Looney Tunes: November 2000
Cover
It's night and a sleepwalking Elmer has his shotgun trained on a rabbit as he says, "At wast, I've got you, you wascal..." But the rabbit he is aiming at is a bunny slipper that he is wearing.
Credits
Synopsis
While hunting rabbits, Elmer Fudd finds Bugs' rabbit hole. He demands the rabbit come out, but instead of the real bunny, a Bugs Bunny telephone appears with the handset facing outward. Bugs' voice asks the surprised Elmer, "Eh...what's up, Doc?" Bugs explains he has to see his accountant and asks Elmer if he minds his phoning in his work. Fudd, still a bit bewildered, agrees to this.
When Fudd tries his next line, Bugs replies he couldn't hear as he was going through a tunnel. Elmer tries again, but Bugs has a call on his other line. Elmer starts to get annoyed as listens to the rabbit make golfing plans. Nothing seems to happen, and Elmer finds there they were disconnected when he picks up the handset.
The unseen director tells Fudd to keep on going and they'll work around things. An odd scene that doesn't fit the story appears. Elmer asks about it and gets told it's stock footage and nobody will notice. The stock footage appears twice more, each time looking very out of place for the story. Elmer gets so upset he throws his gun down and storms off of the studio set. Bugs' voice comes from the phone again, explaining that it isn't him at all but his answering machine and now he can leave a message.
Did You Notice...
The title is a play on the advertising line, "Reach out and touch someone." that was used by AT&T
- Page 3: The stock footage scenes, complete with the streaking of worn film, are from Knighty Knight Bugs (Freleng, 1958), though Bugs was not poked by a sword in that, Elmer's Pet Rabbit (Jones 1941), note the yellow gloves, though the background is wrong, and Rabbit Fire (Jones 1951). The first has the right dress and look but the quote is wrong. The second has the right look and a correct line, but a wrong background. And the third is generally right, though I think Daffy gave the line standing, not leaning against a tree. (EC)
- Page 2: The Michael is likely Michael Jordan, his co-star in Space Jam, who is a well-known golfer. Also, they appeared together in commercials for Sprint's long distance service. (EC)
Technical Nits
The phone has a variable number of buttons, sometimes 12 which is right, and sometimes only 9, which is wrong.- Warner Bros. hasn't had stock traded on its own since the late 1960s. (EC)
Credits
Synopsis
Daffy Duck hosts the TV game show, So You Want A Million Bucks, Eh? The explains that he isn't going to just give away the money. Contestants will have to work for it by answering questions. Three contestants get the qualifying question right in a tie that is settled by force. Porky wins as the other two, much larger contestants, knock each other out.
Asked if he knows the rules of the game, the pig replies that he doesn't and gets an impossibly huge stack of paper explaining things. Daffy explains that Porky can use three "lifelines": picking a card, the magic eighty-ball, or phone someone. The duck also claims that if a question isn't answered correctly, the contestant has to pay him. Daffy tells Porky to read on his own time when he tries to find that rule in the stack of papers.
The game starts with so many effects that Porky is startled out of his seat. The first question is easy, but Daffy does his best to make Porky second guess his own name. The amount of money starts out very small and the questions remain easy for a while. The duck then springs a nonsensical mathematical word problem on the pig. Porky decides to pick a card and, amazingly, gets the right answer.
Daffy has another difficult question for the pig. Porky now consults the magic eighty-ball and again stuns the duck with the right answer. Irate, Daffy gives Porky the final question which is something impossibly obscure from the duck's family's past. The pig uses his last lifeline and makes a phone call. Porky phones the police, who show up and arrest Daffy for extortion.
Did You Notice...
- The layout and format of the show are right from the television game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, though the questions on the real show were multiple choice.
- The audience members are of many species, not just human. Penciller Howard Simpson explains, "About half of the audience members are based on characters that appeared in the black and white Porky cartoons." That's not all he did. Looking at the first panel on page two, in the lower right corner of the audience John Lennon appears dressed in his Sgt. Pepper outfit.
- In case you are wondering if Daffy is guilty of extortion, the Hobbs Act defines extortion as "the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right." 18 U.S.C. S 1951(b)(2).
Technical Nits
- Page 2: Daffy recites the years in reverse order.
Credits
Synopsis
Yosemite Sam is on the run after robbing an armored car. When the sirens get close, Sam tries hiding out in the three Bear's house. The bears return from a walk and Junyer hopes to find Goldilocks. Junyer finds Sam, after accidently slamming him between a door and a wall, and despite his appearance calls him Goldilocks. Sam doesn't correct the bear and sort of agrees to a game of hide'n'seek so he can get away. Junyer's bumbling sends Sam crashing out the window.
Junyer runs to catch Sam, but is distracted by a butterfly. After pulling him from the hole he made when he landed, Junyer hands Sam a rattle, not realizing it's part of a snake. As Sam fights the snake, the bear mistakes a high voltage line for a jump rope. Also not realizing what it is, and wanting to tie up Junyer, Sam grabs the line and gets a powerful shock that sets him on fire.
Playing firefighter, Junyer uses a hose to put Sam out, but then ends up keeping him aloft with the force of the water. Papa bear tells him to stop wasting water, but he can't figure out how to shut off the flow. While he tries to figure things out, Junyer soaks Papa, lets Sam crash to the ground, sends Sam smashing into a tree and wind up on a seesaw. Seeing Sam on the seesaw, Junyer jumps onto the other side, launching Sam into a nearby prison, where he begs to stay.
Back at the Bear's house, where Mama seems more concerned about what the neighbors might think of them than about anyone's safety, Junyer finds Sam's bomb and dynamite which he mistakes for a bat and ball. He also accidently lights the fuses as he plays around the fireplace. Papa sees what's about to happen and tries to get rid of the explosive, but doesn't quite make it and the three bears end up flying through the air.
Did You Notice...
- Page 7: Considering the bird's comment one has to wonder how often Sam ends up flying through the air.
Technical Nits
- High voltage transmission wires are not insulated.
Credits
Synopsis
Wile E. Coyote strings a line across a road, using two rock outcroppings to support the line. When he plucks the taut line, the tension pulls the two anchoring rocks together quickly, catching the coyote between them.
Did You Notice...
- This is similar to a gag in Whoa Be-Gone (Jones, 1958) where Wile E. tries to use two rocks to anchor a large rubber band, which simply springs the two rocks together to crush him. (EC)
Technical Nits
Credits
Synopsis
Sylvester is ready to watch the TV show Cats: They're Better Than Bird when the channel suddenly changes and The Magical World of Little Yellow Canaries appears on the set. Tweety explains that he got his own remote control so he could watch a good program. Sylvester changes the channel back, replying only a show about cats could be good.
The two fight each other by changing the channel back and forth until Sylvester gets so upset he throws the TV set out the window. The doorbell rings and Sylvester finds Granny, upset from the TV landing on her head, at the door. Granny chases the cat around, hitting him with a broom. Tweety says this is even better than the program he wanted to watch.
Did You Notice...
Technical Nits
- Page 1: The UHF loop antenna seen on the back of the TV in the first panel would not work as the loop is shorted between the connectors.
- While the TV is a reasonably accurately drawn older model, if a TV of that age had any remote control at all it would be ultrasonic rather than infrared as in this story. Also, even then it would have at most only four buttons.
- Sylvester's footpads are miscolored orange.
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Last update 07 May 2004