Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol is a 1979 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.
Plot[]
Scrooge (Yosemite Sam) is counting money in the counting house of his firm when Bob Cratchit (Porky) comes in, wanting to borrow a lump of coal as he is freezing. Scrooge refuses, and just after this Bugs comes in with Christmas decorations and mistletoe. He is tossed out, and decides that "somebody oughta teach that little humbug some Christmas spirit". Bugs then borrows a piece of coal and places it in the office of Cratchit, who graciously thanks him.
However, Sylvester, Scrooge's cat, notices this and warns him, causing him to take back the coal and fire Cratchit, also throwing out some carolers (Elmer Fudd, Pepé Le Pew and Foghorn Leghorn) that Bugs let into his office. Cratchit invites Bugs to dinner, introducing him to his youngest son, Tiny Tim (Tweety). "Kinda puny, isn't he?" Bugs notes. "If you had to live on birdseed, you'd be puny too!" Tim retorts. Scrooge sends the light company to take the last candle (as Cratchit is past due) and a notice that the house is being foreclosed, forcing Cratchit to move out by midnight. Bugs decides this is the last straw.
First, Bugs annoys Scrooge with carolers, causing him to go out to deal with him, and he slips. Next, he puts snow into Scrooge's hot bath. He then acts like a ghost dragging around chains and beating a drum, which causes Scrooge to investigate. He does so, and accidentally slips down the stairs and into the cold, along with Sylvester. They go back to bed, but Bugs appears acting like a ghost. Sylvester quickly flees, but Scrooge is stopped by the door closing. As the ghost, Bugs threatens to take Scrooge to see "the man in the red suit" (the Devil, though Scrooge first guesses Santa Claus). Scrooge quickly promises to change.
He immediately makes good on his promise, giving money to the poor and making Bob Cratchit a partner in his firm. Tweety raises a toast to him, and Bugs kisses him. Scrooge (now going by the name of Sam) still hates kissing, though.
Availability[]
Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales
Christmas Looney Tunes
Christmas Collection Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc Four (part of Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales)
Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales
Notes[]
- The cartoon is an adaptation (or rather, a parody) of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, featuring Yosemite Sam as Ebenezer Scrooge and Porky Pig as Bob Cratchit.
- The cartoon was originally released as part of Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales.
- This story is the first part of Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales. As the second one, "Freeze Frame", begins, Sam demands Cratchit and his family give all his money back to him as he was just acting for the short.
- This is the first made-for-TV Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies short.
- This is also the first Merrie Melodies short to be made since "Injun Trouble" in 1969, as well as the first short directed by Friz Freleng since "The Wild Chase" in 1965. Thus, this would be the first short made after the Golden Age of Animation.
- This also marks the return of the classic Looney Tunes characters in a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies short since "See Ya Later Gladiator" in 1968.
- This is the first short to be made by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises since "Daffy's Diner" in 1967.
- As with all made-for-TV shorts, the short was later split into a separate cartoon to air regularly on The Bugs Bunny Show incarnations after the airing of the special. After the aforementioned show was cancelled following Turner Entertainment's acquisition of the post-1948 shorts, new titles were made for all the made-for-TV shorts, featuring the use of a slightly modified 1959-61 season color rings with the 1945-55 renditions of "Merrily We Roll Along".
- MeTV aired this short 26 November 2022 on Saturday Morning Cartoons; however, this airing appears unrestored as it was the first part of the special it originates from instead of the standalone short.
Gallery[]
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