| Director: | Gerry Chiniquy Friz Freleng Chuck Jones |
| Starring: | Mel Blanc (voices) |
| Theme Music Composer: | Harper MacKay |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Hal Geer |
| Runtime: | 24 minutes |
| Network: | CBS |
The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special is an animated television special that was broadcast on CBS October 15, 1980.[1] Presented by Porky Pig as an Alfred Hitchcock-style whodunit, the plot is modeled after those of North by Northwest and The Fugitive.[2]
Like most Looney Tunes specials of the time, this program consists of clips from classic cartoons with some new original animation holding them together.[3]
A criminal known as the Tall, Dark Stranger robs a bank, and Inspector Elmer Fudd mistakenly arrests Bugs Bunny for the crime. Escaping from jail, Bugs sets out to prove his innocence while evading Elmer, who is searching for him after his escape. Soon word spreads about Bugs Bunny being a national fugitive. When a reward gets placed on his head "eaten or alive", this inspires Wile E. Coyote to hunt him down, and Elmer hires former prison guard Yosemite Sam (who got fired for letting Bugs escape after the former having been antagonized by the latter during his time at prison) as a bounty hunter. However, Bugs outsmarts both Wile E. and Sam in different ways until Wile E. gives up and Elmer fires Sam, leaving Elmer as the only one who keeps pursuing him.
After some chases and a side story involving Tweety and Sylvester, Bugs ends up dangling from the beak of a Mount Rushmore-sized sculpture of Foghorn Leghorn; he is rescued by the Tall, Dark Stranger, who turns out to be Porky Pig (he was trying to keep the story going), as Bugs remarks "I could've sworn the butler did it!" Porky is arrested and concludes the special from inside a jail cell by saying his "T-t-t-t-that's all, Folks" line.
Directed by Gerry Chiniquy, Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones.
This special has been released on VHS videocassette, but not on DVD.