Lone Ranger, The Alvin Show) took over the animation for Speedy Gonzales with 1967's "Quacker Tracker". If the plot sounds familiar, well, WB also did a similar plot with Cool Cat.
Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd are out west in 1942's "The Wacky Wabbit". Elmer (Arthur Q. Bryan) is looking for gold out in the desert. Bugs? Welllllll......
Friz Freleng's take on the Three Little Pigs gets mashed up with a Brahams composition in 1943's "Pigs in a Polka", which has a Big Bad Wolf (Mel Blanc) with a Brooklyn accent. Seems he failed the same elocution course that Bugs Bunny passed. And, danged if one of the triplets doesn't resemble Porky Pig (who should've been the star of this one). And, yeah, the open recalls "A Corny Concerto" from a couple of years earlier.
Following is a Blue Ribbon reissue.
While it was previously reported that Bugs Bunny was TCM's Star of the Month, the Oscar winning icon got all of the attention a week ago.
The reason? TCM begins 31 Days of Oscar tomorrow, and to spread out their plans for Bugs over the month would've conflicted with the annual promotion. Unless, of course, the shorts that won those Oscars for Bugs & WB are part of the 31 day event.
Comics Dana Gould, Patton Oswalt (ex-Happy!, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, The King of Queens), & Bill Hader (ex-Saturday Night Live) discuss Bugs' eternal appeal.
Return with us now to a time when Native Americans were treated as stereotypes, such as the villainous Superchief, also known as Injun Joe. Porky Pig is a scout leading a wagon train, and runs afoul of Joe until the lone survivor of Joe's last raid shows up........
We had this one before, but then it was removed by YouTube. Now, it's back, even though it's not the original CBS print.
Bugs Bunny burrows through a time warp into Camelot, becoming "A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court". Subsequent reruns rechristened the special as "Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court", likely due to issues with the estate of Mark Twain, even though Chuck Jones had made it clear what he was doing, taking creative license with the story......
After getting bounced from HBO Max last year, Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes crew will return to the Warner Bros Discovery umbrella, with shorts airing on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) starting next Monday, February 2, with Bugs designated as the channel's "Star of The Month".
So, you're probably asking, what happens to the shorts airing on Me-TV? That remains to be seen. They'll still stream on Tubi, which acquired the lot a few months back, until such time as WBD decides to bring them back to HBO Max. Whether that means getting rid of kid-unfriendly David Zaslav remains to be seen as well.
According to the article, plans call for the legendary "What's Opera, Doc?" and "Rabbit of Seville" to air as opening acts, if you will, for the Marx Brothers' "A Night at The Opera". Like, I don't know if that ever really happened at the theatres (doubtful), but fans of both Bugs and the Marxes will be in hog heaven.
Somewhere, Daffy Duck is in a jealous fit. Again.
One of the biggest complaints about The Looney Tunes Show was how it dumbed down Daffy Duck (Jeff Bergman) to the point where he was little more than an imbecile.
In this case, a case of mistaken identity has him thinking Porky Pig (Bob Bergen) is a killer. Meanwhile, Bugs (Bergman) rushes to the aid of Lola (Kristen Wiig) after she breaks her ankle. Legendary producer Garry Marshall, who hadn't done much acting since the 60's, is heard as Dr. Weisberg, a recurring role.
In reality, it wasn't just Porky Pig, as Daffy Duck got him into a mess with a hotel charging exorbitant rates.
I can recall when this aired on WNEW (now WNYW) & WSBK on cable back in the 70's. Here's "Porky Pig's Feat":
Happened across this compilation of ads, some of which were in-show spots from The Bugs Bunny Show during its primetime run (1960-2), and some we've used before, for Alpha-Bits and Tang. Voices by Mel Blanc, except for Elmer Fudd (Hal Smith, The Andy Griffith Show):
Porky Pig owns a diner in this 1942 Chuck Jones farce, "Porky's Cafe". The lone customer would feel right at home in a Capital One commercial today as he orders virtually everything from the menu.
