''The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special'' is an animated television special that was broadcast 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 ...

October 26, 1980. Presented by Porky Pig as an Alfred Hitchcock-style

whodunit A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the c ...

, the plot is modeled after those of ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture ...

'' and '' The Fugitive''. Like most '' Looney Tunes'' specials of the time, this program consists of clips from classic cartoons with some new original animation holding them together.

Plot synopsis

A criminal known as the Tall, Dark Stranger robs a bank, and Inspector Elmer Fudd mistakenly arrests

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 ...

for the crime. Escaping from jail, Bugs sets out to prove his innocence while evading Elmer, who is searching for him after his escape. Soon word spreads about Bugs Bunny being a national fugitive. When a reward gets placed on his head "eaten or alive", this inspires

Wile E. Coyote Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episod ...

to hunt him down, and Elmer hires former prison guard

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...

(who got fired for letting Bugs escape after the former having been antagonized by the latter during his time at prison) as a

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

. However, Bugs outsmarts both Wile E. and Sam in different ways until Wile E. gives up and Elmer fires Sam, leaving Elmer as the only one who keeps pursuing him. After some chases and a side story involving

Tweety Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...

and Sylvester, Bugs ends up dangling from the beak of a

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakot ...

-sized sculpture of

Foghorn Leghorn Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the golden age of A ...

; he is rescued by the Tall, Dark Stranger, who turns out to be Porky Pig (he was trying to keep the story going), as Bugs remarks "I could've sworn the butler did it!" Porky is arrested and concludes the special from inside a jail cell by saying his "T-t-t-t-that's all, Folks" line.

Cast

* Mel Blanc as

, Elmer Fudd,

, Sylvester,

, Porky Pig and Taxi Radio Announcer.

Credits

Directed by Gerry Chiniquy, Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones.

Cartoons featured

*''

Bugs and Thugs ''Bugs and Thugs'' is a 1954 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on March 13, 1954, and stars Bugs Bunny, with Rocky and Mugsy. The film is a semi-remake of the 1946 cartoon ''Racketeer Rabbit ...

'' (the opening scene where Bugs walks to the bank while reading the newspaper) *'' Baby Buggy Bunny'' (the scene where the bank is robbed) *''

Big House Bunny ''Big House Bunny'' is a 1950 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' short directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon was released on April 22, 1950, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Plot Needing to get away from hunters, Bugs digs a tunnel and accide ...

'' *'' Operation: Rabbit'' *'' Compressed Hare'' *'' All a Bir-r-r-rd'' (the Tweety and Sylvester subplot) *'' Catty Cornered'' (the newspaper montage and the ending scene) *'' Hare Lift'' (the scene where Yosemite Sam robs the Last National Bank is replaced with Elmer offering him a bounty of a large sum of money if Sam can find Bugs and arrest him; the scene where Sam threatens to shoot him if Bugs cannot help him escape is replaced with Sam ordering him to "fly us back to Sing-Song Prison"; and the scene where Sam ends up parachuting into a police car of officers is replaced with Elmer flying toward Sam and telling him that he did a "wotten" job before taking the bounty money back and firing him)

Availability

This special has been released on VHS

videocassette Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasset ...

, but not on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

References

External links

* * * 1980 in American television 1980s American animated films CBS original programming 1980 television specials 1980s American television specials 1980s animated television specials CBS television specials Bugs Bunny films Looney Tunes television specials 1980 films {{Looney-tunes-stub