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Fright Before Christmas is a 1979 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.

Title[]

The title is a play on the classic poem "The Night Before Christmas", properly titled "A Visit from St. Nicholas".

Plot[]

At the North Pole, as Santa Claus is preparing for his Christmas Eve flight, a cargo plane is flying the Tasmanian Devil overhead. Taz escapes from his confinement and ends up parachuting out and landing near Santa's workshop, where he accidentally gets himself into Santa's suit, which was hanging out to dry, and inadvertently takes control of Santa's flying sleigh when he spooks the reindeer.

At Bugs' house, Bugs is reading A Visit from St. Nicholas to Clyde. Speedy Gonzales begs to differ when Bugs reads that there wasn't a mouse stirring. They suddenly hear a noise on the roof, and Clyde thinks that it is Santa, so Bugs sends him to bed. Taz, who landed the sleigh on the roof, then drops down Bugs' chimney, and Bugs, despite noticing that this Santa is in fact "an unreasonable facsimile", gives him a warm welcome. He goes to the kitchen to make a snack for Taz and brings him a plate of milk and cookies; Taz responds by eating the whole table.

Bugs reads his nephew's "brief" Christmas list to Taz, during which Taz starts eating some of the ornaments and lights on Bugs' tree, uncharacteristically giving himself indigestion upon eating a green bauble and then electrocuting himself after eating the lights, before eating Clyde's wish list. Bugs then says he'll make some popcorn and hands a can of it to Taz, who promptly swallows it before Bugs can get the popper, and since he is standing next to the fireplace, the popcorn starts popping inside his body. Taz then takes a look at one of the presents under the tree, at which point Bugs sets up a fake gift exchange desk and asks Taz if he'd like to exchange it for this bigger one. Taz takes the bigger present and opens it up outside; it is a self-inflating rubber raft. He eats the whole raft, which then expands inside his body and sends him floating into the sky.

Clyde returns and tells his uncle Bugs that Santa didn't put anything in his stocking and also left his sleigh and reindeer behind. Bugs, however, tells him that they just need to return the sleigh to the real Santa. With that, they take control of Santa's sleigh and take off for the North Pole. Bugs wishes everyone happy holidays.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • When this short aired as an individual cartoon on ABC's The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show, the scene of the Tasmanian Devil eating Christmas tree string lights and electrifying himself as Bugs reads Clyde's "brief" Christmas list was cut.[2]

Notes[]

  • This marks the first appearance of Speedy Gonzales since 1968.
  • This marks the first appearance of the Tasmanian Devil since 1964.
  • This marks the first appearance of Clyde Bunny since 1954.
  • While Clyde was originally voiced by a sped-up Mel Blanc with a voice similar to that of Tweety (minus the speech impediment) in the classic shorts, here he is voiced by June Foray.
  • This cartoon would be the final time Friz Freleng directed a Looney Tunes or a Merrie Melodies short; he would eventually handle three compilation films and eventually work on a couple of shows or special announcements on the Looney Tunes series, up until his death in 1995.
  • This is the only short featuring the Tasmanian Devil to be directed by Friz Freleng, and the first Tasmanian Devil cartoon to be produced after the death of his creator Robert McKimson.
  • MeTV aired this short 13 December 2021 on Toon In with Me; however, this airing appears unrestored, despite HBO Max in America airing a restored version.
  • When this cartoon was released on the Stars of Space Jam: Tasmanian Devil DVD release in 2018, instead of using the stand-alone short version with the 1992 recreated TV title sequences as in its previous 1996 VHS release, the DVD version uses the last ten minutes of the Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales TV special, including the surrounding bridging sequences and the special's entire end credits. This particular version is also used when the short is shown on MeTV.[3]
  • This is the first cartoon where Taz has dark brown fur and a tan chest and muzzle, similar to Wile E. Coyote's fur colors. In previous appearances, his chest and muzzle were light grey, which would become his standard look.

Gallery[]

References[]

Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-OHare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraA Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitTortoise Beats HareHiawatha's Rabbit HuntThe Heckling HareAll This and Rabbit StewWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitHold the Lion, PleaseBugs Bunny Gets the BoidFresh HareThe Hare-Brained HypnotistCase of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a HareSuper-RabbitJack-Wabbit and the BeanstalkWackiki WabbitFalling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding RabbitWhat's Cookin' Doc?Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsHare Ribbin'Hare ForceBuckaroo BugsThe Old Grey HareStage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets HareThe Unruly HareHare TriggerHare ConditionedHare Tonic
1946 Baseball BugsHare RemoverHair-Raising HareAcrobatty BunnyRacketeer RabbitThe Big SnoozeRhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit TransitA Hare Grows in ManhattanEaster YeggsSlick Hare
1948 Gorilla My DreamsA Feather in His HareRabbit PunchBuccaneer BunnyBugs Bunny Rides AgainHaredevil HareHot Cross BunnyHare SplitterA-Lad-In His LampMy Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare DoMississippi HareRebel RabbitHigh Diving HareBowery BugsLong-Haired HareKnights Must FallThe Grey Hounded HareThe Windblown HareFrigid HareWhich Is WitchRabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy HareMutiny on the BunnyHomeless HareBig House BunnyWhat's Up Doc?8 Ball BunnyHillbilly HareBunker Hill BunnyBushy HareRabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We GoRabbit Every MondayBunny HuggedThe Fair Haired HareRabbit FireFrench RarebitHis Hare Raising TaleBallot Box BunnyBig Top Bunny
1952 Operation: RabbitFoxy by Proxy14 Carrot RabbitWater, Water Every HareThe Hasty HareOily HareRabbit SeasoningRabbit's KinHare Lift
1953 Forward March HareUpswept HareSouthern Fried RabbitHare TrimmedBully for BugsLumber Jack-RabbitDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain HareblowerBugs and ThugsNo Parking HareDevil May HareBewitched BunnyYankee Doodle BugsBaby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Hyde and HareKnight-Mare HareRoman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' BonnetsBroom-Stick BunnyRabbitson CrusoeNapoleon Bunny-PartBarbary-Coast BunnyHalf-Fare HareA Star Is BoredWideo WabbitTo Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBedevilled RabbitPiker's PeakWhat's Opera, Doc?Bugsy and MugsyShow Biz BugsRabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less WolfHare-Way to the StarsNow, Hare ThisKnighty Knight BugsPre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton BunnyHare-abian NightsApes of WrathBackwoods BunnyWild and Woolly HareBonanza BunnyA Witch's Tangled HarePeople Are Bunny
1960 Horse HarePerson to BunnyRabbit's FeatFrom Hare to HeirLighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitCompressed HarePrince Violent
1962 Wet HareBill of HareShishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud CakeThe Million HareHare-Breadth HurryThe UnmentionablesMad as a Mars HareTransylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb PatrolDr. Devil and Mr. HareThe Iceman DuckethFalse Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas CarolFright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young BunnySpaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las VegasDaffy Duck for President
Speedy Gonzales Cartoons
1953 Cat-Tails for Two
1955 Speedy Gonzales
1957 Tabasco RoadGonzales' Tamales
1958 Tortilla Flaps
1959 Mexicali ShmoesHere Today, Gone Tamale
1960 West of the Pesos
1961 Cannery WoeThe Pied Piper of Guadalupe
1962 Mexican Boarders
1963 Mexican Cat DanceChili Weather
1964 A Message to GraciasNuts and VoltsPancho's HideawayRoad to Andalay
1965 It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the HouseCats and BruisesThe Wild ChaseMoby DuckAssault and PepperedWell Worn DaffyChili Corn CornyGo Go Amigo
1966 The AstroduckMucho LocosMexican MousepieceDaffy RentsA-Haunting We Will GoSnow ExcuseA Squeak in the DeepFeather FingerSwing Ding AmigoA Taste of Catnip
1967 Daffy's DinerQuacker TrackerThe Music Mice-TroThe Spy SwatterSpeedy Ghost to TownRodent to StardomGo Away StowawayFiesta Fiasco
1968 Skyscraper CaperSee Ya Later Gladiator
1979 Fright Before Christmas
1980 The Chocolate Chase
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