Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special

"Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween combines newer footage with classic cartoon moments directed by Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, and more animation giants." Taking advantage of all the leeway that the word "newer" allows, Warner Home Video's re-release of this crummy 1978 TV special is one of the most appalling major studio DVD releases in recent memory. Stitching together bits and pieces of nine monster/horror-themed Looney Tunes cartoons with cheap, original animation, Howl-oween creates a patchwork, stream-of-consciousness plot in which Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Sylvester and Tweety all run afoul of Hazel the Witch. There is some amusement to be derived from the special's desperate attempts to make everything fit together (Hazel drinks a potion that turns her into a male vampire?), but it's never difficult to pick the "newer" stuff from the old, since Bugs Bunny's voice always drops a few octaves and Hazel's colour changes from green to yellow. The whole thing clocks in at just under 25 minutes, and the DVD box's purported 35-minute running time includes the extras: bonus cartoon Hair-Raising Hare and a "Spooky Interactive Puzzle for All-Family Fun" that is simply a six-piece digital jigsaw puzzle. Suggested retail price, according to Amazon.ca? $18.74. Here's an idea: why not just release a DVD that collects the Looney Tunes cartoons in their original form, perhaps with the special included as an extra feature? It would be cheap to produce, would give buyers more bang for their buck and would whet the appetite for a more extensive dose of wabbit-welated tomfoolewy from Warner's lavish Looney Tunes Golden Collections. To paraphrase Yosemite Sam, "Oooh… I hates that [DVD]."