Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals

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Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals
Directed by Chuck Jones
Produced by Chuck Jones
Story by Chuck Jones
Ogden Nash
Voices by Mel Blanc
Music by Camille Saint-Saens
Animation by Phil Monroe
Manny Perez
Ben Washam
Tom Ray
Lloyd Vaughan
Distributed by Chuck Jones Enterprises
CBS
Release date(s) November 22, 1976
Color process Technicolor
Running time 23 min
IMDb profile

Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals is a combination animation/live action television special, starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and directed by Chuck Jones. Premiering on CBS on November 22, 1976, and consisting entirely of new animation, this stylish prime time TV special represented Bugs Bunny and company's first foray into prime time television since the early 1960s. Carnival of the Animals was purposely cast in the successful mold of Jones' own earlier musical cartoons — Rabbit of Seville, Long-Haired Hare and Baton Bunny — and set the familiar showbiz rivalry between Bugs and Daffy against the orchestral backdrop of musician Michael Tilson Thomas, in a performance based on the music of Camille Saint-Saens and the poetry of Ogden Nash.

Contents

[edit] Production

[edit] Behind the scenes

Prime-time television would seem to be the natural place for the adult humor of Warner Bros.' classic cartoons, as was exemplified by the success of The Bugs Bunny Show that aired Tuesday evenings on ABC in the early 1960s. However, in the mid-1960s, the Warner Bros. cartoons had become established as kiddie entertainment. By 1968, executives at CBS were convinced that animated material, no matter what the original intended audience, belonged on Saturday morning. However, the popular characters of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies had enduring adult appeal, and with the success of other prime-time television specials, such as Charlie Brown, in the mid-1970s, network programmers were finally convinced to give the Warner Bros. animated characters another chance in prime time.

According to animation historians Kevin McCorry and Jon Cooke:

Cartoon characters, appearing in holiday-related, half-hour features, could be relied upon to garner respectable ratings and advertising revenue. Further, with the reduction of regular series episodes per season to below 26, specials were needed to fill the gaps in the 52 weeks that constituted a television season.[1]

[edit] Credits

[edit] Cast

Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig (voice)

Michael Tilson Thomas as Himself (the conductor) [2]

[edit] Crew

[edit] Availability

Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals is available, as all TV specials are, on VHS, but this television special was also released on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5 DVD along with Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over and Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales.[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ THE LOONEY TUNES TELEVISION SPECIALS
  2. ^ a b Carnival of the Animals - IMDb
  3. ^ DVD details for Carnival of the Animals - IMDb

[edit] External links