recommended

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

. . . gets Bugs Bunny every time, including in this animated short, SPACED OUT BUNNY. When Marvin the Martian beams up Bugs via his rack and pinion gizmo, Bugs finds himself as Exhibit B among Marvin's Noah's Ark on the half shell (that is, one of everything, NOT two; Sex Education on Mars seems almost as woefully lacking as in Texas). Exhibit A, of course, is Hugo, an Abominable Snowman. "I picked him up in the Himalayas," Marvin informs Bugs. This, of course, raises an interesting possibility. WHAT IF all of these aliens you hear are running about Willy Nilly across America in their various saucer, cigar, and Japanese Lantern-shaped spacecraft regard us People as "a dime a dozen?" What if these Visitors are attracted more to unicorns, yeti, leviathans, trolls, werewolves, ogres, centaurs, mermaids, cyclops, giants, fairies, leprechauns, and such? That would certainly explain the relative scarcity of the aforementioned. Thank goodness the Looney Tuners are alerting us to the fact that Earth's creatures are being cherry-picked, and that our zoos are competing with the fly-by-night crowd.

Marvin the Martian kidnaps Bugs Bunny so his pet Abominable Snowman, Hugo, can have a playmate. Originally part of the TV special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over, this later (and lesser) cartoon by Chuck Jones suffers from many of the same problems that plague most of the Looney Tunes shorts made after the classic era. Namely that the jokes aren't very funny and the animation, music, and overall production is cheaper in quality. This cartoon is basically just an exercise in nostalgia, reminding the viewer of the great cartoons they used to make (for example, The Abominable Snow Rabbit) and offering little that's new. The funniest part is the brief bit with the tough little butterfly. That part made me laugh, unlike the rest of this, which just made me kind of sad that a legend like Jones was having to relive his glory days at this point instead of providing some fresh material. Still, anything that involves Chuck Jones and Mel Blanc can't be all bad. Definitely worth a look for die-hard Looney Tunes fans.

As much as I do love Looney Tunes, Spaced Out Bunny is not one of the best. The pace is uneven, with the beginning in particular being quite dull, the story while improving as the cartoon progresses after a pretty bad start is rather standard the first two or so minutes are really quite unfunny with some of the worst bits of dialogue Bugs has ever uttered, and to start with Bugs's character design is disappointingly stiff. However, once Marvin the Martian arrives on the scene, I do agree the cartoon improves significantly. The animation quality, with some inventive ideas, a more consistent character design for Bugs and very nice galactic backgrounds, is much more subtle particularly in the interplay between Bugs and the "Abominable SnowMan" Hugo, Bugs, Marvin and Hugo are delightful and the dialogue is fresher and wittier. The music though is consistently lively and fitting and the vocal characterisations from Mel Blanc are spot on. In conclusion, it does start quite badly but I am glad I stayed with it because the remainder of the cartoon is unexceptional but worth watching. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Bugs walks on terra firma to start this film and tries to converse with a flower, a rock, a dogwood tree, and a butterfly. All of these attempts fail miserably and groaner jokes ("its bark is worse than its bite," etc.) are the best that Bugs can manage. The early animation of Bugs is awkward and stiff -- not what one expects from Chuck Jones. Once the Martian arrives, the film improves. Bugs' reaction to the lure ("Wow! Super carrot!") produces the first lively animation. The carrot is laced with a sedative which wears off once Bugs is on Mars. There, he is reunited with the Snowman from "The Abominable Snow Rabbit." More importantly, animator Virgil Ross takes over, providing grace and subtlety to the rabbit-yeti struggle. Watching Bugs turn the Snowman to an ally brings more pleasure than the bunny's earlier standoff with a pugilistic, verbose insect. Overall, this is a fairly entertaining short for viewers who can be patient over the first minute or two.-Tony