Looney Tunes: Back In Action

Looney Tunes: Back In Action is a 2003 American live-action/animated, Comedy/Adventure film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Paula Weinstein and Bernie Goldman. It starred Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, and Steve Martin. It was released on DVD on November 14th, 2003.

Storyline
Tired of playing second fiddle to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck demands his own movie from the Warner Brothers only to be fired by V.P. Of Comedy Kate Houghton. D.J. Drake, son of action star Damian Drake, is also fired from his job as a security guard after trying to escort Daffy from the studios, driving The Batmobile into the studio's water-tower which falls on Kate's car. Kate tries to make Bugs' film more educational and socially relevant, but he refuses to work with her unless Daffy is brought back; she is ultimately forced to comply in order to keep her job after Bugs is injured during a routine that requires Daffy's presence. D.J. returns home and is surprised to find that Daffy had snuck along. Finding a hidden video screen, D.J. is told by his super spy father to go to Las Vegas to find a woman named "Dusty Tails" to get a diamond called "The Blue Monkey." D.J. and Daffy head out in an old A.M.C. Gremlin car. Bugs and Kate arrive at the house after Bugs calls Daffy and learns the situation, and pursue them in Damian's spy car, a T.V.R Tuscan right hand drive. Also after the diamond are ACME, run by Mr. Chairman who plans to use the diamond to take over the world and sell more merchandise. D.J. and Daffy arrive in Las Vegas and find Dusty Tails performing at a casino run by Yosemite Sam. Dusty gives D.J. a playing card with The Mona Lisa's face on it. Sam, working for ACME, pursues D.J. and Daffy across the city, leading to a car chase with Bugs and Kate being dragged into the mayhem when D.J. takes the wheel of the spy car. The heroes escape via the spy car's flight ability whilst Sam crashes into his own casino. The spy car crashes in Death Valley where the heroes conveniently find a Wal-Mart thanks to Kate's desire for more product placement. Mr. Chairman sends in Wile E. Coyote to defeat the heroes but he fails via a misdirected missile. The heroes wander into Area #52 (Area 51 created as a "paranoid fantasy") where they meet Mother, a James Bond-like figure who gives DJ new gadgets to help find the diamond and reveals that ACME will use the diamond to turn mankind into monkeys to create their merchandise and then turn them back so they'll buy the products. Marvin The Martian and a group of famous aliens (including two Daleks) attack, but the heroes escape. They conclude the next clue is in The Mona Lisa painting in Paris. In The Louvre Museum, the heroes discover the playing card doubles as a viewing window and find a map of Africa behind the Mona Lisa painting and take a photo on Kate's mobile phone. Elmer J. Fudd arrives to gain the card, turning out to be "secretly evil." Bugs and Daffy flee playfully around the museum, leaping through various famous paintings until Elmer is defeated by Bugs via a fan when he jumps out of a Pointillism painting. Mr. Smith, henchman of Mr. Chairman, steals Kate's phone. The heroes travel to Africa where they hitch a ride on an elephant ridden by Sylvester The Cat, Tweety Bird, and Granny. They find the diamond and a temple, but Granny and the others reveal themselves to be Mr. Chairman, Mr. Smith and The Tasmanian Devil. Mr. Chairman uses a disintegration-gun to transport himself and the heroes to ACME Headquarters and gains the diamond. Mr. Smith is then revealed to be Tasmanian She-Devil. The diamond is taken to a satellite by Marvin; Mr. Chairman explains he will fire an energy beam worldwide which will turn everyone into monkeys besides himself and his love interest, Mary. D.J. and Kate save Damian and Wile blows up in a train. Bugs and Daffy chase Marvin to the satellite, and while Bugs fights Marvin, Daffy becomes Duck Dodgers and manages to destroy the satellite by plugging its dish with his beak. Bugs defeats Marvin by overloading his own bubble gun. The energy beam strikes Mr. Chairman, turning him into a monkey. Later, Daffy learns the entire adventure was apart of Bugs' film, but Bugs suggests the two become equal; Daffy starts cheering until he is flattened by the Looney Tunes end-tag. While Porky Pig tries to quote his trademark end-tag, the studio starts to close. After that, when it's almost pitch black, Porky tells the audience to go home. In the credits, we see drawn characters from the movie. In the post credits scene, Daffy goes back to the casino and plays a trick on Nasty Canasta and Cottontail Smith.

Live-action actors

 * Brendan Fraser as D.J. Drake, a stuntman who wishes to make his father proud.
 * Jenna Elfman as Kate Houghton, the icy VP of comedy at the Warner Bros. Studios with a secret crush on Damian.
 * Steve Martin as Mr. Chairman, the immature and comedic head of the Acme Corporation.
 * Timothy Dalton as Damian Drake, A famous action film star and DJ's father.
 * Heather Locklear as Dusty Tails, A friend of Damian who works in Las Vegas.
 * Joan Cusack as Mother, A scientist at Area 52 and DJ's mother.
 * Bill Goldberg as Mr. Bob Smith, Mr. Chairman's minion.
 * Jeff Gordon as himself
 * Matthew Lillard as himself
 * Mary Woronov as Herself, Acme VP, Bad Ideas, a stuttering woman who Mr. Chairman likes.
 * Marc Lawrence as Acme VP, Stating the Obvious, Mr. Chairman's father.
 * Bill McKinney as Acme VP, Nitpicking
 * George Murdock as Acme VP
 * Robert Picardo as Acme VP, Rhetorical Questions.
 * Ron Perlman as Acme VP, Never Learning
 * Vernon Wells as Acme VP, Child Labor, a cruel man who dislikes children.
 * Leo Rossi as Acme VP, Climbing to the Top
 * Dick Miller as Studio Guard
 * Peter Graves as Civil Defense Film Host (uncredited)
 * Dakota Fanning as Little Girl on Tour (uncredited)
 * Michael Jordan as himself (uncredited cameo)

Voice cast

 * Joe Alaskey as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester The Cat, Beaky Buzzard, Mama Bear
 * Jeff Bennett as Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Nasty Canasta
 * Bob Bergen as Porky Pig
 * June Foray as Granny
 * Eric Goldberg as Marvin the Martian, Michigan J. Frog, Speedy Gonzales, Tweety Bird
 * Danny Mann as Robo Dog, Spy Car
 * Daran Norris as Cottontail Smith
 * Will Ryan as Papa Bear
 * Billy West as Elmer J. Fudd, Mr. Lorre, The Scream
 * Casey Kasem as Shaggy
 * Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo
 * Brendan Fraser as The Tasmanian Devil, Tasmanian She-Devil
 * Stan Freberg as Baby Bear

Soundtrack
This was the final film Jerry Goldsmith composed music for. Due to Jerry's failing health, the last reel of the film was actually scored by John Debney, though Goldsmith was the only credited composer in marketing materials and the Varèse Sarabande soundtrack album only contains Jerry's music (although the first and last cues are adaptations of compositions heard in Warner Bros. cartoons). John receives an "Additional Music by" credit in the closing titles of the film and "Special Thanks" in the soundtrack album credits.

Box Office
There were multiple causes to the film's box-office flop. On the front of family films, Looney Tunes: Back In Action was sandwiched between the releases of Elf and The Cat In The Hat, resulting in Looney Tunes: Back in Action being lost in the shuffle. It should also be noted that this film was released the same month as another Warner Brothers film The Matrix Revolutions, which the studio put more advertising money behind. Only the barest minimum of promotions were done to advertise the film, limited to advertising with the film's promotional partners Sprint, McDonald's, Aflac, among others) and very few television ads. Also, very little merchandise directly based on the film was released beyond some toys made by M&M's, a junior novelization, and a Jack In The Box Keepsake Ornament. The film's poor box-office results discouraged Warner Bros. from releasing the newer Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry shorts that Warner Bros. Animation had completed, and they cancelled those in production.

Reviews
Despite its financial disaster, the critical response for Looney Tunes Back in Action was mixed to positive, making it more critically successful than the previous Looney Tunes film Space Jam. As of March 28nd, 2011, the film scores a 56% "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The two well-known movie critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper both gave the film two thumbs up. Along with the critical success, the film was also nominated for Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature.

Trivia

 * The original title for the movie was going to be Spy Jam, but it was changed because it referenced the 1996 Looney Tunes film Space Jam. And Jackie Chan was to be the lead actor.