LOONEY
TUNES: BACK IN ACTION ($28) is pretty much a movie that got a bum rap
at the box-office. While the Looney Tunes characters represent some of the
best-loved creations in the history of animation, folks stayed away from
this movie in droves, which is a shame, since LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN
ACTION is a whole heck of a lot of fun. The plot of LOONEY TUNES:
BACK IN ACTION finds Daffy Duck tired of being treated like a second
banana compared to Bugs Bunny, which results in his termination from
Warner Bros. At the behest of studio vice president Kate Houghton (Jenna
Elfman), security guard DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser) tries to give Daffy the
boot, but ends up losing his own job from the resulting duck related
mayhem.
Unable
to shake Daffy, DJ returns home (with duck in hand) to discover that his
father, action movie star Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton) is in actuality a
real super-spy, who has been captured by the evil Chairman of the Acme
Corporation (Steve Martin). Following his father’s final instructions,
DJ and Daffy head off to Las Vegas to find clues to the whereabouts of a
diamond called the Blue Monkey. Meanwhile, back at Warner Bros., it turns
out that the new Looney Tunes movie isn’t going to work without Daffy,
and Kate’s job is on the line if she doesn’t return to the studio with
a certain "little black duck." With Bugs riding shotgun,
the two set off on the road to find Daffy and DJ.
Of
course, the plot of LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION is really
secondary to the film’s onslaught of visual gags and self-referential
humor that skews both cartoons and the movies. Gotta say I loved the Area
52 sequence that featured a bevy of science fiction movie aliens and
other characters- must have been the Joe Dante influence. Speaking of
director Joe Dante’s influence, look for Dick Miller, Kevin McCarthy and
Robert Picardo to make appearances, not to mention genre movie director
Roger Corman. The cast of LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION also
features Heather Locklear, Joan Cusack, Mary Woronov and Ron Perlman, plus
the vocal talents of Joe Alaskey, Jeff Bennett, Billy West, Eric Goldberg,
Bruce Lanoil, June Foray, Bob Bergen, Casey Kasem and Frank Welker.
Warner
Home Video has made LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback
on 16:9 displays. As expected, Warner pulls another great looking
presentation out of the rabbit hole. The image appears sharp and pretty
nicely defined. Certain shots that marry animation and live action
photography don’t appear as hyper-realistic as other new films that
haven’t been processed in this manner, but Dean Cundey’s
cinematography is otherwise quite good. Colors are very vibrant, and not
surprisingly, sometimes verge upon the cartoony. Still, flesh tones always
come across in an appealing manner and there are no signs of chroma noise
or smearing of the more intense hues. Blacks are inky, whites appear crisp
and the image produces smooth contrast and a solid level of shadow detail.
The film element used for the transfer appears virtually pristine, without
any really appreciable grain. Digital compression artifacts are always
well contained.
LOONEY
TUNES: BACK IN ACTION comes with a fine sounding Dolby Digital 5.1
channel soundtrack. The sound mix isn’t a wacky and aggressive as it
could have been, but the sound designers make good use of the discrete
nature of the digital format to bounce effects around the soundstage. The
surround channels are quite active and integrate well into the forward
soundstage. Musical fidelity is very good, plus the sound effects come
across in a convincing manner. The bass channel is very potent- with a few
moments certain to rock the Casbah. Dialogue is well-recorded, natural
sounding and totally understandable. French and Spanish 5.1 channel
tracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English, Spanish, and French
subtitles.
Animation
and sound serves to enhance the interactive menus, which allow one access
to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as some nice
extras. Starting things off is a Behind The Tunes
featurette, which runs eight minutes and features Bugs and Daffy as tour
guides to the production. Bang, Crash, Boom! is a seven
minute look at the special effects that also features Bugs and Daffy as
hosts; the program gives one an inkling how the film’s live action is
combined with the animated characters. Looney Tunes Out Of Action:
Best Scenes You’ve Never Seen has Bugs and Daffy introduce a
series of deleted or alternate versions of scenes in the movie- including
alternate opening and ending sequences. Whizzard Of Ow is a
newly produced animated short featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
doing what they do best. A theatrical trailer closes out the extras,
although the disc does offer some DVD-ROM enhancements.
As
I stated above, LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION is a whole heck of a
lot of fun and really should have done better at the box office. The wide
screen DVD looks and sounds great, so don’t miss this opportunity to
check out LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION for yourself.
LOONEY
TUNES: BACK IN ACTION ($28) is pretty much a movie that got a bum rap
at the box-office. While the Looney Tunes characters represent some of the
best-loved creations in the history of animation, folks stayed away from
this movie in droves, which is a shame, since LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN
ACTION is a whole heck of a lot of fun. The plot of LOONEY TUNES:
BACK IN ACTION finds Daffy Duck tired of being treated like a second
banana compared to Bugs Bunny, which results in his termination from
Warner Bros. At the behest of studio vice president Kate Houghton (Jenna
Elfman), security guard DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser) tries to give Daffy the
boot, but ends up losing his own job from the resulting duck related
mayhem.
Unable
to shake Daffy, DJ returns home (with duck in hand) to discover that his
father, action movie star Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton) is in actuality a
real super-spy, who has been captured by the evil Chairman of the Acme
Corporation (Steve Martin). Following his father’s final instructions,
DJ and Daffy head off to Las Vegas to find clues to the whereabouts of a
diamond called the Blue Monkey. Meanwhile, back at Warner Bros., it turns
out that the new Looney Tunes movie isn’t going to work without Daffy,
and Kate’s job is on the line if she doesn’t return to the studio with
a certain "little black duck." With Bugs riding shotgun,
the two set off on the road to find Daffy and DJ.
Of
course, the plot of LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION is really
secondary to the film’s onslaught of visual gags and self-referential
humor that skews both cartoons and the movies. Gotta say I loved the Area
52 sequence that featured a bevy of science fiction movie aliens and
other characters- must have been the Joe Dante influence. Speaking of
director Joe Dante’s influence, look for Dick Miller, Kevin McCarthy and
Robert Picardo to make appearances, not to mention genre movie director
Roger Corman. The cast of LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION also
features Heather Locklear, Joan Cusack, Mary Woronov and Ron Perlman, plus
the vocal talents of Joe Alaskey, Jeff Bennett, Billy West, Eric Goldberg,
Bruce Lanoil, June Foray, Bob Bergen, Casey Kasem and Frank Welker.
Warner
Home Video has made LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback
on 16:9 displays. As expected, Warner pulls another great looking
presentation out of the rabbit hole. The image appears sharp and pretty
nicely defined. Certain shots that marry animation and live action
photography don’t appear as hyper-realistic as other new films that
haven’t been processed in this manner, but Dean Cundey’s
cinematography is otherwise quite good. Colors are very vibrant, and not
surprisingly, sometimes verge upon the cartoony. Still, flesh tones always
come across in an appealing manner and there are no signs of chroma noise
or smearing of the more intense hues. Blacks are inky, whites appear crisp
and the image produces smooth contrast and a solid level of shadow detail.
The film element used for the transfer appears virtually pristine, without
any really appreciable grain. Digital compression artifacts are always
well contained.
LOONEY
TUNES: BACK IN ACTION comes with a fine sounding Dolby Digital 5.1
channel soundtrack. The sound mix isn’t a wacky and aggressive as it
could have been, but the sound designers make good use of the discrete
nature of the digital format to bounce effects around the soundstage. The
surround channels are quite active and integrate well into the forward
soundstage. Musical fidelity is very good, plus the sound effects come
across in a convincing manner. The bass channel is very potent- with a few
moments certain to rock the Casbah. Dialogue is well-recorded, natural
sounding and totally understandable. French and Spanish 5.1 channel
tracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English, Spanish, and French
subtitles.
Animation
and sound serves to enhance the interactive menus, which allow one access
to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as some nice
extras. Starting things off is a Behind The Tunes
featurette, which runs eight minutes and features Bugs and Daffy as tour
guides to the production. Bang, Crash, Boom! is a seven
minute look at the special effects that also features Bugs and Daffy as
hosts; the program gives one an inkling how the film’s live action is
combined with the animated characters. Looney Tunes Out Of Action:
Best Scenes You’ve Never Seen has Bugs and Daffy introduce a
series of deleted or alternate versions of scenes in the movie- including
alternate opening and ending sequences. Whizzard Of Ow is a
newly produced animated short featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
doing what they do best. A theatrical trailer closes out the extras,
although the disc does offer some DVD-ROM enhancements.
As
I stated above, LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION is a whole heck of a
lot of fun and really should have done better at the box office. The wide
screen DVD looks and sounds great, so don’t miss this opportunity to
check out LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION for yourself.
