Bug Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales (1979) Review

Bug Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales (1979) Review

If you’re a Looney Tunes fan like I am, then you need to see this holiday special. It’s from that strange era of Looney Tunes animation in the 70’s, when the voices sounded a little different, even though they were still by Mel Blanc, the animation looked a little off, even though it was still directed by the likes of Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones, and the movies released during that time were mostly compilations of older shorts, like The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie or Bugs Bunny’s 1001 Rabbit Tales, but Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales is the best original Looney Tunes content from this odd-but-still-enjoyable era.  

All of the best characters show up. It begins with Bugs trying to get a group of his pals, including Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, and Peppy LePew, to sing Christmas carols. There are three main segments, which all tackle Christmas traditions, as well as winter past times. The first is Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol: a loose adaptation of the Charles Dickens story. Bugs Bunny teaches Yosemite Sam (in place of Scrooge) a lesson about being kind during the holidays. The second segment features Wile E. Coyote pursuing the Road Runner through a winter wonderland. There are some great gags here; The Road Runner and Wile E. have always been my favourite Looney Tunes characters, and seeing them here in a slightly different setting is a real treat. Finally, there is The Fright Before Christmas. The Tasmanian Devil ends up dressed as Santa and arrives at Bugs Bunny’s house. Bugs entertains the Santa imposter in a typically hilarious fashion. 

The entire half-hour is entertaining, and leaves no holiday stone unturned. Carolling, Santa Claus, exchanging gifts, frolicking in the snow, it’s all here. All three segments have laugh-out-loud moments and memorable gags, but the parts I always remember the strongest come from the Roadrunner and Tasmanian Devil segments. There’s a part where Wile E. uses “speed skates”, to predictably chaotic results, and another part where Taz eats some Christmas lights and gets electrocuted. 

To detail every funny part would be an injustice. I’ll sum it up thusly: Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales is one of the best Christmas TV specials ever made, and is severely underrepresented in this modern age come the holiday season.