Looney Tunes Back In Action (2003) Film Review

Directed By: Joe Dante

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Heather Locklear, Timothy Dalton and Joan Cusak.

Voice Cast: Joe Alaskey, Jeff Bennett, Bob Bergen, June Foray, Brendan Fraser, Eric Goldberg, Bruce Lanoil and Billy West.

Rated PG For Some Mild Language And Innuendo.

Running Time: 1hr 32min/92min.

Let me take you back to the year of 2004. I was 6 Years-old and my Mom Gives me a DVD. The movie was Looney Tunes Back In Action. I was excited because it was a movie I had not seen. It had the Looney Tunes, A guy, A girl and that guy from Cheaper By The Dozen right on the cover. This was one of my favorite films growing up. Fast Forward to 2013, as I'm righting this, I am looking at that battered up DVD, still watchable albeit scratched. I have a backup copy on VHS In case anything happens. I'm 15 and when I picked it up on VHS, I wondered it had still held up. The answer is a jovial Yes. This movie has actually gotten better than what I remembered and has now become one of my top 10 Favorite Films of all time.

Daffy Duck is demanding to star in a movie where he doesn't get hurt or killed in the film. Warner Brothers executive Kate Houghton(Jenna Elfman) Tells Daffy that his fan base is not as extensive as Bugs Bunny's. Daffy Is escorted out of the boardroom and is to be escorted off of the lot by D.J. Drake(Brendan Fraser). Daffy won't go quietly and a chase ensues. This results in a Bat mobile crashing into a the water tower and water soaking Houghton's Car. Drake is fired and sent home. Daffy stows away in his bag and finds out that D.J. is the son of Spy Star Damien Drake(Timothy Dalton). D.J. is let known by his father, who is being held hostage by the henchmen of The Chairman of Acme Corporation(Steve Martin), that he has to travel to Las Vegas to find Dusty Trails(Heather Locklear). They then travel to Las Vegas with Houghton and Bugs in pursuit. When they get there, Dusty tells them that the Blue Monkey, which is a giant Blue Diamond, is not in Las Vegas, but somewhere in Paris, France, which has a classic Looney Tunes transition. They go on a wild and exotic adventure including traveling to Area 51, and The Jungle.


The Animation and Live-Action are blended wonderfully together. The animation especially has more depth than in the usual 2D cartoons like shown in the beginning of the film. They have a fleshed out appearance. They move around more fluently then they used to. The animation is made to move around with the actors, and it's done well. The voice acting does a great job at recapturing the magic of the Golden Age. The actors do well interacting with basically air, The Toons would be added in Post-Production.


Daffy is the one who thinks he is High and Mighty. He thinks he can't be touched or harmed. Bugs IS the one who cannot be touched. He knows how to dodge a problem. Kate is stern and cold(In one scene, quite literally) whereas D.J. is more of a free spirit, not completely, but still. The Chairman is the one who is goofy and zany and mugs at the camera, but does it with charm. Yes the Looney Characters are there. Yosemite Sam, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Granny. There's even stock footage of Michael Jordan from Space Jam(1996)! The film is masterfully crafted, in a Looney sort of way.


My Favorite scene, comes 25-30min in. The four meet up in the spy car. Yosemite commandeers a Nascar along with two of his cronies give chase, scored to the song "Hey Driver" by Lucky Boys Confusion. The scene is fast-paced, filled with crafted dialogue and wonderful cinematography. But something gravely disappoints me  about this film, and it's not the film itself, it's the Box-Office of the film. The movie was a massive failure. The movie has a budget of $80 Million. $20 Million in the U.S. and $68 Million overall worldwide. Space Jam had Michael Jordan to promote, but this has an All-Star cast and still failed. This deeply saddens me. This movie is great. It is delightful, witty and overall perfect. If you have not seen this film, do yourself a huge favor and buy it. This movie will always be with me not matter what.