This 1976 TV special is great. It's included as a bonus on the Golden Collection Volume 5.
IMHO, this is better than most of the subsequent TV specials from the 1970's and 1980's which worked in old clips to new stories. This special is 100% new footage, and has Bugs, Daffy and Chuck Jones in good form.
The musical segments are all very well done, though more like "Fantasia" than typical Looney Tunes material.
As far as I know, this special has not seen the light of day between its initial 1976 airing and its 2008 inclusion on the DVD Golden Collection. It's far better than one would expect from something this well hidden.
> IMHO, this is better than most of the subsequent TV specials from the > 1970's and 1980's which worked in old clips to new stories. This > special is 100% new footage, and has Bugs, Daffy and Chuck Jones in > good form.
I'll have to watch it again, Eric. I was never crazy about the TV stuff. I remember seeing 'Connecticut Rabbit' years ago and it just didn't seem right to me.
In article <U7nPn.6405$z%6.5482@edtnps83>, "J. Bennie" <jg.stopspam.ben...@vcn.bc.ca> wrote:
> "Eric Python" <ericpyt...@fakeaddress.com> wrote in message > news:2ao006pa1ln89inoiounnfno0f1p3gc85n@4ax.com... > > IMHO, this is better than most of the subsequent TV specials from the > > 1970's and 1980's which worked in old clips to new stories. This > > special is 100% new footage, and has Bugs, Daffy and Chuck Jones in > > good form.
> I'll have to watch it again, Eric. I was never crazy about the TV stuff. I > remember seeing 'Connecticut Rabbit' years ago and it just didn't seem right > to me.
I just hauled out the Golden Collection Vol. 5 and got through about half of "Carnival." Deadly dull to me. The musical piece itself has been a favorite since I was a kid, but I harbor no knee-jerk antipathy to using it for a cartoon or anything else, if it works. This doesn't work, big time. I also have to say I've always hated Ogden Nash's superfluous, arch rhymes for the piece, but since this was also Chuck Jones' archest period, I suppose it fits.
The most interesting thing I spotted was in "The Aquarium" where a couple lines of Daffy's dialog and voice come out of Bugs' mouth.
"J. Bennie" wrote: >I'll have to watch it again, Eric. I was never crazy about the TV stuff. I >remember seeing 'Connecticut Rabbit' years ago and it just didn't seem right >to me.
I just watched "Connecticut Rabbit" about a week ago, and it's not quite right to me either. It's not terrible, but it lacks a lot of what made the old Looney Tunes what they were.
First, whoever did Elmer Fudd's voice was all wrong. Since Arthur Q. Bryan (the original voice of Elmer Fudd) was deceased, I think they should have either held open auditions to find someone who can at least come close, or just retire the character.
Also: the music score was far below the standards of Carl Stalling, the pace was too slow, and most importantly, there were just too few good gags.
Nevertheless, it had a few good moments when the Bugs Bunny I know and love was true to form.
Chuck Jones also did two new Road Runner cartoons in 1979 and 1980. It's been years since I've seen them, but if memory serves, In my opinion, they were both well up to the standard of the original classics.
I thought "Carnival of the Animals" was good overall. The Bugs and Daffy banter was very much in character and funny, while the music sequences were imaginative and well synchronized in the mode of "Fantasia". At 25 minutes, it was just long enough. Any shorter and it would have seemed incomplete, while any longer would have gotten tedious.
> I just watched "Connecticut Rabbit" about a week ago, and it's not > quite right to me either. It's not terrible, but it lacks a lot of > what made the old Looney Tunes what they were.
Well, you can't get the pacing you have in a short. It just seemed like there was a lot of filler.
Again, I saw it once decades ago. I'm just going with the impression it left me.
> First, whoever did Elmer Fudd's voice was all wrong.
Didn't Mel do all the voices? I don't know, that's why I ask.
>Didn't Mel do all the voices? I don't know, that's why I ask.
In the original cartoons, Arthur Q. Bryan was the main voice of Elmer Fudd. When he died in 1959, various actors, including Mel Blanc, tried to replace him, but in my opinion they all sounded wrong.
Tex Avery, Bea Bernadette, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig (best known as Disney's Goofy), Stan Freberg, and Bernice Hanson each did a few Warner Brothers cartoon voices during the Golden era. Did you notice that the title character in the Daffy Duck cartoon "Conrad the Sailor" sounded exactly like Goofy?
Still, Mel Blanc did the vast majority of the studio's cartoon voices, including all but one of the major characters (that being the afore-mentioned Elmer Fudd) and he often got exclusive screen credit.
Eric Python wrote: > "J. Bennie" wrote: >> Didn't Mel do all the voices? I don't know, that's why I ask.
> In the original cartoons, Arthur Q. Bryan was the main voice of Elmer > Fudd. When he died in 1959, various actors, including Mel Blanc, tried > to replace him, but in my opinion they all sounded wrong.
> Tex Avery, Bea Bernadette, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig (best known as > Disney's Goofy), Stan Freberg, and Bernice Hanson each did a few > Warner Brothers cartoon voices during the Golden era. Did you notice > that the title character in the Daffy Duck cartoon "Conrad the Sailor" > sounded exactly like Goofy?
> Still, Mel Blanc did the vast majority of the studio's cartoon voices, > including all but one of the major characters (that being the > afore-mentioned Elmer Fudd) and he often got exclusive screen credit.
Mel Blanc received sole screen credit in lieu of a pay raise as the result of a 1944 contract negotiation with Leon Schlesinger; as a result, he is often mistakenly thought to have been solely responsible for all the WB voices, even the female ones. In fact, dozens of other actors contributed voices to the cartoons during his tenure; in addition to those you mention (and it's Benaderet, not Bernadette; Hansen, not Hanson), there were Daws Butler, Dave Barry, Dick Beals, Jim Backus, Kent Rogers, Julie Bennett, Sara Berner, Andy Devine, Joe Dougherty, Gege Person, Joan Gerber, Sheldon Leonard, Jack Lescoulie, Terrance Monck, Victor Moore, Cliff Nazarro, Tedd Pierce, Robert C. Bruce, Shirley Reed, Cal Howard, and Blanc's fellow castmates from The Jack Benny Show, to name a few.
>>Didn't Mel do all the voices? I don't know, that's why I ask.
> In the original cartoons, Arthur Q. Bryan was the main voice of Elmer > Fudd. When he died in 1959, various actors, including Mel Blanc, tried > to replace him, but in my opinion they all sounded wrong.
Yes, I know, Eric. I wasn't clear in my question, I guess. We were speaking of "Connecticut Rabbit" (despite the subject header) and Elmer Fudd. I was asking if Mel did Elmer's voice in that.
> To be honest, David, nobody knows how her name is really spelled because no > one has a clue who she is. She is a complete mystery.
> Jim
I sincerely hope you're just making a feeble attempt at humour and not just demonstrating ignorance. Bea Benaderet was a very well-known actress, best-known for her roles in the 60s TV sitcoms, "Petticoat Junction" and "The Beverly Hillbillies", and as the voice of Betty Rubble for the first four years of "The Flintstones" in addition to her extensive work in the Warner Brothers cartoons and various radio series in the 40s & 50s.
>> To be honest, David, nobody knows how her name is really spelled because >> no >> one has a clue who she is. She is a complete mystery.
> I sincerely hope you're just making a feeble attempt at humour > and not just demonstrating ignorance. Bea Benaderet was a > very well-known actress, best-known for her roles in the 60s > TV sitcoms, "Petticoat Junction" and "The Beverly Hillbillies", > and as the voice of Betty Rubble for the first four years of > "The Flintstones" in addition to her extensive work in the > Warner Brothers cartoons and various radio series in the 40s > & 50s.
I'm talking about Bernice/Berniece Hansen/Hanson/Hansel. Clampett apparently mentioned that name in connection with cartoons and everyone, from Leonard Maltin onward, has followed suit without any additional information. No one knows who she is.
> >> To be honest, David, nobody knows how her name is really spelled because > >> no > >> one has a clue who she is. She is a complete mystery.
> > I sincerely hope you're just making a feeble attempt at humour > > and not just demonstrating ignorance. Bea Benaderet was a > > very well-known actress, best-known for her roles in the 60s > > TV sitcoms, "Petticoat Junction" and "The Beverly Hillbillies", > > and as the voice of Betty Rubble for the first four years of > > "The Flintstones" in addition to her extensive work in the > > Warner Brothers cartoons and various radio series in the 40s > > & 50s.
> I'm talking about Bernice/Berniece Hansen/Hanson/Hansel. Clampett apparently > mentioned that name in connection with cartoons and everyone, from Leonard > Maltin onward, has followed suit without any additional information. No one > knows who she is.
> Jim
Well, for what it's worth (FWIW for the internet-savvy crowd), Wikipedia has an entry that give birth & death dates plus cause of death:
