"BUGSZILLA"
by Joe
Ekaitis
(not affiliated with Warner Bros.)
"BUGSZILLA" is
one of several short parodies in a half-hour TV special called
"A Looney Night at the Movies". The special consists of
trailers for classic and recent movies, recast with Looney Tunes
characters.
Filmed in black and white,
"BUGSZILLA" features Bugs Bunny in the title role as
the King of the Monsters with Elmer Fudd recreating Raymond
Burr's role as American reporter Steve Martin. Not only is
Bugszilla 300 feet tall but when he's attacked by a squadron of
tanks, he incinerates them with a carrot-colored blast of his
fiery breath, the only part of the vignette that IS in color.
The trailer begins with
evidence of Bugszilla's existence. Porky Pig, in a naval military
uniform and Elmer Fudd are watching as several investigators
examine the beached wreckage of a huge cargo ship. "It-it-it's
the Kobayashi Maroon" says Porky, his voice completely out
of sync with his mouth. "So, what was she hauling?"
asks Elmer. "Ju-ju-ju-just lettuce and carrots" replies
Porky. Elmer shakes his head in amazement. "It must have
been some storm to beach a ship this big and bweak it apart like
that" he comments. Porky turns dramatically toward Elmer.
"Th-the-the-there was no storm last night" says Porky.
The scene changes to the
mangled ruins of a vegetable cannery. While doctors and nurses
tend to the injured workers, Elmer and Wile E. Coyote, who's
dressed in a police officer's uniform, are surveying the damage.
"Was it a bomb?" asks Elmer. "An expwosion of some
kind?" Wile E. stares blankly at the scene. "No"
he replies, also out of sync. "This building was attacked
from the outside." "By WHAT?!" demands Elmer. One
of the bandaged workers, a rabbit, is nibbling on a carrot. Wile
E. walks over to him with his eyes fixed on the carrot as Elmer
follows. Wile E. snatches the carrot from the rabbit and holds it
up. The focus changes from the incisor bite marks on the carrot
to a pair of gouges in the sheet metal wall of the cannery in the
distance. Both exhibit a striking similarity.
A
long helicopter shot swoops along a trail of giant wabbit
footprints that pass through the destroyed buildings and scarred
earth of what was once a lettuce farm. The stunned farmer (Foghorn
Leghorn in coveralls) wanders aimlessly among the debris. He can
chant only one coherent word (out of sync with the movement of
his beak, of course): "Bugszilla. . .BUGSZILLA. . .BUGSZILLA!"
Finally, the monster makes
his appearance. The ground beneath a carrot patch begins to bulge
and splits open. A giant white-gloved hand emerges and lands
squarely on the farmhouse, crushing it like a paper cup. Two huge
ears rise from the hole and in a wider shot, the 300 foot terror
rises from the carrot patch and emits Godzilla's trademark roar.
A series of clips show Bugszilla's rampage through downtown
Tokyo, including his frying of the aforementioned tank squadron.
All of this is being witnessed by reporter Steve Martin (Fudd),
who is recording what might be his last living words. As he
utters the line made memorable by Raymond Burr (see poster), the
building he's in begins to collapse around him. The scene
suddenly cuts to black and all we can hear is Bugszilla's, er,
Godzilla's roar as the words "BUGSZILLA: King of the
Monsters" appear on the screen.
Other movie parodies in
"A Looney Night at the Movies" would include "Gone
with the Breeze", with Bugs Bunny as Scarlett O'Hara and
Elmer Fudd as Rhett Butler, who delivers the movie's most
memorable line in response to Scarlett's plea "Where shall I
go?! What shall I do?!": "Fwankwy, my dear, I don't
give a damn." "Hey, Tootsy!", a parody of "Tootsie"
features Daffy Duck in the dual roles of out-of-work actor Mickey
Dougherty and his successful alter-ego-in-drag Dottie Michelson
with Elmer Fudd as his agent who advises him "You're too
much twouble, Mickey. Get some thewapy." "2002: an
odyssey in space" stars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as Jupiter
mission astronauts Frank Pull and Dave Boughman with the voice of
Wile E. Coyote as the HAK 8000 computer. "A Couple of Odd
Guys" pairs slob sportscaster Oscar (Bugs Bunny looking a
little rough around the edges) with compulsive neatnick
photographer Felix (Wile E. Coyote without his usual ragged
appearance).
Looney Tunes Larger Than Life!