Bugs Bunny’s Thanksgiving Diet

Bugs Bunny’s Thanksgiving Diet (1978)

Bugs Bunny’s Thanksgiving Diet is a 24 minute holiday special that aired November 15, 1978 on CBS. Like many of the Looney Tunes television specials, it’s a clip show that features excerpts of these Looney Tunes shorts: “Rabbit Every Monday” (1951), “Stop! Look! and Hasten!” (1954), “Guided Muscle” (1955), “Beep, Beep” (1952), “Tweet Dreams” (1959), “Trip for Tat” (1960), “Birds Anonymous” (1957), “Canned Feud” (1951) and “Bedeviled Rabbit” (1956) with some new animation to interspersed throughout to tie it all together. In the original animated portions that set up the clips, Bugs plays a doctor (a food psychiatrist apparently) who takes on such patients as Porky Pig, the overweight Millicent (female rabbit that originally appeared in 1957′s “Rabbit Romeo” short), Sylvester the Cat and Honey Bunny.

I know there have been complaints over the years about Warner Bros. taking the low-budget approach to these specials from the ’70s and ’80s by re-using old footage but given how they are introduced during these shows and the fact that I was a kid when I first saw them, I have no problem with them. I think Warner did a good job with these kind of shows where basically the old shorts are almost always presented as flashbacks. There is always a story being told with the new animation as these specials open and close with new material while using the new animation to also introduce each short.

Sitting here now watching this again I’m having a blast with “Rabbit Every Monday” (Yosemite Sam tries to roast Bugs in a wood stove), “Canned Feud” (Sylvester is locked in a house and needs a can opener to open up all the cans of tuna but a mean-spirited mouse has it) and “Bedeviled Rabbit” (Bugs in drag vs. Taz). Those two shorts were always my favorite from the bunch.

While a number of Looney Tunes TV specials have made it onto DVD either as bonus features for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection or as stand-alone releases, Bugs Bunny’s Thanksgiving Diet has not yet seen the light of day. Warner Bros. seems to take great care of their Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies shorts so I’m sure it’ll pop up either in the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection (Golden Collection’s Blu-ray successor) or a Looney Tunes Super Stars (a less prestigious DVD-only line) set. The only reason I say this so optimistically is because Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales has been on DVD since 2007! I’ve wanted that special for YEARS and somehow completed missed that it’s already been available.

VHS Cover Art

While some purists may scoff at these cartoons being altered and edited down into a 24 minute Thanksgiving special, I grew up with this show and had it recorded VHS copy when I was a kid. This show was right up there with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in my house. I loved it then and I love it now.

Amazon.com (VHS)

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, have some Chex party mix!

Did everyone watch Happy New Year, Charlie Brown last night on ABC? I’ve been wanting to get that I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown DVD because it has Happy New Year as a bonus feature, but luckily I saw it was going to be on TV last night so I made sure I sat down to watch it. I should’ve made some Chex party mix to go along with it.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown is yet another animated special my family had on VHS recorded straight from a television airing (in fact, I think it was recorded from the 1986 premiere). Yet again, like many specials we had recorded, that VHS copy is lost somewhere in time & space. I haven’t seen this special since probably 1990 or so, but once songs and gags starting popping up it was like “Oh yeah! I remember this!”

Snoopy sniffing Lucy’s root beer and Rerun blowing up square balloons still made me laugh and I help but feel sorry for ol’ Chuck as he fell asleep and missed the girl of his dreams coming to the party. My girl wondered why he was the only one worrying about the book report when everyone else had the same assignment and were partying like it was 1999 and I told her its because worrying is what Charlie Brown does.

I’m pleased to say this classic from my childhood has held up well and I’m glad to see it making it to TV again. I don’t remember it being on TV for a long time, but maybe I’m wrong.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everybody!!!

Happy Thanksgiving (Turkey Handprint BONUS)

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope all is well. I had to work all day, but at least I was able to relax this evening with a roast (I’m not a turkey fan), coffee and pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, I did it all alone but that’s the price you pay when you’re in retail and you want to not work Christmas.

Anyway, I couldn’t think of anything cool to do for a post today (or perhaps I’m just lazy), so I did a simple timeless craft: the handprint turkey!

Yeah, I went old school. Elementary school to be exact. Haven’t done one of these in about 20 years but it’s a fun as ever. And at least I finally got some use out of this professional color pencils set I got for Christmas from my cousins 10 years ago or so (thus proving my theory that if you hold onto something long enough, eventually you will need it).

What do you think? I haven’t decided if he’s a punk rock turkey or a clown turkey.

Movie of the Day: Trick ‘r Treat

I just caught this one as it came in the mail from Netflix today. I was pretty hyped for this movie from the get-go. Honestly, all you really need to do is give me a Halloween-themed horror movie and I’m there.

It’s just too bad it took two years after the initial release date for us to see this one. It was originally slated to be released theatrically in October 2007 by Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures, but for some reason I’ve never heard, they pushed the release date back and eventually they gave it a direct-to-video release this month. Seems like a very strange thing to do, I can understand a movie getting pushed back, but for it to be demoted to a video release seems highly suspicious. Did the director sleep with some WB exec’s wife? The only other thing I can think of is perhaps the studio was uncomfortable with a few of the murders and didn’t want to put up with the inevitable backlash that a theatrical release would bring about.

So here’s the deal, while the title and movie/DVD art may make you think this is some Halloween ripoff, it isn’t (though I do think Sam has potential to be the next great modern horror icon). It’s anthology. There are four different stories running concurrently, some more connected than others. I don’t think the movie ever says so (maybe they’re in the credits) but the stories are titled “The Principal”, “Surprise Party”, “The Halloween School Bus Massacre Revisited” and “Meet Sam”.

The movie is rated R, but this isn’t some extreme horror that takes things over the top like Wolf Creek or Saw. There’s blood and gore, but it is never overdone and mostly the movie is just plain fun. With the twists this movie kept having, I could help but get the feeling this was a rated R Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode because this is obviously a horror movie, but really is meant to be a fun ride and not necessarily a scary one. It is an obvious labor of love and I really think this movie can become a cult classic and Halloween tradition for years to come.

Definite recommend and one of my favorite horror movies from the last few years.

Happy 4th of July!

Today’s the day you get to eat hamburgers AND hot dogs along with all the potato chips and soda you want! Don’t forget to stuff yourself with patriotic cupcakes either!

Oh, and happy 233rd birthday, America.