Looney+Tunes+and+Mass+Media

The Bugs Bunny show was more complex than children realize. The setting is set to attract adults and draw their attention to viewing a cartoon. The opening scene begins with Bugs and Daffy singing “This is it” by Jerry Livingston and Mack David, the two composers of the theme song for the television show “Bronco”. The cartoons give viewers a new setting for an ordinary “kids show”. It is in an opera house with a live audience, curtains and a spot light, getting the full opera feeling with none of the agony of actually having to attend the opera. The cartoons portray a degree of hidden messages only adults would notice. In an episode entitled Bugs Bunny Gets a Boid, which was aired in 1942, Bugs is seen leisurely reading a book on top of his hole called “Hare Raising Stories”. Bugs Bunny was created in 1940, the bunny is portrayed as a young child living on their own. He is suppose to be two years old, learning how to raise himself and although he is just a baby, he is no victim to mischievous characters for he is the most mischievous character in Tune Town. However Bugs bunny is the personification of the United States. He is a heroic icon, and is depicted as humanities defender against evil. Bugs Bunny is one of the biggest trickster, liar, manipulative character that fights for good “…he is a master of language whose opponents are usually slower speaking and thinking; he outwits his stronger but less clever opponents; his wit is quick and spontaneous, always able to respond to a rapidly changing contest. He shows a mastery of his condition that is more energetic and dual-edged than simply heroic, with a trickster's guile rather than a hero's strength.” He is the definition of fighting fire with fire. Although a lot of the bunny’s foes are dimwitted and easy to trick, they still pose a threat to the extremely intelligent hare. One of the actions Bugs Bunny enjoys using on many of his antagonist nemesis is the ever classic media portrayal of homosexuality. When facing his opponent, bugs would grab their face and give them a huge smooch on the lips to momentarily distract them. As the foe is spitting on the floor, wiping his mouth, jumping around with rage, Bugs runs to safety, with his opponent chasing right behind him. However, if Bugs Bunny, or any other character for that matter, runs into a room with only one entrance, or jumps into a barrel and comes out in some sort of disguise, they instantly take on a new persona which covers their true identity from the opponent. So if Bugs Bunny was dressed as a girl, it would be seen as a beautiful woman kissing the foe who had no idea it was really the Bunny in disguise, providing the suggestion, if it looks right it’s okay. In an episode called “The Stupid Cupid”, the love god would fly around shooting animals with his magical love arrows forcing them to fall in love with the first creature they saw. A dog would get struck by an arrow and fall in love with a cat. The dog runs to the cat, unleashing its undying love towards it, wishing to marry it, the cat turns to the camera and says “Now I’ve seen everything.” And begins to shoot all of his nine lives. Since both the dog and cat had low voices, they were both seen as males in an inter species relationship. Even though all other animals that were hit with the arrow and fell in love with the opposite sex of the same species, seemed to start a new happy life, the cat and dog relation could not be seen as acceptable to many viewers, therefore it was the only relationship in the cartoon short that did not get to stay with the person they fell in love with. During the 1940’s, the common co culture was to have a house with a wife and two children. Have a white picket fence and maybe a dog, this was the foundation for the society to grow on. This was the kind of life that was glorified by many and desired by all, disruption of the status quoi would be devastating. Even though Bugs Bunny kisses all of his rivals, regardless of age, sex, or species, it is acceptable when he does because he is using that technique to distract his foes and continue fighting the good fight.media type="youtube" key="n7ygJ8Z0jfI" height="315" width="420" Looney Tunes enjoy conveying insults using pictorial substitutions for the actual word. In an episode with Daffy Duck, after being tricked by a witch to drink a spiked drink, a sign appears with two images; a screw and a baseball. This of course means screwball. Many episodes dress up the insults so as to be seen as a picture image, keeping the characters from actually having to say the insult which keeps their positive image strong with any impressionable viewers. The cartoons also seem to give objects personalities, one which others could find highly probable. When a building is on fire and the fire department arrives, the flames cheer with happiness. However inside the building, individual flames can come to live and prevent the fire fighters from doing their job. The flame turns evil and has a mind of its one. The cartoon shows fire is at times good, however, in the long run it is the symbol for evil. Making non-motile objects come to life is a specialty the Looney Tunes have perfected. Again, being aimed towards adults, a shot glass filled with dark liquid runs across the screen while a larger cup with the word “chaser” on the front is literally chasing after the shot glass. Another strategy portrayed in the shorts is the compliance to most rules. When climbing a building and you reach a street light, you must wait until your light turns green before beginning up the building. This enforces the already implemented rules for our society to continue to stay stable. Male dominance is clearly visible in the cartoons. The majority of the cartoons are male and many of the shorts show men smoking a pipe or cigarettes. The males in the cartoons show characteristics that are believed to be wanted by all women. In “the Stupid Cupid” short, a bird dives onto a female and begins kissing her, he then turns around, builds a nest, builds a bird house in the nest, goes back and carries the female bird through the door and they live happily ever after. In the current society, the man has to provide everything for the women, that show that he is a good provider and can take care of his family; everything that makes a male a true man. Implementing the societal views in the cartoons will lay the rules for the next generation so as to understand what is viewed as acceptable in the societies cultural. Whenever they get a chance, the cartoon writers would implement their names within the short. The characters would have the writers name with a slight change so as to not being too direct. In an episode with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, when searching for a criminal’s whereabouts, they turned to a machine called the Criminal Finder and on its buttons it has the names of all the writers who worked on the short while one button was reserved for the actual criminal the two characters were looking for. This tactic was used to inform adults because they would be the only ones who would understand why it is funny to have the writers on the Criminal Finder device.media type="youtube" key="ImDx4tgk89s" height="315" width="420" In many of the cartoons, flying is not an impossible thing. Actually its one of the best and most common tricks used. The foe chases his rival off the ledge, however instead of immediately falling, the chase continues until the evil doer realizes they are no longer on solid ground, and waves goodbye to the camera then they fall for a ridiculous amount of time. Although this can be interpreted many ways, as with everything else we see, the idea of flying until you realize it has a huge message towards adults. A person can continue to achieve great heights, until they look down and realize just how far they have gotten; they get scared and fall to their doom. I see this to have some relation with the crash of the stock market as well. We were all happy and high up in the clouds, then as stocks plunged into the red, we were brought back down to the ground, having to face the realization of all the poverty during The Great Depression. The Looney Tunes cartoons are not meant for only children, they are entertaining for adults as well. Looney tunes are to the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s what The Simpsons are to the 1990’s. Both cartoons defined a generation; however the Looney Tunes seemed to have played a role in over 4 generations. The cartoons personified certain aspects of the surrounding culture. Bugs Bunny taught countless children to question oppressive behavior and fighting for those who cannot help themselves; for example, all the times Bugs stopped Marvin the Martin from blowing up Earth. The cartoons gave the people Bugs Bunny, an icon that will forever be identified as good triumphing over and showing people how a person with good morals, yet a little mischievous, can be a successful, witty, cunning, handsome "do-gooder". The media is portrays Bugs Bunny as the good guy so as others will follow in his footsteps and turn out just as good as he is. All characters have some reason for existing in the Looney Tune world, each as a meaning. Porky Pig often pays a subtle quiet genius in many shorts. Cleaning up after his boss and accepting his dimwitted superior as is with no concern for change. Telling us not to upset the natural order of things and accept our environment for what it is. Although, today’s rendition of the Looney Tunes Show has accepted a slight change in their writing style in order to adapt to the current generation, the classic cartoons will still be engraved in our history for many to enjoy in the generations still to come.