Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

People are voting emotionally.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

. . . and Ogden Nash's sound poem "Carnival of the Animals" 10 out of 10, it takes a perverse amount of effort (or lack thereof) to "adapt" it into something which merits an "8" at best. However, the Classic Looney Tuners who lend at least their names to this U.S. Bicentennial TV special--BUGS AND DAFFY'S CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS, included as a "Special Feature" on Disc 4 of Volume 5, Looney Tunes Golden Collection--must have cringed knowing that they had accomplished that dubious feat. Bugs and Daffy are animated here as stiff, hollow echoes of their former robust selves, with little effort made to Synch their mouths and motions to the soundtrack. The minimalist line drawings done for the musical interludes are even lamer; the sort of things that the Looney Tuners themselves would have savagely spoofed during their 1940s heydays. The running joke about all of Daffy Duck's Bon Mots eliciting the sounds of silence (chirping crickets) from an indifferent audience (which wildly applauds everything Bugs says) is a Looney Tunes hallmark around since the 1950s. Using it once here might constitute a Nod to Cartoon History, but repeating it 37 times as a running gag (that is, "gag" in the nauseating sense) is the sort of padding reflecting an imagination running on fumes that even a toddler can detect.

I saw this American TV special on British television, on a rainy afternoon in Bristol. In several other IMDb reviews, I've stated my displeasure for the work of animator Chuck Jones. Here, Jones actually subordinates his own ego for once, and I was pleasantly surprised that he produced a one-off show that gives kids (and other viewers) a taste of classical music.I'm not sure if it was a good idea to bung Bugs and Daffy into this. Clearly, they were shanghaied into the project because their presence would bring in some viewers. Unfortunately, those viewers probably expected some Loony Toons comedy -- Bugs Bunny cutting loose in the 'Barber of Seville' -- and that's just not on offer here. This special isn't very funny, and in fact doesn't really try to be funny ... but the presence of those two Merrie Melodies madmen will mislead viewers into expecting Termite Terrace mayhem.We begin in typical Warners cartoon fashion, with a shot of a symphonic hall. From within come the voices of Bugs and Daffy, arguing over the proper pronunciation for the name of Camille Saint-Saëns, composer of the music we're about to hear. As usual, it's Bugs who's right and Daffy who's wrong. Memo to Chuck Jones: c'mon, fella, would it have hurt just this once to let Daffy be the one who's right? Also, if Saint-Saëns's name is actually in the credits, I must have missed it. Since he died in 1921, I guess Chuck Jones didn't expect him to sue.The music here is conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, a comparatively youth-oriented conductor who seems to have spent his career (with varying degrees of success) in projects that gave him credit for hipness while also giving him credentials as a highbrow interpreter of classical music. The orchestrations impressed me more than Thomas's conducting. I enjoyed the musical pun in 'Fossils', with the xylophone evoking the image of a series of ribs on a spinal column.I realise that any animation project will feature some re-use of animation cels, but Jones is more obvious here than he needs to be. We see the same animation cycle, of Daffy Duck hunched over a piano keyboard with a grim look on his face, several times.The real attraction here, of course -- for anyone but the most die-hard Loony Toons addict -- is the suite of symphonic melodies in 'The Carnival of the Animals'. Each of these is performed as a sort of self-contained music video, each in a different style of animation ... and all of them radically different from Chuck Jones's usually foolery. For instance, 'The Lion' resembles a young child's drawings; very charming in its simplicity. At first, I was deeply impressed that Jones was willing and able to break free so fully from his usual animation style. Then I double-checked the credits of this special; it turns out that the animations for the symphonic sequences are by someone named Herb Klynn, who spent most of his animation career at UPA. His work here is excellent.The bottom line here is: if you're willing to give the classical music pieces (and their accompanying visuals) a chance in their own right, and don't expect any Loony Toons shenanigans, you might enjoy this special very much, as I did. If you're planning to sit through this thing humming Wagnerian versions of "Kill the wabbit!" and wondering when Bugs and Daffy are going to cut loose with some real slapstick, you'll be disappointed. My rating: seven out of 10.

This was extraordinarily funny, visually pleasing, and creative. Yes, Mel Blanc DOES do the voice characterizations and is credited at the beginning. And the narration is nothing short of brilliant, because it was penned by the Emperor of Puns, Ogden Nash. I got to see a live performance of Carnival of the Animals when I was in elementary school and the narrator was the great Robert Klein. Watching the amusing animated short brought back great memories. I recommend a terrific book (may be necessary to go to one of the out-of-print booksellers), A GOLDEN TRASHERY OF OGDEN NASHERY. Anyhow, seek out a copy of this cute animated short on VHS. I'll bet it can be found on one of the compilation DVDs by now, too.

I have been a long-time fan of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, so I found this a disopointment. They basically show parts of the carnival of the animals symphony, with some "Fantasia" rip-off visuals. Bugs and Daffy's nararation was the highlight, but even that wasn't funny. Don't get me wrong, I love classical music, but this just wasn't satisfactory.They didn't even get Mel Blanc to do the voices!