Bugs Bunny: Superstar

Bugs Bunny: Superstar Bugs Bunny: Superstar is a 1975 Looney Tunes documentary film, narrated by Orson Welles and produced and directed by Larry Jackson.

The film includes nine Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons which were previously released during the 1940's (thus, this can also be considered an anthology film) :

What's Cookin' Doc? (1944) The Wild Hare (a.k.a. A Wild Hare) (1940) Corny Concerto (1943) I Taw a Putty Tat (1948) Rhapsody Rabbit (1946) Walky Talky Hawky (1946) My Favorite Duck (1942) Hair-Raising Hare (1946) The Old Grey Hare (1944) It also includes interviews with some legendary Warner Bros. animation directors of that period: Friz Freleng, Tex Avery and especially Bob Clampett, who has the most screen time. Some contemporary critics pointed out that Clampett's important role, as one of the primary developers of the early Warner cartoons, was slanted to some degree, due to his prominent presence in this film. The documentary infuriated many of the Warner Bros. artists as Clampett liberally took credit for much of the Warner creations.

Bugs Bunny: Superstar was the first of a series of Warner cartoon compilation movies released in the 1970s and 1980s. However, as a documentary, it does not fit the mould of the totally-animated Warner Bros. compilation movies that began with 1979's The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (usually cited as the first compilation movie, given that the second movie following it was titled Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales - it would be Bugs' 4th movie if Bugs Bunny: Superstar was taken into account). This film was not included because it was not produced by Warner Bros. (it was produced by Hare-Raising Films) and the cartoons were controlled by United Artists at that time as part of the Associated Artists Productions library of pre-1948 Warner Bros. films.

[edit] Availability Bugs Bunny: Superstar was first released in theaters in 1975. It was also available on laserdisc and VHS format during the late 1980s but both versions had been discontinued since 1999 when MGM/UA Home Video lost the distribution rights to MGM and A.A.P. titles owned by Turner Entertainment to Warner Home Video.

It was re-released on DVD on November 14, 2006, as a two-part special feature in the box set Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4. Most of cartoons were previously released as separate, refurbished entries in the DVD collection. This film is presented pretty much "as is", with some age-wear apparent here and there.

[edit] External links Bugs Bunny: Superstar at the Internet Movie Database