Eric Bauza’s Final Looney Tunes Performance Arrives in New Short ‘Daffy Season’
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has released Daffy Season, the first theatrical Looney Tunes short in over a decade, attached to The Cat in the Hat in theaters since November 6. The short is a fun return to the big screen for the Looney Tunes gang, but it carries real weight behind the scenes: according to a Warner Bros. representative, it marks the final Looney Tunes movie performance of Eric Bauza, the Emmy-winning voice actor who died suddenly last month.
A Theatrical Short Decades in the Making
Daffy Season first premiered at the Annecy Animation Festival in June, where directors Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve unveiled it alongside producer Susan Slagle Rogers as part of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation’s presentation of its new creative direction for the characters. The short follows Daffy Duck through a hunting season gone strange, as he discovers that Elmer Fudd and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang have gotten distracted by something else entirely, sending Daffy on an increasingly desperate chase to win back their attention. Animation studio DNEG handled the look of the short, blending modern computer animation with the flat backdrops and exaggerated 2D effects of classic Looney Tunes cartoons. Daffy Season is currently screening exclusively in theaters ahead of The Cat in the Hat, directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, and Warner Bros. has not announced a separate streaming release for the short.
The Cat in the Hat, the Bill Hader-led film that Daffy Season is screening alongside in theaters now.
The Modern Voice Behind Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck
Bauza became one of the defining voices in modern animation after taking over as the voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, along with Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, and Marvin the Martian. His performances carried the characters through Looney Tunes Cartoons, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Coyote vs. Acme, and The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, introducing the decades-old cast to a new generation of fans. He also lent his voice to DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island. Over his career, Bauza won three Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, for Teen Titans Go!, Bugs Bunny Builders, and Looney Tunes Cartoons.
A Sudden Loss at 46
Bauza, who was born in Toronto on December 7, 1979, passed away suddenly on October 25 at his home in Los Angeles County. His family announced the news on his official Instagram account, and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later determined the cause of death to be hypertensive cardiovascular disease, with sleep apnea and type 2 obesity listed as contributing factors; his death was ruled natural. Channing Dungey, chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group and U.S. Networks, honored Bauza’s place in the studio’s animation history, saying he “followed in the footsteps of giants like Mel Blanc.” Daffy Season now stands as a bittersweet send-off for the performer who kept the Looney Tunes alive for a new generation.
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