Looney Tunes: Back in Action

This article is about the movie. For the video game, see Looney Tunes: Back in Action (video game).

Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joe Dante
Produced by	Bernie Goldman Joel Simon Paula Weinstein
Written by	Larry Doyle
Starring	Brendan Fraser Jenna Elfman Joe Alaskey Steve Martin Timothy Dalton Heather Locklear Joan Cusack
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Editing by	Rick Finney Marshall Harvey
Studio	Goldmann Pictures Baltimore Spring Creek Productions Lonely Film Productions GmbH & Co. KG
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	November 14, 2003 (2003-11-14)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$68,514,844

Looney Tunes: Back in Action or Looney Tunes: Back In Action - The Movie on DVD, is a 2003 American live action/animated adventure comedy film directed by Joe Dante and starring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Timothy Dalton, and Steve Martin. The film is essentially a feature-length Looney Tunes cartoon, with all the wackiness and surrealism typical of the genre. Although a box-office bomb, the film was a moderate critical success. It was also the last film to feature a score by veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith before his death in 2004.

Plot

Tired of playing second fiddle to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck demands his own movie from the Warner Brothers only to be fired by VP of Comedy Kate Houghton. DJ Drake, son of action star Damian Drake, is also fired from his job as a security guard when trying to escort Daffy from the studios, driving the Batmobile into the studio's watertower which falls on Kate's car. Kate tries to make Bugs' film more educational and socially relevant, but he refuses to work with her unless Daffy is brought back; she is ultimately forced to comply to keep her job after Bugs is injured during a routine that required Daffy's presence. DJ returns home and is surprised to find Daffy snuck along. Finding a hidden video screen, DJ is told by his father (who actually IS a super spy) to go to Las Vegas to find a woman named Dusty Tails to get a diamond called the Blue Monkey. DJ and Daffy head out in an old AMC Gremlin car. Bugs and Kate arrive at the house after Bugs calls Daffy and learns the situation, and pursue them in Damian's spy car, a TVR Tuscan right hand drive. Also after the diamond are the Acme Corporation run by Mr. Chairman who plans to use the diamond to take over the world and sell more Acme merchandise.

DJ and Daffy arrive in Las Vegas and find Dusty Tails performing at a casino run by Yosemite Sam. Dusty gives DJ a playing card with the Mona Lisa's face on it. Then Yosemite Sam, working for Acme, attacks the three and his goons chase DJ and Daffy across the city, leading to a car chase with Bugs and Kate being dragged into the mayhem when DJ takes the wheel of the spy car. The heroes escape via the spy car's flight ability whilst Yosemite Sam crashes into his own casino. The spy car crashes in Death Valley where the heroes conviently find a Wal-Mart thanks to Kate's desire for more product placement. Mr. Chairman sends in Wile E. Coyote to kill the heroes but he fails via a misdirected missile. The heroes wander into Area 52, Area 51 created as a "paranoid fantasy" to hide Area 52's identity, where they meet Mother, a Q-like figure who gives DJ new gadgets to help find the diamond and reveals that Acme will use the diamond to turn mankind into monkeys to create their merchandise and then turn them back so they'll buy the products. Marvin the Martian and a group of famous aliens (including two Daleks and Ro-Man from Robot Monster) attack, but the heroes escape. They conclude the next clue is in the Mona Lisa painting in Paris.

In the Louvre, the heroes discover the playing card doubles as a viewing window and find a map of Africa behind the Mona Lisa painting and take a photo on Kate's mobile phone. Elmer Fudd arrives to gain the card, turning out to be "secretly evil". Bugs and Daffy flee playfully around the museum, leaping through various famous paintings until Elmer is defeated by Bugs via a fan when he jumps out of a Pointillism painting. Mr. Smith, henchman of Mr. Chairman, kidnaps Kate and steals her phone, and by extension, the map. The heroes travel to Africa where they hitch a ride on an elephant ridden by Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird and Granny. They find the diamond and a temple, but Granny and the others reveal themselves to be Mr. Chairman, Mr. Smith and the Tasmanian Devil. Mr. Chairman uses a disintegration pistol to transport himself and the heroes to Acme Headquarters and gains the diamond. Mr Smith is revealed to be the Tasmanian she-devil.

The diamond is taken to a satellite by Marvin; Mr. Chairman explaining he will fire an energy beam worldwide which will turn everyone into monkeys aside from himself and his love interest, Mary. DJ and Kate save Damian from being killed and Wile E. Coyote blows up in a train. Bugs and Daffy chase Marvin to the satellite, and while Bugs fights Marvin, Daffy becomes Duck Dodgers and manages to destroy the satellite by plugging its dish with his beak. Bugs defeats Marvin by overloading his own bubble gun. The energy beam strikes Mr. Chairman, turning him into a monkey. Later, Daffy learns the entire adventure was part of Bugs' film, but Bugs suggests the two become equal; Daffy starts cheering until he is flattened by the Looney Tunes' title iris ironically. While Porky Pig tries to say his ending line,"Th-th-th-that's all folks," the studio starts to close. After that, when it's almost pitch black, Porky tells the audience to go home.

Cast

• Brendan Fraser as D.J. Drake, a stuntman who wishes to make his father proud.
• Jenna Elfman as Kate Houghton, the icy VP of comedy at the Warner Bros. Studios with a secret crush on Damian.
• Steve Martin as Mr. Luther J. Chairman, the immature and comedic head of the Acme Corporation. his goal is to Have people transformed into monkeys via the Blue Monkey gem to manufacture ACME's products and have them human again to buy them. he dadnapped Damian Drake.
• Timothy Dalton as Damian Drake, A famous action film star and DJ's father.
• Heather Locklear as Dusty Tails, A friend of Damian who works in Las Vegas at Yosemite Sam's wooden nickel. she sing theme song to six Damian Drake movies
• Joan Cusack as Mother, A scientist at Area 52 and DJ's mother.
• Bill Goldberg as Mr. Bob Smith, Mr. Chairman's minion.
• Jeff Gordon as Himself
• Matthew Lillard as Himself
• Mary Woronov as Herself, Acme VP, Bad Ideas, a stuttering woman who Mr. Chairman likes.
• Marc Lawrence as Acme VP, Stating the Obvious, Mr. Chairman's father.
• Bill McKinney as Acme VP, Nitpicking
• George Murdock as Acme VP
• Robert Picardo as Acme VP, Rhetorical Questions.
• Ron Perlman as Acme VP, Never Learning
• Vernon Wells as Acme VP, Child Labor, a cruel man who dislikes children.
• Leo Rossi as Acme VP, Climbing to the Top
• Dick Miller as Studio Guard
• Peter Graves as Civil Defense Film Host (uncredited)
• Dakota Fanning as Little Girl on Tour (uncredited)
• Michael Jordan as himself (uncredited cameo)
• Kevin McCarthy as Miles Bennell, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (cameo)
• Joe Alaskey as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Beaky Buzzard, and Mama Bear
• Jeff Bennett as Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam and Nasty Canasta
• Bob Bergen as Porky Pig
• Danny Chambers as Cottontail Smith
• June Foray as Granny
• Mel Blanc as a Gremlin Car (archive audio)
• Eric Goldberg as Marvin the Martian, Michigan J. Frog, Speedy Gonzales and Tweety Bird
• Danny Mann as Robo Dog and Spy Car
• Will Ryan as Papa Bear
• Billy West as Elmer Fudd, Peter Lorre-like scientist
• Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
• Frank Welker as Scooby Doo
• Brendan Fraser as Tasmanian Devil, Tasmanian She-Devil
• Stan Freberg as Baby Bear

Soundtrack

This was the final film Jerry Goldsmith composed music for. Due to Goldsmith's failing health, the last reel of the film was actually scored by John Debney, though Goldsmith was the only credited composer in marketing materials and the Varèse Sarabande soundtrack album only contains Goldsmith's music (although the first and last cues are adaptations of compositions heard in Warner Bros. cartoons). Debney receives an "Additional Music by" credit in the closing titles of the film and "Special Thanks" in the soundtrack album credits.

1. Life Story - Carl Stalling (:18)
2. What’s Up? (1:24)
3. Another Take (:48)
4. Dead Duck Walking (3:13)
5. Out of the Bag (3:42)
6. Blue Monkey (:54)
7. In Style (1:09)
8. The Bad Guys (2:57)
9. Car Trouble (3:45)
10. Thin Air (1:24) (a version of the well known Powerhouse theme is heard)
11. Area 52 (1:27)
12. Hot Pursuit (2:26)
13. We’ve Got Company (1:50)
14. I’ll Take That (1:19)
15. Paris Street (1:21)
16. Free Fall (1:15)
17. Tasmanian Devil (1:10)
18. Jungle Scene (1:40)
19. Pressed Duck (3:22)
20. Re-Assembled (:50)
21. Merry Go Round Broke Down - Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin (:16)

Deleted scenes

Several scenes were deleted from the movie during post-production, and some weren't even completely animated. Some are available for viewing on the DVD. They include:

• An alternate opening where Daffy in a proposal for their next movie, takes on the role of Batduck, with Elmer Fudd as the bad guy: the scene is rejected by the Warner executives due to the fact that Daffy kills Elmer, and also that Elmer doesn't want to be a clown, as he's afraid of them.
• Several romance scenes featuring Kate and DJ, such as scenes in a desert, or an extra scene at the temple.
• Extra alien scenes during the Area 52 battle.
• A scene at the Eiffel Tower where DJ buys Eiffel Tower paperweights and continuously throws them at one of the henchmen.
• More humorous scenes featuring Kate.
• A scene where the Rhetorical Questions VP (played by Robert Picardo) asks a rhetorical question without hitting his buzzer, resulting in him getting wrapped in plastic wrap.
• Several gag scenes featuring Daffy.
• An alternate ending where Damian Drake somehow ends up at the temple and DJ turns him into a monkey. Kate then uses the diamond accidentally on Bugs, who turns into his original pre-1950s persona, and then into a Neanderthal-like Bunny. Daffy takes the diamond, and accidentally turns Kate into a cavewoman. Daffy ends up turning himself into an egg. Mr. Smith, who is about to strangle Damian, then leaves because his factory whistle went off. Mr. Chairman then takes out the Tasmanian Devil to attack Damian. Damian then uses the diamond to launch Tweety (supposedly) to his doom in a pool of lava. It is then revealed that this turned Tweety into a dinosaur. Mr. Chairman recites "Aba-dee-aba-dee-aba-dee...That's all folks!" before getting eaten.

Box office

Budgeted at $80 million, but grossing only around US$21 million (US$68 million worldwide), Looney Tunes: Back in Action was a financial flop.

Critical response

Despite the film's financial disaster, the critical response for Looney Tunes: Back in Action was mixed to positive, making it more critically successful than the previous Looney Tunes film Space Jam. As of March 28, 2011, the film scores a 56% "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes; however, the website garners a 63% "Fresh" rating from top critics.

At Metacritic, the film ranks 64, with "generally favorable reviews". The film is often argued by fans and animation historians to be the best feature-length reboot of the classic Looney Tunes characters. The two well-known Chicago-Sun Times movie critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave the film "Two Thumbs Up"; Roeper called it a "cheerful and self-referential romp blending animation with live action in a non-stop quest for silly laughs."

Along with the positive critical response, the film was also nominated for Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature.

See also

• "Powerhouse"

External links

• Official website
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action at the Internet Movie Database
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action at Rotten Tomatoes