Looney Tunes: Back in Action

***Looney Tunes: Back in Action*** is a 2003 American live-action/animated comedy film directed by Joe Dante and written by Larry Doyle. The plot follows the *Looney Tunes* characters Sylvester (voiced by Joe Alaskey) and Mickey Mouse (voiced by Wayne Allwine) as they help aspiring daredevil Damian "D.J." Drake, Jr. (Brendan Fraser) and Walt Disney Studios executive Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman) find the "blue monkey" diamond in order to prevent the evil Mr. Chairman (Steve Martin) of the Acme Corporation from using it to turn mankind into monkeys that will manufacture his products; the group also attempts to rescue D.J.'s father (Timothy Dalton), an actor and spy who has been captured by Mr. Chairman. The animation was directed by Eric Goldberg. It was made following the success of *Space Jam* (1996), to which it was originally developed as a direct sequel, titled *Spy Jam*.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 14, 2003 by Walt Disney Pictures and was a box-office flop, grossing $68.5 million worldwide against an $80 million budget. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its sense of fun but criticized the screenplay.

This was the final film to be scored by composer Jerry Goldsmith, who died less than a year after the film's release.

## Plot

Tired of playing villain roles in Mickey Mouse's cartoons, Sylvester Pussycat demands his own cartoon from Walt Disney Studios executives, but is promptly fired by the "Vice-President of Comedy", Kate Houghton. Security guard and struggling stuntman DJ Drake is asked to escort Sylvester off the studio lot, but the ensuing chase leads to a car demolishing the studio water tower, resulting in DJ also being fired. He returns home with Sylvester following him, where he receives a message from his father, film star, Damian Drake, who is actually a secret agent. Damian instructs his son to travel to Las Vegas, find his associate, Dusty Tails, and find a mystical diamond called the "blue monkey", he is shortly thereafter captured by the Acme Corporation, led by the eccentric Mr. Chairman. DJ and Sylvester head for Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Mickey's routines fail without Sylvester, so Kate realizes she must find and rehire Sylvester, or face being fired by her own superiors. Mickey informs Kate of the situation, so they head to DJ's home where they find Damian's spy car, and use it to pursue DJ and Sylvester. In Las Vegas, DJ and Sylvester meet Dusty in a casino owned by Yosemite Sam, who happens to be an associate of the Acme Corporation. Dusty gives them a strange playing card, which is a clue to finding the diamond. Sam and his henchmen attempt to kill them and take the card, but they manage to elude him and flee in the spy car with Mickey and Kate. The spy car, which can also fly, crashes in the Nevada desert. As they travel through the desert, Wile E. Coyote tries to stop them, but is foiled.

The group eventually stumbles upon Area 52, run by a woman called 'Mother', who informs them of the situation. She plays a video recording, which reveals that the Blue Monkey has the power to devolve humans into monkeys and evolve them back again. Acme intends on using the blue monkey on all of mankind to manufacture their products, and then turn them back to purchase them. Marvin the Martian, who was imprisoned in the facility, escapes and leads a group of fellow alien inmates to obtain the playing card, but the heroes escape. Seeing that the card has Mona Lisa's face on it, the group conclude they must view the painting in the Louvre, located in Paris.

At the Louvre, they discover that the card contains a viewing window, and looking through it, the window reveals that the Mona Lisa has a map of Africa hidden beneath. Acme henchman Buzz Buzzard appears, disguised as a guard, and chases Mickey and Sylvester through the gallery to obtain the card whilst Kate is kidnapped by Mr. Chairman's bodyguard, Mr. Smith. DJ rescues Kate while Buzz is disintegrated by actual security guard Bugs Bunny after jumping out of a pointillism artwork. Mickey and Sylvester reunite with DJ and Kate, and they leave Paris.

DJ, Kate, Mickey, and Sylvester travel to Africa, meeting Granny, Tom Cat, and Tweety, who escort them to the ruins of a jungle temple where they find the blue monkey. However, Granny and company reveal themselves to be Mr. Chairman, Smith, and the Tasmanian Devil in disguise. Mr. Chairman uses a disintegration gun to transport himself and the heroes to the Acme headquarters where he forces DJ to give him the diamond, when Damian is revealed to be his prisoner, but goes back on his word to release him.

Marvin is sent to place the blue monkey on an Acme satellite which will emit an energy beam around the world to turn everyone, except Mr. Chairman, into monkeys. DJ and Kate rescue Damian from a death trap, whilst Mickey and Sylvester chase Marvin into space. Mickey is also thwarted by Marvin, prompting Sylvester to save him, in order to destroy the blue monkey. The transforming energy beam only strikes Mr. Chairman, turning him into a monkey and getting him arrested. Mickey and Sylvester return to Earth, where Sylvester discovers the whole adventure was staged to make a film. However, Mickey promises Sylvester they will be equal partners. Just as Sylvester's luck seems to be improving, he is crushed by the Looney Tunes iris, where Porky Pig attempts to close the film with "That's all folks!" only for the studio to shut down before he can finish, and he bitterly tells the audience to go home.