Looney Tunes: January 2002
Cover
On an alien spacescape, several planets hang in the sky as Duck Dodgers declares, "Surrender your planet, puny, alien--for there's nothin' that can stop Duck Dodgers!" to a small alien. Porky nervously fails to get Dodger's attention. The porcine sidekick tries to point out a much larger, and by the look of its shadow, much angrier alien.
Credits
Synopsis
Leading a rescue fleet on a mission to a planet of farmers from tyrants, Duck Dodgers makes his speech and heroic declaration, only to imprint his shape in the window of his ship. The ship suddenly seems to be under attack, but it turns out only to be the effects of microwave popcorn that had burned. As Dodgers complains about missing the real action his ship really is attacked.
Just barely managing to land on the planet they are to help, Porky and Dodgers soon find themselves being attacked by spider-like aliens. Porky thinks fast and the pair escape, only to face more troubles, like a fearsome sea creature and some peculiar plumbing. These in turn lead to a hall of nasty traps which Porky dodges but Dodgers doesn't.
After the traps have been passed the two find themselves... bewildered and on a table where Marvin's kids are playing a video game involving Duck Dodgers and his porcine sidekick. Marvin comes into the kids' room just then and confiscates the game, along with Porky and Dodgers, so they will do their homework. Marvin puts the system in the trash, which is launched towards the sun. Porky dislikes the story's ending and Dodgers is even less pleased as there he is closer to the burnt popcorn in the trash with them.
Did You Notice...
Page 1: Some of the spaceships have unusual shapes. Among the more unusual designs are some that seem to be inspired by a violin, a frog, a turtle, an electric mixer without the beaters, and perhaps a carrot.- Page 2: Can anyone miss the reference to Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies?
- Page 3: Stopping a flight by running out fuel is indeed an old gag. It appeared in Falling Hare in 1943.
- Page 4: Advertising is everywhere, even in hero's viewing gadgets.
- Page 4: The partially buried wreckage includes R2D2, or similar, again from Star Wars.
- Page 7: Dodgers sings a variation on While Strolling in the Park One Day. Interestingly, on the Apollo 17 mission, astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt actually did start to sing a lunar variation of this tune.
- Page 8: Daffy borrows a line from Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy.
- Page 9: The "Piece of cake" gag is a nice touch.
- At first it seemed as if Dodgers' and Porky's helmets appeared and disappeared through the story and it was going to be a nit, but closer inspection shows that this is not random. The tweaking of the "antenna" and the boop sound effect show that the helmets, as well as light (page 6), are things controlled by the "antenna."
Technical Nits
Credits
Synopsis
The mice, Hubie and Bertie, spy a birthday cake but before they can get to really enjoy it Claude the cat comes after them. Claude must be dealt with. Upon seeing one of the birthday presents, a bulldog, they get ideas. Even without the mice scheming, Claude gets a rude notice of the dog's presence. The cat ends up doing household chores.
The mice convince the cat that he's been had and needs to stand up for himself. A few quick blows finds Claude right back where he started. Now the mice start a training program for him, which also doesn't work out. The mice have one more idea and unpack a canon for Claude to use.
The canon has the dog begging for mercy but Claude shows the same amount showed him: none. Alas for Claude it's not a real canon, but a birthday joke. After a fight between cat and dog, it's Hubie and Bertie who win by having the table to themselves. Meanwhile Claude has been mailed off to Siberia.
Did You Notice...
- This Hubie and Bertie story is not only very good, but unusual in having very little dialogue. Fortunately it doesn't need very much.
Technical Nits
Page 6: I'm not familiar with modern Russian military clothing (or Russian mail service), but the red star, a Soviet icon, seems out of place nowadays.- Page 6: The rifle seems to be solid metal, no wood stock at all.
Credits
Synopsis
The Greek God Bacchus seems to be infatuated with Lola, not only ordering many pizzas from Machu Pizza but also having a hall of Lola statuary. Answering the door for delivery, Bacchus invites Lola in for ambrosia and pizza, but the bunny seems to have lost any appetite for pizza. She also has lost her appetite for dealing with Bacchus.
Over the next several days the scene is repeated in increasingly nauseating forms. Getting advice from her boss, Lola decides to spurn the god. Unfortunately her good hearted attempt at being polite only encourages him. She tries to tell him she's in love with a satyr but that just gets the satyr struck by lightning.
Lola tries taking a different approach by telling Bacchus they should be together and he must meet her parents. Her "parents" happen to be her boss and a three-eyed furry monster with tentacles. Bacchus starts having second thoughts when "mother" mentions moving in. Just then a delivery of baklava is made, by a lovely zebra lady. Bacchus immediately forgets Lola and chases after the zebra, while Lola runs after Bacchus, annoyed that he got over her so fast.
Did You Notice...
- Page 1: The statues of Lola include poses as a tennis player, a gymnast(?), a flamenco dancer and as a ballet dancer.
- Page 1: Olympus has rotary phones. (EC)
- Page 2: Lola must have really found pizza and Bacchus unappealing, turning down the chance to have ambrosia, a food of the gods which was considered to have some rather magical abilities.
- Page 2: Bacchus always orders olive and feta cheese pizzas. Olives and feta cheese being rather stereotypical Greek items, and ones that would make reasonable pizza toppings.
- Page 2: Someone is riding Pegasus in the bottom panel.
- Page 3: Bacchus appears as Hugh Hefner, a disco dancer, a pirate, and the subject of The Birth of Venus.
- Page 4: Poppin' Fresh is the name of the Pillsbury Doughboy, their "spokescharacter."
- Page 6: While the most famous Satyr is Pan, Sean Carolan says this is not him.
- Page 7: The tentacled purple monster was supposed to be Thetzalatlhui from the first Lola story to appear in the Looney Tunes comics, Lola Bunny And The Temple Of Thetzalatlhui. Once again Sean Carolan explains that they, Carolan and Moore, forgot to include that detail and their description ended up looking as it appears here. Carolan has dubbed this one, "Thetzalatlhui, Mark 2."
Technical Nits
- Bacchus was the Roman god of wine, but the story indicates Olympus and a Greek setting. Of course, the name of Greek god Dionysus doesn't work with the pun in the title.
- Page 1: Shouldn't the Olympus Yellow Pages be yellow?
- Page 2: The order is always for ten pizzas, but Lola delivers a stack of considerably more than ten pizzas.
- Page 6: The satyr is missing horns.
- Page 6: That's some really bad poetry. Also, there isn't much that isn't nicer than Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever.
- Page 7: Baklava is actually solid, if sticky, not the liquid shown here. Thus it doesn't make sense to order a bowl of it, either.
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Last updated 11 April 2003