List of Looney Tunes television specials

This is a list of television specials based on the Looney Tunes series of theatrical animated shorts. Note all specials were originally aired in prime-time unless otherwise noted.

Original specials

edit
Title Year LTGC availability (all as special features) Notes
Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies December 16, 1972 Produced by Filmation, with the Looney Tunes characters on loan from Warner Bros. (otherwise a silent partner)
Carnival of the Animals November 22, 1976 Volume 5, Disc 4 Animation/live-action mix
Produced by Chuck Jones Enterprises.
A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court (retitled Bugs Bunny in King Arthur`s Court for subsequent rebroadcasts) February 23, 1978 Volume 6, Disc 1 Produced by Chuck Jones Enterprises.
Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales November 27, 1979 Volume 5, Disc 4 Three TV shorts later edited out of it.

Produced by DePatie-Freleng and Chuck Jones Enterprises.

Daffy Duck's Easter Show April 1, 1980 Volume 6, Disc 1 Three TV shorts later edited out of it.

Produced by DePatie-Freleng.

Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over May 21, 1980 Volume 5, Disc 4 Three TV shorts later edited out of it.

Produced by Chuck Jones Enterprises.
Also available on The Essential Bugs Bunny (10/12/2010)

Ounce of Prevention 1982 Awareness video about burn prevention in the home
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue April 21, 1990 drug-abuse prevention television special

Anniversary specials

edit
Title Year Notes
Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes 50th Anniversary Special January 14, 1986 Featuring interviews with celebrities
Happy Birthday Bugs!: 50 Looney Years May 9, 1990
'Hare's to Bugs! A Bugs Bunny Celebration July 27, 2024 Featuring interviews with Looney Tunes Alumni Billy West, Jeff Bergman, Candi Milo, Bob Bergen, Eric Bauza, Eric Goldberg, Animation Historian Jerry Beck & Many Others. It aired on MeTV Toons on Bugs Bunny's 84th Birthday.

Specials with reused footage

edit
Title Year Classic Clips From Notes
Bugs Bunny's Easter Special April 7, 1977 Released on DVD.
Bugs Bunny in Space September 6, 1977 Only special with no new animation
Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special October 26, 1977

Featuring Witch Hazel

Other shorts

Released on DVD separately and as part of the Looney Tunes Holiday Triple Feature
How Bugs Bunny Won the West November 15, 1978 Hosted in live action by actor Denver Pyle
Included in The Essential Bugs Bunny DVD, released on October 12, 2010 in the U.S.
Included in Looney Tunes Parodies Collection DVD, released on February 4, 2020 in the U.S.

The end where Bugs is singing "Home on the Range" is an audio clip from the 1951 short The Fair-Haired Hare

Bugs Bunny's Valentine Special February 14, 1979 Released on DVD as Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers
The Bugs Bunny Mother's Day Special May 12, 1979 Later retitled Bugs Bunny's Baby Boomers
Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet November 15, 1979 Released as part of the Looney Tunes Holiday Triple Feature DVD.
The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special October 26, 1980
Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special November 20, 1980 Contains one all-new Duck Dodgers short; Released as part of the Looney Tunes Holiday Triple Feature
Bugs Bunny: All American Hero May 21, 1981
Bugs Bunny's Mad World of Television January 11, 1982
Bugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video Stars October 21, 1988 One of the first specials produced by Warner Bros. where new animation was both traditionally and digitally inked and painted.[1] Released on DVD with the Space Jam 2-disc DVD set.
Bugs Bunny's Wild World of Sports February 15, 1989 Included in The Essential Bugs Bunny DVD, released on October 12, 2010 in the U.S.
Bugs Bunny's Overtures to Disaster April 17, 1991 Contains one all-new Porky and Daffy short titled The William Tell Overture.
*At the time of release Warner Bros had not regained the rights to their pre-1948 cartoons yet, so Ford and his crew reanimated this short for its inclusion in this special.
Bugs Bunny's Creature Features February 1, 1992
Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes March 1, 1993 Released straight to VHS. It was later released on the DVD "Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes Marvin the Martian Space Tunes" Double Feature.

Home Video Retitling

edit

Several of these TV specials were given a new name when released on video.

TV title Home video title
Carnival of the Animals Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals
Bugs Bunny's Easter Special Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies
A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court
Bugs Bunny's Valentine Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers
The Daffy Duck Easter Show Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-citement

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ K. Wiley, TD, Allied Visual Artists

Further reading

edit
  • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons, by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald (1989), Henry Holt, ISBN 0-8050-0894-2
  • Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist by Chuck Jones, published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, ISBN 0-374-12348-9
  • That's Not All, Folks! by Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe. Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-39089-5 (Softcover) ISBN 0-446-51244-3 (Hardcover)
  • Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, Leonard Maltin, Revised Edition 1987, Plume ISBN 0-452-25993-2 (Softcover) ISBN 0-613-64753-X (Hardcover)
edit