Bugs Bunny's 24-Carrot Holiday Special

[StevePulaski]

Bugs Bunny's 24-Carrot Holiday Special (2020)
Directed by: Pete Browngardt, David Gemmill, Kenny Pittenger, and Ryan Kramer

Daffy and Porky star in the first short of Bugs Bunny's 24 Carrot Holiday Special.

Rating: ★★½

The Looney Tunes revival series on HBO Max has been warm and fuzzy, if spotty in quality for reasons I can't quite ascertain. I feel it's a combination of the characters being around for multiple decades and their zaniness having been featured in more movies, shows, and spinoffs than I care to count.

Now, their trademark zaniness gets etched into the holiday atmosphere with the cleverly titled Bugs Bunny's 24-Carrot Holiday Special, the eleventh episode of the respective series thus far. An anthology consisting of five shorts — and sadly no wraparound to connect the characters — it's a modestly entertaining burst of energy despite never boasting the belly-laughs you crave from these iconic toons.

The first short consists of Porky and Daffy coming to Santa's rescue following his elves going on strike. They try to assemble the toys swiftly, but get hung up on a 1000+ step process to build one video-game console with predictably asinine results. The second short has Taz trying to perform Christmas carols only to get in his own way at every house he stops. At one point, he hurls a noisy cop car into the air and watches it explode in a fiery blaze. Call it social commentary in the year of our Lord and savior 2020 if you'd like; it's absurd but fitting in emphasizing how dastardly Taz can be.

The third short, maybe the most entertaining one, involves Granny and Tweety Bird seeking Black Friday deals only to find the sly Sylvester the Cat trying to play tricks on the pint-sized bird. I've long been partial to the cat-and-bird, Tom and Jerry-esque relationship between Tweety and Sylvester, so any excuse to see them go at it is acceptable for me. Moreover, it's kept pithy enough to be memorable.

The final two shorts are the flimsiest of the bunch with Wile E. Coyote fighting with Road Runner and Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd going back and forth in a snowball fight. While Looney Tunes has always been partial to slapstick, there's little else happening here besides the typical camaraderie you expect. Some might be content with that. I was hoping for a little more. At 28 minutes, Bugs Bunny's 24-Carrot Holiday Special is hardly an ask, but it's hardly special as its title suggests.

Directed by: Pete Browngardt, David Gemmill, Kenny Pittenger, and Ryan Kramer.