Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray Review

Growing up I watched a lot of cartoons but one of my absolute favourite cartoon characters of all time has been Bugs Bunny. He’s witty, smart and funny and earlier this year, he turned 80.

To celebrate, Warner Bros. has recently released Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection on Blu-ray.

The collection includes around 60 theatrical shorts and a full-size glitter Funko Pop of Bugs in his top hat and suit and carrot in hand. There’s also a letter by animation historian Jerry Beck wishing Bugs Bunny a Happy 80th Anniversary and a digital code. While the set doesn’t include the almost 160 theatrical shorts, it does include some of the most popular ones like Chuck Jones’ Wabbit Season Trilogy.

The set comes with 3 Blu-ray discs each containing around 20 of the shorts along with extras. Some of the extras on each disc include a full-length documentary, a director’s cut version of a short and some making-of shorts.

As of fan of animation, one of the things I appreciate is that some of the shorts include commentary tracks from those in the animation industry from Eric Goldberg (Aladdin, Looney Tunes: Back in Action), Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series), Jerry Beck (animation historian) and more. Their commentary is them talking about some of the animation techniques used in the particular short and gives great insight into the animation process.

You can see a list of all the shorts included below.

Disc One:

• Elmer’s Candid Camera (1940 – with commentary by Jerry Beck)
• A Wild Hare (1940 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• Hold the Lion, Please (1942 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (1942 – with commentary by Michael Barrier and Bob Clampett)
• Super-Rabbit (1943 – with commentary by Paul Dini)
• Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk (1943)
• What’s Cookin’ Doc? (1944 – with commentary by Jerry Beck)
• Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (1944 – with commentary by Stan Freberg)
• Hair Ribbin’ (1944 – with commentary by Constantine Nasr)
• The Old Grey Hare (1944 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• Baseball Bugs (1946 – with commentary by Eric Goldberg)
• Hair-Raising Hare (1946 – with commentary by Greg Ford, Michael Barrier, and Lloyd Turner)
• Racketeer Rabbit (1946)
• Bugs Bunny Rides Again (1948 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• Haredevil Hare (1948 – with commentary by Michael Barrier and Pete Alvarado)
• Hot Cross Bunny (1948)
• Hare Splitter (1948)
• Knights Must Fall (1949)
• What’s Up Doc? (1950 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• 8 Ball Bunny (1950 – with commentary by Jerry Beck)

Disc One Extras

• Bugs Bunny’s 80th What’s Up Doc-umentary! (HD – 61:04)
• Hare Ribbin’ Director’s Cut (SD – 8:03)
• Forever Befuddled (SD – 3:25)
• Bugs: A Rabbit for All Seasonings (SD – 5:39)
• Mars Attacks! Life on the Red Planet with My Favorite Martian (HD – 14:49)

Disc Two:

• The Rabbit of Seville (1950 – with commentary by Eric Goldberg)
• Rabbit Every Monday (1951 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• The Fair-Haired Hare (1951 – with commentary by Constantine Nasr)
• Rabbit Fire (1951 – with commentary by Greg Ford and Chuck Jones)
• His Hair-Raising Tale (1951)
• Hare Lift (1952)
• Upswept Hare (1953)
• Robot Rabbit (1953)
• Captain Hareblower (1954)
• No Parking Hare (1954)
• Yankee Doodle Bugs (1954)
• Lumber Jack-Rabbit (1953 – with commentary by Jerry Beck)
• Baby Buggy Bunny (1954 – with commentary by Constantine Nasr)
• Hare Brush (1955)
• This Is a Life? (1955)
• Rabbitson Crusoe (1956)
• Napoleon Bunny-Part (1956)
• Half-Fare Hare (1956)
• Piker’s Peak (1957)
• What’s Opera, Doc? (1957 – with commentary by Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese, and Maurice Noble, as well as a second commentary by Daniel Goldmark)

Disc Two Extras

• Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary (SD – 47:31)
• A Hunting We Will Go: Chuck Jones’ Wabbit Season Twilogy (SD – 9:30)
• Bugs Bunny: Ain’t He a Stinker? (SD – 16:41)
• Wagnerian Wabbit: The Making of What’s Opera, Doc? (SD – 9:31)

Disc Three

• Bugsy and Mugsy (1957)
• Show Biz Bugs (1957 – with commentary by Greg Ford and Pre-Score Music)
• Hare-Less Wolf (1958)
• Now Hare This (1958)
• Knighty Knight Bugs (1958 – with commentary by Jerry Beck)
• Hare-Arabian Nights (1959)
• Backwoods Bunny (1959)
• Wild and Woolly Hare (1959)
• Bonanza Bunny (1959)
• People Are Bunny (1959)
• Person to Bunny (1960)
• Rabbit’s Feat (1960 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• From Hare to Heir (1960 – with commentary by Greg Ford)
• Compressed Hare (1961)
• Prince Violent (1961)
• Shishkabugs (1962)
• The Million Hare (1963)
• The Unmentionables (1963)
• False Hare (1964 – with commentary by Jerry Beck)
• (Blooper) Bunny: Bugs Bunny’s 51st and a 1/2 Anniversary Spectacular (1991 – with commentary by Greg Ford)

Disc Three Extras

• Hard Luck Duck (SD – 3:41)
• Short Fuse Shootout: The Small Tale of Yosemite Sam (SD – 3:03)
• 50 Years of Bugs Bunny in 3½ Minutes (SD – 3:52)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Harm Wrestling (2020 – HD – 4:32)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Pest Coaster (2020 – HD – 5:57)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Siberian Sam (2020 – HD – 7:02)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Big League Beast (2020 – HD – 7:02)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Buzzard School (2020 – HD – 7:27)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Pool Bunny (2020 – HD – 6:57)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Grilled Rabbit (2020 – HD – 5:32)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Vincent Van Fudd (2020 – HD – 5:12)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoon: Hare Restoration (2020 – HD – 5:42)
• Bonus Looney Tunes Interstitials: Plunger/Fishing Pole/Bees/Mini Elmer (2020 – HD – 2:45)

In terms of visual quality, the shorts look good even by today’s standards. The shorts are in 1080p since they’re on Blu-ray but the 4:3 aspect ratio and sometimes mono audio is intact from the original.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection is great for those who grew up on Looney Tunes or are fans of animation in general.

The Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection is available now for $89.99 CAD ($74.99 USD) from Amazon.ca.

A free review copy was provided by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The opinions of this review are my own. 

Pros

• Includes a good selection of shorts
• Commentary tracks give a good insight into the animation process
• Video looks great

Cons

• Doesn’t include every Bugs Bunny short out there
• The packaging feels kind of on the cheaper side, no special disc case (i.e steelbook or anything)