The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie

The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, originally released under the title The Great American Chase, is a 1979 Looney Tunes film with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, all directed by Chuck Jones, and newly animated bridging sequences, hosted by Bugs Bunny. The bridging sequences, which had been filmed in 1978, show Bugs at his home, which is cantilevered over a carrot-juice waterfall (modeled on Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water" house in Bear Run, Pennsylvania).

Early on, Bugs discusses the wild villains he had co-starred with in his cartoons, which is followed by a tongue-in-cheek sequence depicting the history of comedy and a scene in which Bugs discusses his "several fathers". The latter scene was written by Chuck Jones as a way to debunk fellow animation director Robert Clampett's claims throughout the 1970s that he alone created Bugs, and Clampett's name is notably missing from Bugs's list, as a result of the conflict between Jones and Clampett.

The documentary movie Bugs Bunny: Superstar featured Bob Clampett, and is another compilation of cartoon shorts, probably the first to examine the history of Warner cartoons, which under-played Bugs' other 'several fathers,' and is part of the mentioned conflict.

The combination of classic animated footage along with new animation would become the template for the theatrically released Looney Tunes movies for this film up until Daffy Duck's Quackbusters released in 1988.

Summary
Bugs Bunny, while giving a tour of his home, talks about some of the famous rivalries, battles, and chases from the Looney Tunes shorts, which serves as introductions to footage from the classic short subjects, all of which are directed by one of aforementioned fathers, Chuck Jones. The final segment of the film consists of an extended chase sequence between Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner.

Plot
Bugs Bunny, while giving a tour of his luxurious mansion, talks about the history of man, the chase and how it led to the invention of comedy. He then explains that he has "several fathers" who were involved in various Looney Tunes productions.

Directors who worked on Bugs' pictures were:


 * Tex Avery
 * Friz Freleng
 * Chuck Jones
 * Bob McKimson

Autobiographists (Story Writers) who wrote Bugs' life stories were:


 * Tedd Pierce
 * Warren Foster
 * Mike Maltese

And he had a father who was known to be as... "The Man of a 1,000 Voice", who also provided Bugs Bunny his own voice.

After which, Bugs discusses some of his famous rivalries, battles, and chases, all of which serve as introductions to footage from the classic short subjects, all of which are directed by Chuck Jones. The final segment of the film consists of an extended chase sequence between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner compiled from several shorts. At the end of Bugs' tour, they appear as constellations in a chase in the night sky.

The film features a new gag involving the "That's all, Folks!" endline, apparently the idea of Chuck Jones (himself credited in the opening credits as having a "slightly disarranged mind"). When it appears at the start, an annoyed Bugs pushes away the bullseye rings and places a "NOT" into it so that it says "That's NOT all, Folks!". Then before the end credits roll, as it starts to write out, Bugs blocks its path and forces the quote marks to erase itself saying to with a snide "Well?" and forces it to rewrite itself as "That's not quite all, Folks!". Finally, after the credits finish, the Warner Bros. shield zooms in. Bugs appears on top and says, "Eat your heart out, Burt Reynolds!" The shield zooms back out, and then the writing re-appears, pre-written, as "That's really all, Folks!" with the word "really" underscored, ending the film.

Cartoons featured in the movie
Note: All of the cartoons listed were directed by Chuck Jones.

Bugs Bunny and Friends

 * Rabbit Seasoning (1953)
 * Hare-Way to the Stars (1958)
 * Duck Dodgers in the 24-1/2th Century (1953)
 * Robin Hood Daffy (1958)
 * Duck Amuck (1953)
 * Bully for Bugs (1953)
 * Ali Baba Bunny (1958)
 * Rabbit Fire (1951)
 * For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)
 * Long-Haired Hare (1949)
 * What's Opera, Doc? (1957)
 * Operation: RABBIT (1952)

Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote:
A 17=minute compliation of Wile E. Coyote's attempts to catch the Road Runner.


 * Zoom and Bored (The scene where Wile E. gets tricked off a cliff and uses a jack-hammer.)
 * Zip 'n Snort (Human Bow and Arrow Scene and the Giant Canon Scene)
 * Wild About Hurry (ACME Giant Rubber Band Scene)
 * Guided Muscle (Human Bow and Arrow Scene and the slingshot scene)
 * Zipping Along (Human-canon Ball Scene and the Wrecking Ball scene)
 * Hip Hip-Hurry! (Intro chase scene with mock-Latin names and the boulder attempt)
 * Hot-Rod and Reel! (Trampoline Scene)
 * There They Go-Go-Go! (Rock Avalanche Scene)
 * Whoa, Be-Gone! (Teeter-Totter Scene, the Trampoline Scene and the high wire structure and dons a wheel-head scene)
 * Going! Going! Gosh! (Slingshot Scene and Wile E. Coyote disguising himself as a woman scene)
 * Stop! Look! And Hasten! (The Road-Wall Scenes, ACME Bird Seed on Bridge Scene and the ACME Leg Muscle Vitamins Scene)
 * Scrambled Aches (Spring Coil Scene)
 * Fast and Furry-ous (ACME Super Outfit Scene)
 * Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z (ACME Bat-Man's Outfit Scene)
 * Hopalong Casualty (ACME Earthquake Pills Scene)
 * To Beep or Not to Beep (The lasso scene and the catapult scenes)
 * Beep Prepared (The final cartoon to have the ending scene where Wile E. uses an ACME Little-Giant Do-It-Yourself Rocket Sled Kit)

Censorship
On some cable TV airings, the second half of the Rabbit Fire segment (following the scene with Bugs and Daffy disguised as each other) was removed.

Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.

Home Video Release
This movie is on the Looney Tunes Movie Collection DVD from Warner Home Video. It is unknown if it will be available on a single disc DVD.