'Looney Tunes' highlights pack of family-friendly films

A number of new animated kids videos are out this week (with a couple more due next Tuesday), chiefly the "Looney Tunes" feature that came out late last year.

— "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (Warner, 2003, PG, $27.95). Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Timothy Dalton and Heather Locklear are the human stars in this combination of live action and animation, but the scene-stealers are, of course, the anarchic Looney Tunes gang, led by Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

The central plot device isn't a bad one, as Daffy's uncooperative ego and wacky antics get him fired from Warner Bros. and kicked off the lot — until the studio realizes he's a big draw, second only to Bugs. So humorless WB vice president Elfman is ordered to get him back.

But the film goes haywire early on as everything gets bigger and bigger, and Martin is introduced as a fey master criminal, a characterization that quickly wears out its welcome. Joan Cusack, as the head of "Area 52," is hilarious, but she's given far too little screen time.

There are some good gags here and there, and loads of in-jokes for cartoon and old-movie buffs (including too many repeat gags from "Gremlins" and other films by director Joe Dante). But there are also far too many misfires, and a few 21st Century vulgarities and double-entendres that are completely inappropriate.

The bonus features include a new Road Runner cartoon that's amusing but hardly up to the legacy left by Chuck Jones. On the whole, it's worth a look for fans, but it ain't no "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (from which it steals shamelessly).

Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, new "Road Runner" cartoon, DVD-Rom applications, etc.

— "Dora the Explorer: Celebrates Spring!" (Paramount, 2004, not rated, $16.99).

— "Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt" (Paramount, 2004, not rated, $16.99). Delightful cartoons for young children from the television program, with additional episodes from some other shows to flesh out "Celebrates Spring!"

Extras: "Celebrates Spring!": full frame; "Max & Ruby," "Little Bill" and "Blue's Clues" episodes, interactive games, etc.

Extras: "Egg Hunt": full frame, four episodes (including two from "Move to the Music"), interactive games, etc.