''Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals'' (originally aired on TV as ''Carnival of the Animals'') is a 1976 live action/animated television special featuring the ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' characters

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

and

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...

and directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

. The special, based on

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

' musical suite of the same name and consisting of entirely new animation, was purposely cast in the successful mold of Jones' own earlier musical cartoons (including ''

Rabbit of Seville ''Rabbit of Seville'' is a Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' theatrical cartoon short released on December 16, 1950. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, and features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The nonstop slapstick hu ...

'', ''

Long-Haired Hare ''Long-Haired Hare'' is a 1949 American animated short film directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It was produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures as part of the '' Looney Tunes'' series, and ...

'' and ''

Baton Bunny ''Baton Bunny'' is a 1959 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and Abe Levitow. The short was released on January 10, 1959, and stars Bugs Bunny. It shows Bugs conducting an orchestra - with a fly bothering him. Bugs ...

''), and set the familiar showbiz rivalry between Bugs and Daffy against the

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ...

backdrop of conductor

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...

, in a performance based on Saint-Saëns' music and Ogden Nash's poetry. ''Carnival of the Animals'' originally aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on November 22, 1976, and was the first

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

-commissioned work featuring Bugs Bunny following the release of the cartoon ''

False Hare ''False Hare'' is a 1964 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' animated short directed by Robert McKimson. The short was released on July 18, 1964, and stars Bugs Bunny. This cartoon was the last production completed by the original Warner Bros. Carto ...

'', as well as their first ''Looney Tunes'' production following the second closure of their original animation studio on October 10, 1969. This is an abridged version of the work, omitting the "Tortoise", "Characters with Long Ears", "Cuckoo" and "Swan" movements and using the "Pianists" music over the ending credits.

Production

Behind the scenes

Prime-time television Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

would seem to be the natural place for the adult humor of Warner's classic cartoons, as was exemplified by the success of ''

The Bugs Bunny Show ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American animated anthology television series hosted by Bugs Bunny that was mainly composed of theatrical '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons released by Warner Bros. between 1948 and 196 ...

'' that aired Tuesday evenings on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in the early 1960s. However, in the mid-1960s, the Warner Bros. cartoons had become established as kiddie entertainment. By 1968, executives at

were convinced that all animated material, no matter what its original intended audience had been, belonged exclusively on Saturday mornings. However, the popular characters of ''

'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' intentionally had enduring adult appeal from the first, and with the success of other prime-time television specials such as the various ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'' specials that were being produced at the time, network programmers were finally convinced to give the Warner Bros. animated characters another chance in prime time. According to animation historians Kevin McCorry and Jon Cooke:

Cartoon characters, appearing in holiday-related, half-hour features, could be relied upon to garner respectable ratings and advertising revenue. Further, with the reduction of regular series episodes per season to below 26, specials were needed to fill the gaps in the 52 weeks that constituted a television season.

This special marked the first time since Warner Bros. had closed their studios in 1964 that Bugs Bunny had appeared on-screen with new material. (Bugs, unlike most of the other regular ''Looney Tunes'' characters, had not appeared in any of the outsourced productions distributed under the Warner Bros. banner from 1964 to 1969.)

Credits

Cast

* Mel Blanc as

, and Porky Pig (voice characterizations) *

as Himself (the conductor)

Crew

Cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

by Wally Bulloch * Production Design by Herbert Klynn * Animation by: **

Phil Monroe Philip Monroe (October 31, 1916 – July 13, 1988) was an American animator and director best known for working for Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of Chuck Jones. Monroe had also worked for UPA. Career Monroe started working at ...

** Manny Perez **

Tom Ray Thomas Archer Ray (August 2, 1919 – April 6, 2010) was an American animator. Career Ray was born in Williams, Arizona. He began work at Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1937, working under Tex Avery for six months. He applied for a job at MGM and w ...

Lloyd Vaughan Lloyd Lincoln Vaughan I (January 2, 1909 – May 19, 1988) was an American animator known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of Chuck Jones. Starting in 1935 as an inbetweener, he became an animator in 1944 under Jones, a ...

** Ben Washam * Produced, written, and directed by

''Carnival of the Animals'' – IMDb
/ref>

Availability

''Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals'' is available on VHS, and was later released on the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5'' DVD along with ''

Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over ''Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over'' is a springtime-themed ''Looney Tunes'' television special which aired on CBS on May 21, 1980. The special includes three new cartoons directed by Chuck Jones and Phil Monroe. Featured cartoons The cartoon ...

'' and ''

Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales ''Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales'' is a 1979 animated Christmas television special featuring Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters in three newly created cartoon shorts with seasonal themes. It premiered on CBS on November 27, 1979. ...

''.DVD details for ''Carnival of the Animals'' – IMDb
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Chuck Jones 1970s animated television specials 1976 in American television 1976 television specials 1970s American television specials 1970s American animated films Animated television specials CBS original programming CBS television specials Bugs Bunny films Daffy Duck films Porky Pig films Looney Tunes television specials Short films with live action and animation Television shows directed by Chuck Jones Thanksgiving television specials