More so than any other cartoon creation, the Looney Tunes series has been around in one incarnation or another for almost 80 years. We’re currently in a wave of nostalgia bordering on the masturbatory, but for some reason, the Looney Tunes always feel like they have a natural place in the zeitgeist. Whether it’s Tiny Toon Adventures, Space Jam, a sitcom-style cartoon in the new millennium, or the current incarnation of modern shorts known as Wabbit, the Looney Tunes seem to always be relevant (whether to children or cartoon-loving adults). I can’t speak to the longevity of these more recent incarnations of Bugs and the gang (although Tiny Toons and Space Jam are the tits, and you should check them out whenever you have the chance), I do know that those original Looney Tunes shorts will always be considered integral classics to the film canon.
Besides their everlasting ability to tap into the zeitgeist, the Looney Tunes shorts are some of the most influential ever produced. The Looney Tunes follow the lives of a madcap cast of characters either fighting each other or a supporting group of oddballs. There is a very real triumvirate of unrelenting chaos, classic comedy, and high art at play in the shorts. One needs to look no further than What’s Opera, Doc? to see this tightrope act of competing thematic forces. In this short, Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny through a parody of 19th-century classical composer Richard Wagner’s operas. The whole spectacle, which arguably rivals the shorts of Disney’s Fantasia in terms of scope and purpose, builds towards a conclusion of operatic tragedy, only to end with the perfect screwball punchline. It’s perhaps the most obvious example of what these shorts could accomplish.
In hindsight, it’s clear that this influence is not only long lasting, but also omnipresent. In George Costanza, we can’t help but see Daffy Duck and Wile E. Coyote. The Simpsons is probably the most obvious incarnation of the Looney Tunes influence, but I’d go further to argue that the current generation of sitcoms, particularly It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, owes so much to Looney Tunes’s heightened chaos, indestructible characters, and penchant for riffing on “high” art. Not to mention its use of off-color jokes: the Looney Tunes were sometimes borderline offensive in their use of gun-suicide jokes and characters in drag.
Although screenings of the classic shorts are now sometimes few and far between, the Brattle, fortunately, has been hosting a Bugs Bunny Film Festival for almost two decades now. The festival consists of three programs: the All Bugs Revue, Daffy Duck and Friends, and finally, the Looney Tunes Revue (along with some other surprises). Perhaps most interesting is that all of these programs are in 35 mm! It’s a weeklong event that will definitely be a surefire hit with the kids, as well as an excellent film adventure for adults as well.
Personally, regardless of the Looney Tunes influence, I think you’d be remiss in not seeing a genderfluid bunny attempting to outsmart a talking duck.
FRIDAY, 2/17:
All Bugs Revue at 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 10:00 PM
SATURDAY, 2/18:
Daffy Duck & Friends at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 10:00 PM
SUNDAY, 2/19:
All Bugs Revue at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM
MONDAY, 2/20:
Daffy Duck & Friends at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 10:00 PM
TUESDAY, 2/21:
All Bugs Revue at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, 2/22:
Daffy Duck & Friends at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 8:30 PM
THURSDAY, 2/23:
All Bugs Revue at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 10:00 PM
FRIDAY, 2/24:
Looney Tunes Revue at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM
SATURDAY, 2/25:
Looney Tunes Revue at 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM
All in 35 mm! CLICK HERE for tickets and additional info
