After the Walt Disney characters and The Muppets, it was the turn of the Looney Tunes stable to tackle the popular Yuletide tale revolving around the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge; coming so late in the game (i.e. way past the Warners Animation Studios' prime), it is no surprise that this emerges as the least effective rendition of all! The grouchy Daffy Duck is the natural choice for Scrooge: with the premise updated to modern times, many of the familiar Looney Tunes figures turn up – atypically – as submissive employees in Daffy's department store (that said, Bugs Bunny is his usual independent self, though he serves no particular function here except to further harass Daffy!). On the other hand, Porky stands in for Bob Cratchit, Sylvester is "Jacob Marley" and, as the Christmas Ghosts, we have Granny and Tweety(!), Yosemite Sam and the Tasmanian Devil. Even at a mere 46 minutes, the film is mostly a drag – since the comedy is generally forced, thus unfunny, and the quality of the animation extremely poor when compared to the dazzling imagination displayed by the form in its heyday.
Bah Humduck!: A Looney Tunes Christmas
(2006 Video)
BAH HUMDUCK!: A LOONEY TUNES Christmas (Charles Visser, 2006) (V) **
24 January 2010