Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

The Looney Tunes search for a man's missing father and the mythical Blue Monkey diamond.

Directors:

Joe Dante, Eric Goldberg

Writer:

Larry Doyle

Stars:

Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin

10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brendan Fraser	...	DJ Drake / Brendan Fraser / Voice of Tasmanian Devil and She-Devil
Jenna Elfman	...	Kate
Steve Martin	...	Mr. Chairman
Timothy Dalton	...	Damien Drake
Heather Locklear	...	Dusty Tails
Joan Cusack	...	Mother
Bill Goldberg	...	Mr. Smith
Don Stanton	...	Mr. Warner
Dan Stanton	...	Mr. Warner's Brother
Dick Miller	...	Security Guard
Roger Corman	...	Hollywood Director
Kevin McCarthy	...	Dr. Bennell
Jeff Gordon	...	Jeff Gordon
Matthew Lillard	...	Matthew Lillard
Mary Woronov	...	Acme VP, Bad Ideas

Storyline

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are up to their feuding ways again. Tired of playing second fiddle to Bugs, Daffy has decided to leave the Studio for good. He is aided by Warner Bros.' humor impaired Vice President of Comedy, Kate Houghton, who releases him from his contract and instructs WB security guard/aspiring stunt man DJ Drake to capture and "escort" Daffy off the studio lot. Suddenly a sidekick without a hero, the duck decides to ally himself with DJ, whether he likes it or not. Consequently, Daffy is on the scene when DJ discovers that his famous movie star father was Damian Drake, known for playing suave international spies onscreen, is actually a suave international spy in real life--and has been kidnapped by the evil insane nerdy, prancing villain known as Mr. Chairman of the equally nefarious Acme Corporation. It seems that Damian knows the whereabouts of the mysterious magical and powerful Blue Monkey Diamond, and the Chairman will do anything to get his hands on it! With ...

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Plot Keywords:

diamond | duck | spy | monkey | rabbit | 

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Taglines:

The biggest animated adventure ever to hit real life

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language and innuendo

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's release was also the subject of a big stroke of bad luck: it was supposed to premiere in July, but was shelved after Finding Nemo (2003) became a smash. Come November (the start of the holiday movie season), the film was released. Unfortunately, the movie opened just after Brother Bear (2003) and Elf (2003), and just before The Cat in the Hat (2003) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Warner Bros. refused to promote the film because of its chaotic production and overrun budget.

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Goofs

After you see the Duck get shot several times with a gun, Bugs Bunny enters the room, sits in a chair, and starts to repeatedly move his chair and hit Daffy Duck's chair. But if you look closely next to Bugs Bunny's chair, you'll see the top of a man's head, a person that seems to be moving Bugs Bunny's chair.

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Quotes

Daffy Duck: [Daffy and DJ try escape in DJ's beat-up car] All right, let's see what this baby can really do.
Daffy Duck: [DJ tries to start the car and it falls apart] Now that's an interesting feature.

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Crazy Credits

(DVD only): The New Wave Entertainment logo at the end of the behind the scenes features indicates a human's eye in close-up through a television screen.

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Alternate Versions

When Broadcast on ITV and ITV2, several scenes involving violence are removed, including Sam shooting the banana skin in the casino scene, and Bugs placing the popcorn inside the marked alien during the Area 52 fight scene.

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Connections

References Much Ado About Nutting (1953)

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Soundtracks

The Barber of Seville: Overture
(uncredited)
Written by Gioachino Rossini

User Reviews

Cartoons good, live-action bad

I'm a huge Looney Tunes fan, if not a major cartoon fanatic alone, so when I found out this movie was being made, I jumped for the chance to see it. First off, I was thrilled to see that the creators stuck to the "Roger Rabbit" technique, in which the cartoons were all hand-drawn and computers are only used to add color and depth (to give the 3D appearance of the characters). Second, I thought that the cartoons themselves were great. Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn, Speedy Gonzales, Elmer... they all stuck to the same characteristics that I grew to love watching Bugs Bunny cartoons on Saturday morning. The only real draw-back of this movie was, without a doubt, the live-action actors. Brendan Fraser is good, but he can't live up to his past movies (especially "The Mummy" saga). The same goes to Jenna Elfman, who's talent is severly wasted as she comes across as the most serious character in the whole movie. Timothy Dalton, as usual, is flawless (and if you look closely, you can actually see how closely Fraser and Dalton look alike). Steve Martin, meanwhile, makes one of the worst performances of his career, and acts WAY too over the top, even for an eccentric villain.

The movie is good, but only is you are a truly devoted cartoon-lover (if you are, then you'll get a huge kick out of the opening sequence alone). Overall, come for Bugs, leave for Martin.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. [Japan]

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Looney Tunes Back in Action: The Movie

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,317,371, 16 November 2003

Gross USA:

$20,991,364

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$68,514,844

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Baltimore Spring Creek Productions, Goldmann Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1