. . . but nowadays it pretty near takes a metropolis to produce an animated short (or brief cartoon) running less than 10 minutes. While an average of 10 guys were credited for each Golden Age Looney Tune (at least, those that Warner Bros. released between 1930 and 1960), BLOOPER BUNNY's end credits list 57 people (a conglomeration that's only gotten longer since BLOOPER's release in 1991). BLOOPER's roster is surely truncated from what it could have been, as the chefs and craft service people serving what would have otherwise been a very hungry cast and crew are missing in action from BLOOPER's roll call. Likewise, unless they labored in conditions of total squalor, their janitorial assistants are absolutely unsung here. Nor is anything said about child care (though many present-day films with 100% adult casts credit multiple "studio teachers" for educating cast and\or crew kids). One would think that the top dozen BLOOPER honchos would deem themselves important enough to merit personal or production assistants, drivers, and security people, though not a name of this is breathed in the credits. It's likely that Bugs Bunny has been a meal ticket for thousands over his career.

I love Looney Tunes, and I love all four characters featured here, so this seemed like a winner. And it was. Not only are Bugs, Daffy, Elmer and Yosemite Sam all great, but when it comes to the voice work Jeff Bergman manages to be both dynamic and stick to the characters' characteristics very well. The animation is absolutely great, very lively and colourful, and the music has a lot of energy and doesn't get annoying no matter how many times we hear the main theme. The outtakes are hugely funny, not just in the fresh writing but also in the sight gags. While I loved the business with the cane, the Eh What's Up Doc to uproarious laughter and Daffy stepping on a floorboard and it hits him, it was the outtake where Elmer's gun goes off and it's real ammunition narrowly missing Bugs and hitting Daffy that really amused me. All in all, a hugely funny cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Warner Bros. reopened their theatrical shorts department shortly before this cartoon was released, and the new blood (very new; not a single Golden Age animator is credited) does a pretty good job of it. The gags are mostly comments on the filmmakers, plus demonstrations of the shortcomings of filmmaking equipment. The rest is well-timed slapstick, but it doesn't feel like those wacky, hilarious characters are back again. They're funny in a different way. The DVD commentary on this (on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: get it now!) by either Stan Freberg or Greg Ford, mentions that the animators tried to bring back those classic arguments the stars had; they were trying to override the advertisements and merchandise that broadcast the fact that the characters always had bright smiles at all times and were close friends, a bunch often referred to as "Bugs Bunny and Friends." That betrays the Looney Tunes cast. The animators tried. "Blooper Bunny" is a fictitious behind-the-scenes look at the eventful everyday life of our beloved characters, focusing on the making of the "Bugs Bunny 51st and 1/2 Anniversary Spectacular." The "Spectacular" is only about a minute long, but it seems to have a negative effect on the funny cartoon that is "Blooper Bunny." It seems to unnerve the audience and alienate the characters, not in spite of - but because - the Looney Tunes characters are flashing their most winning smiles. It made me, personally, feel like they were the fake characters from the earlier "Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers," because they almost seemed to have an eerie air about them. It was a bad beginning and climax to an otherwise funny cartoon. But I still think the world is going to miss Mike Maltese. Seriously. "Blooper Bunny" is a fine effort by an inexperienced crew, and keeping that factor in mind I believe this cartoon to be a worthy addition to the Looney Tunes library. But I don't think that unless Chuck Jones Film Productions can keep the classic-style stuff coming without its late founder (Chuck Jones, obviously) that we will never witness the Golden Age cartoons' like again. Stephen Fossati shows great promise. He's been taught amazingly by the master. Let's hope he can go on without his mentor's supervision. Or the Looney Tunes are done. Finished. And I know we're all hoping that doesn't happen.

At last, Bugs Bunny tackles the tired "blooper reel" scenario that has been driven into the ground. Based around filming a "51 1/2 Birthday Special", it actually proves what many have thought but few dared say--that Daffy Duck may be the funniest fictional creation in American art/cultural history.