Kate Houghton

## Apperances

**Kate Houghton** is the human deuteragonist of *Looney Tunes: Back in Action*.

## Background

### Personality

Kate Houghton is known for being arrogant, charismatic, adventurous, extravagant and determined. In the group of protagonists of the film, Kate should be the mind, being the smartest of the group.

### Physical appearance

Kate Houghton is a tall and slender woman with short blond hair and blue eyes.
Kate Houghton dresses in different ways throughout the film:

* Las Vegas outfit: pink formal wear, white sandals, makeup;
* Desert outfit: gray tank top with black edges, short jeans with a belt, cowgirl hat, ground-colored boots;
* Paris outfit: french black beret, black shirt, dark skirt, fishnet stockings, black heels;
* Africa outfit: white tank top, dark green shorts, short boots, hair tied.

### Powers and abilities

Kate has excellent businesswoman skills, as she is the vice president of Warner Bros. Studios. In addition, Kate solves a riddle at the entrance to the temple of the Blue Monkey. She copes sufficiently in hand-to-hand combat.

## Story

Kate is first seen at the beginning of the film. When Daffy Duck complains in front of the Warner Brothers that he can no longer be Bugs Bunny's sidekick, Kate introduces herself to him, causing into freezing his hand and explains that Bugs Bunny is the main asset of Warner Bros and that Daffy hardly has what the rabbit has even thought he was a professional, seeing that Bugs more popular than him, thinking that popularity only counts, which in fact actually wasn’t really true at all because really no one admits Daffy's importance towards everyone, especially towards for Bugs and the other Looney Tunes in the Warner Bros. Studio and for which she fires him and drags him out with Bugs following them.

She soon after she talks to DJ Drake a security officer, failed stuntman and (unbeknownst to her) son of Damian Drake and asks him to drag Daffy out of the studio. During a conversation between her and DJ, in which Kate is attracted to him, Bugs helps Daffy escape and then when the two guys notice it, Kate becomes perplexed about DJ and asks him why she doesn't chase him.

The chase ends with a Batmobile that knocks down the Warner Brothers tower in a watery crash that destroys most of the studio just as Kate passes by with Bugs and is accidentally bathed in water and the water waterlogged her car. Humiliated at being wet and furious with the humiliation and destruction, she fires DJ and has him stripped of his uniform.

During the lunch break where she is with Bugs, while she converses with him about certain parts of the script to be revised and even tells Bugs to pair up with a woman, Bugs tries to convince Kate to summarize Daffy as he needs him more as the studio does and refuses to do any work without his friend and work partner, but nothing he says can convince her to change her mind or make her reconsider her decision as she believes that Daffy is now history in the past she just does not want to know by considering Daffy, believing to her that he is nothing more than a pitiful actor and even says she's trying hard to be nice.

However, since Daffy was fired, the business at Warner is starting to go really bad because without the Duck, Bugs can’t do his usual comedy routine without his partner as he was shoot for real and for the first time by Elmer Fudd during a test reel for the movie they tried to product and the rabbit seriously injured. Therefore the Warner Brothers, who watched the clip and see that Daffy’s presence was needed as part of his importance, blame Kate for the bad decision she made and intend to fire her for getting rid of their best duck for nothing. Not willing to go down easily, Kate complains about her firing, admitting that her films have grossed $ 950,000,000, except for the Waner Brothers who believe they didn't reach $ 1,000,000,000 (with Bugs imitating them as well); so in the end, without any other option, Kate comes to an agreement with them: if she gets Daffy rehired again by Monday then she saves her face, otherwise she really loses her place in the studio, after that Bugs criticizes her as well. He also reminds her that he might be on the road far away by now, which ironically he’s partnering with D.J. to find the Blue Monkey, a magical diamond, after receiving a call from his father.

Kate goes to DJ's house where she would like to ask him if she knew where Daffy is, unaware that they left for Las Vegas and while she checks the bathroom after hearing the water running down, Bugs is there and does the scene from the Pshyco movie, much to Kate's annoyance. Continuing to check, he discovers that DJ is Damian Drake's son after seeing the posters of Damian’s past movies as well as a picture of the father and son together in front of the studio, which was how DJ got the job in the first place and because she is a huge fan of him and his work, proclaiming that he is the Warner's biggest star (possibly making him bigger then Bugs and the other Looney Tunes), she feels a great deal of remorse for her unthinkable, foolish, selfish and bad actions she had been making and admits that she had been trying model her life after the rabbit. Bugs, pitifully touched and being heartbroken at the woman from her words, manages to console her and reveals that he found out where the duo were when he called Daffy that he is headed to Las Vegas with DJ to find Dusty Tails and so they rush there with Damian Drake's autospy that contains real machinery weapons and gadgets. During the trip Bugs sings Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" on the banjo, until Kate, irritated by this, snatches the banjo from his hands and throws it on the street, with Bugs sarcastically saying that he has no music in his heart, to which she responds with irony. Bugs then has fun with the autospy buttons, launching a missile that blows up far away in the distance and having a shaken drink not mixed with a carrot like 007, which irritates Kate a lot more because she doesn’t want Mr. Drake’s car damage and they still need to know more about the car, but Bugs says that he’s about to defy her in a "I accept your challenge" kind of tone and look and makes her push a button with an his trick that the machine strips her and dresses her in an elegant dance costume, same thing to Bugs who tells her that she is fine to Kate's dismay while Bugs starts playing the banjo and singing "Viva Las Vegas" again.

Arriving in Las Vegas, Kate thinks that with all the hotels and casinos there are, Bugs and she will never be able to find DJ and Daffy, except that a second later he collides in the window of the autospy, much to the surprise of Kate and with Bugs saying "Daff never misses a cue". DJ and Daffy come across Kate and Bugs take control of the car and after a fierce chase against Yosemite Sam and his henchmen, their car starts flying after Daffy says "Mother" and flies over Las Vegas with an irritated Kate asking DJ what the his plan, when he accidentally presses a key that causes the car to crash all four panic, but then the car stops because it runs out of gas, after which Kate says it is against the laws of physics in reality and the car crashes a few inches off the ground, after which the four spend the night in the desert talking about their problems. The next day, Mr. Charmain orders Wille Coyote to stop the heroes, but fails. After a stop at a Walmart, and after Kate has found a more suitable dress to stay in the desert, to think about solving the problem, she asks DJ to tell the truth, then they accidentally stumble upon Area 52 hidden in the desert. In the lab, they discover that the Blue Monkey diamond has the power to turn people into monkeys, and the Chairman plans to use it to turn everyone in the world into monkeys. After obtaining suitable equipment for the mission and an indication on the card given by Dusty Tails to DJ, the group is attacked by Marvin the Martian who has been ordered to retrieve the card from Mr. Charmain and other aliens in the area, fortunately the four manage to escape. After linking the clue to the Mona Lisa, everyone goes to the Louvre in Paris in cartoon style.

In Paris, at the Louvre at the Mona Lisa exhibition, it is discovered that the playing card hides a mini X-ray screen, so that Kate takes a picture of the map while DJ holds the card over the painting. The group is surprised by Elmer Fudd, who is there to stop them, Bugs and Daffy keep Elmer busy in the museum giving DJ and Kate time to escape. Elmer Fudd chases Bugs and Daffy through all the different paintings kept in the Louvre. Eventually Elmer is defeated after jumping out of a pointillist painting and being blown away by Bugs Bunny’s mini fan. However, during the chase in the museum, Kate is kidnapped by Bob Smith, Mr. Chairman’s silent henchman, in an attempt to get him back, Kate grabs him and dangles from the helicopter with D.J. arrived at that time. Then Kate falls from the helicopter, DJ jumps to rescue her and uses the grappling hook on her spy phone to swing them safely towards Bugs and Daffy. DJ admits he lost the map image to the kidnapper, but Bugs has the mini X-ray screen so they can get another map image. When the Chairman looks at the photo of the map, he finds that it is useless because Daffy is pinned on the map in the photo when trying asked to take the picture. The Chairman decides to use Tasmanian Devil as his next agent to stop DJ and his gang.

In Africa, Kate along with D.J., Daffy and Bugs venture into the jungle to search for Blue Monkey, they accidentally meet Granny, Sylvester, and Tweety who ride an elephant and offer the group a ride. Once they reach the location marked on the map, DJ protects everyone from ancient traps while Kate solves a mysterious puzzle. When the traps are neutralized and the puzzle is solved, the Blue Monkey diamond emerges from the ground. After D.J. turned into monkey and then back to normal, Granny and the pets reveal their disguises. Grandma, Sylvester and Tweety are actually Mr. Charmain, Mr. Smith and Taz in disguise respectively. Mr. Smith uses a gun to disintegrate the president, DJ, Kate, Bugs and Daffy from the African jungle and integrate them into ACME headquarters.

At ACME headquarters, the Chairman orders his henchmen to detain DJ. The Chairman reveals that DJ's father is tied up and will be killed in a trap shortly. The Chairman gives the Blue Monkey diamond to Marvin the Martian to link it to a satellite in space. Daffy and Bugs chase Marvin's spaceship. Meanwhile, D.J. and Kate are tied up and led to die with D.J. as he enters a chamber that will protect him from the magic of the Blue Monkey diamond. DJ and Kate manage to break free, neutralize a giant robotic security dog ​​and save DJ's father from the Chairman's death trap. In space, Daffy becomes Duck Dodgers, neutralizes and destroys the space satellite after Marvin the Martian was neutralized by the rabbit by his own gun, and saves Bugs Bunny. After the space fight with Marvin the Martian, Bugs and Daffy return to Earth, where Chairman is transformed into a monkey after being hit by one of the rays that escaped from space in the satellite before it was detonated and Damien Drake arrested him.

As everyone exits ACME headquarters, the entire Blue Monkey diamond adventure turns out to be a Bugs and Daffy movie. While DJ is walking on the set. With Kate, he sees and punches Brendan Fraser out of frustration at losing his stunt job from the "Mummy" movies, and then the two now in love leave together.

## Relationships

Kate’s main relationship is with D.J. Drake, who in the final of the film becomes her boyfriend. As for the animated characters, Bugs Bunny is his first ally while he can’t stand Daffy Duck, so much so to fire him but regrets going forward in the movie. She hates Mr. Chairman after she discovers his evil plan. Mr. Chairman offers Kate the chance to not be devolved to a monkey to live a life with him. She refuses but Mr. Chairman reveals that he was bluffing.

## Quotes

**Kate:** Great. I just fired the son of our biggest star. This has been a career making day, Kate. First you get rid of the Duck that everybody hates, but then, of course, they all want him back. And worst of all, you get into a big fight with Bugs Bunny… who you revere, and who you've tried to model your life after.
**Bugs:** (sheds a tear) Oh, I hate to see a grown man cry! Especially when it's a girl.

## Trivia

* Kate is named after the late Katherine Hepburn, who passed on the same year as the movie before its release. Hepburn's middle was also Houghton.

* While it was the Warner Brothers' vote of getting rid of Daffy before they realized his importance for Bugs and their studio, Kate was the one actually set the meeting to have him removed from the studio for an undisclosed reason from her perspective opinion, thinking that he was not of any use or importance to the studio before she realized how wrong she was upon realizing Daffy’s use and importance to the studio, making her responsible for the near downfall of the studio and nearly costing Bugs and the Looney Tunes, giving the Warner Brothers the right to fire her before she decided to bring back and rehire Daffy.

* After Kate fired Daffy Duck, during dinner at the Warner Bros Studio with Bugs Bunny, she was suggesting that he should team up with a "Female Costar" (Hinting that Kate wants Lola Bunny in Bugs Bunny's movie). But only for Bugs to claim that he plays the leading female, despite Kate is already seen enough with Bugs' drag gags instead doing a real female counterpart like the rest of the other cartoon characters who are willing to cooperate their gender solutions.
	+ Yet Bugs also called Kate "Doll Face" just as he did with Lola, who still hasn't been seen or mention trough out the movie.
	+ Despite this Kate's suggestion for Bugs teaming up with Lola again did come true after all but only when it foreshadowed 18 years later when *Space Jam: A New Legacy* came out when Lola finally got a large supporting role she deserves, where unlike in The Original *Space Jam* where she had a small role along with *Looney Tunes Back in Action* where she's absent but reference.

* Kate is one of the characters that is devolved by the Blue Monkey. In her case, Daffy Duck misses the aim of the statuette and throws a ray towards her, turning her into a primitive-woman.
	+ While all other human characters are devolved to capuchin monkeys, Kate Houghton is the only character in Looney Tunes: Back in Action that is not devolved in a monkey. In fact, the Blue Monkey devolve her in a cavewoman. It is likely that the statuette punished Kate because of her arrogance and coolness at the beginning of the plot, with a version that is totally the opposite of her: a brainless troglodyte who goes around in a battered bikini
	+ It is unclear whether the Blue Monkey reduced Kate’s IQ to that of a neanderthal woman or some other archaic human species (considering his crude actions). Taking the words of Mr. Chairman to be true (who descends from a long line of evil geniuses), Cave Kate’s IQ does not even reach half that of Mr. Chairman’s Neanderthal ancestor.

* Kate is one of the characters who uses the Blue Monkey on other protagonists:
	+ After accidentally pointing the statuette to Bugs Bunny, the latter is devolved to Happy Rabbit.

* Kate looks funnier in deleted scenes (although her lines are rather lame): in the desert scene it makes a knock-knock joke and in Area 52 scene playing hairdresser with Gossamer. It is likely that the Blue Monkey also punished this aspect, to make her feel a more "troglodyte" humor (since she devolved it to a remarkably stupid and rather crude cavewoman)

## Gallery

Kate at Warner Bros. StudiosKate in the desert together with D.J. Drake, Bugs Bunny and Duffy DuckKate before she was kidnapped by Mr. SmithKate in the temple of the Blue Monkey with Bugs BunnyKate accidentally devolves Bugs BunnyA afraid Kate looks closely at Daffy Duck, just before is hit by the Blue Monkey’s beam and get devolved......in a cavewoman, looking shocked and confused her "new" hide bikini