Scrooge (a.k.a. Yosemite Sam) is up to his normal skin flint ways. His treatment of Bob Cratchit (Porky Pig) is this the last straw for Bugs Bunny, who declares, “This means war!” Grabbing a sheet, Bugs pretends to be a ghost to scare Scrooge into some Christmas spirit. 8 min.
The Looney Tunes, do Dickens, and it’s…alright. The jokes are adequate, the animation is acceptable, and the characterizations aren’t bad. Yup, The Looney Tunes, once the top rung of animation, manage only mediocre farce. It’s eight minutes, so it doesn’t wear out its welcome. I guess that’s some kind of recommendation.
What sticks in my mind is how tepid everyone (everytoon?) is. Bugs’ wildest act is smooching Sam. His most sinister plot is telling Sam he’s going to Hell. Is this the Bunny who forced an opera singer to bring a building down upon himself? The old Bugs would have shown up in drag as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and coaxed Sam to step out the window, smiling as he plummeted to the ground below. Sam’s pretty wimpy too. One threat, and he’s willing to give in. They’ve become bland, PC versions of themselves, sanitized to protect the children. And far worse, they aren’t as funny.
Many of the old characters show up to fill out the scenes, but only Sam, Porky, and Bugs (playing himself with a touch of Scrooge’s nephew) get any screen time. Tweety is Tiny Tim, Sylvester is…Sylvester, Scrooge’s cat, and Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, and Foghorn Leghorn are carolers.
If you feel compelled to pick this up, it is available on the Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales VHS (no DVD yet), packaged with two other limp efforts, The Fright Before Christmas, and Freeze Frame.