- What are you guys doing to poor Bugs Bunny?
- Why? That would be my only question on that, is "Why?"
♪ (ragtime intro) ♪
♪ (dramatic violin music) ♪
- (Bugs) Welcome to... - Bugs Bunny.
- Oh, hey! Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.
- My favorite. (chuckles) - These were around
when I was a kid. - (Bugs) Oh, brother.
- (chuckles) - (Elmer) Doggone,
you screwy little wascal, I'll get ya.
- You know, it used to be such fun when they had cartoons
at the movie theater. They don't do that anymore.
- (Elmer) That'll hold him all right. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- (laughs) It's still funny. It's still funny
even after all these years.
- He's getting fat when he gets angry.
- (Bugs) Fooey. - He gets away with everything.
(laughs) I love it. - It brought back memories
on Saturday morning, eating Corn Flakes.
- (FBE) So, do you have any idea why we'd be showing this
to you today? - Are you trying to take me
down memory lane or something? Stuff that I experienced
when I was growing up? - (FBE) Now, we're gonna show you
some more of Bugs Bunny. - Okay.
Let's do it.
- It looks the same to me.
- (Bugs) That'll hold him all right. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. - Something going on here
with Bugs Bunny that I'm not aware of.
- Is there something wrong with him?
- Stop, stop, stop. You're destroying my visions
of Bugs Bunny.
- Oh, what a switch.
- Godzilla! - (Bugs) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- Wooow. - I had no idea where he was going
with that, but it's like Bugs Godzilla.
♪ (sweeping orchestral music) ♪
- He's scary.
- What is he? A balloon or something? (laughs)
- Okay, now he's flying into the clouds.
He's getting a little heavy, I notice.
But yes, maybe he should work out a little bit.
- He's going to explode! - (bursts out laughing)
Wha-wha-what are you guys doing to poor Bugs Bunny?
- Oh my. - Ah, anything worth doing
is worth overdoing.
- He's not in the universe. Is this something that's gone viral?
- It's a little bit funny, but I prefer the older one.
- (FBE) So, those videos were a few examples of what are
being called Big Chungus memes. - Big Chungus.
Does that chungus mean something that I don't know about?
Some kind of vernacular? Some kind of slang?
- (FBE) So, for those who don't know, a meme is a humorous image,
video, or piece of text that's copied with variations
and spread throughout the internet. - Ahhh. Ah, oh.
I thought it was all one guy doing the same thi--
ohh, the same video. - The power of the internet
these days. You can put anything,
and if somebody decides it's funny, it just spreads.
- (FBE) We have more to show you now, starting with a Facebook post
that website Know Your Meme considers to be one of the reasons
this meme went viral. And the post came from
a game store manager, who shared the following story
of a customer. - Okay.
- "I just had a customer come into my store--
sweet lady-- who was trying to pick up
a game for her son, who works at a GameStop
in another state." - "And she showed me the picture
of the game and asked me if I had it in stock."
- "I refrained from laughing out loud. I said, "Um,
ma'am, I think this"-- (chuckles)
Says "Big Chungus." "I think this is a joke."
Well, you know what? Because I don't play
a lot of games, I might've been that old lady.
- It does look like the games we have at home.
You know, my grandson, children, they play with this.
It-- but it's not, huh? And I thought it was real.
- ♪ Chungus ♪ ♪ Big Chungus ♪
♪ Big Chungus ♪ ♪ Big, big... ♪
- Oh, he's got-- this is Chungus.
He's got a beat now. - ♪ Big, big Chungus ♪
♪ Big Chungus ♪ ♪ Big Chungus ♪
- It's cute! - ♪ Big, big Chungus ♪
♪ Big Chungus ♪ ♪ Big Chungus ♪
♪ Big, big ♪
- I like this. I felt like dancing. (laughs)
- I think they're all nuts. I mean, I'm sorr--
but why do this to Bugs Bunny?
♪ (hardcore rock music) ♪
- So, now he's shopping. Big Chungus goes to the store.
- (chuckles) With the PS4 thing.
♪ (funky rock music) ♪
- Some of those look more like games.
- Don't tell me that's not a game. It's really not, huh?
It's a good thing nobody's asking me to buy it for them.
- You can almost take any character and go in this direction.
You can take Pluto, Mickey Mouse. You could take anything and go there.
♪ (heavy bass hip-hop music) ♪
- ♪ Heh-heh-heh ♪ ♪ Heh-heh... ♪
- He's getting electrocuted. - I don't know what to say about this.
This isn't my kind of thing. - Eh, a little creepy side, I guess.
- ♪ Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh ♪ ♪ Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh ♪
- ♪ Heh-he! ♪ - Cute!
- It was okay. It wasn't my favorite.
- I don't know what the purpose of making all of these games
or these memes, but whatever. - I think I like the original
Bugs Bunny better. Kind of a senseless, silly character.
♪ (dramatic music) ♪
- Uranus, Saturn. Okay. - This'll be good
for the science class for kids.
- The universe. Oh, I can-- I can know
where this is going. - I feel like this guy--
he's big.
- "Big Chungus, beyond space and time."
- Big Chungus is now beyond space and time.
Beyond our understanding. How can we understand Big Chungus?
- ("Jesus") Greetings, epic gamers. I am officially retiring
my position of Jesus Christ... - Oh, now it's religious.
- ("Jesus") ...and giving it instead to... (volume increases) Big Chungus.
♪ (epic music) ♪ - (laughs)
Well, that'll make it easy, 'cause now Easter Bunny
will be just a-- you know, a cinch.
- Okay, that's funny, but it will offend a lot of people.
- I don't like it. I think it's a little bit disrespectful.
♪ (upbeat percussive music) ♪ - ♪ Oh, yeah ♪
- What the hell? - Fascinating.
He's got the jaw going. - All right.
This could be his intro to his new album.
- ♪ He's a Big Chungus ♪ ♪ He's a big, chunky boy ♪
- He's a big, chunky boy. He's gotta cut out the fast food.
- ♪ ...a big, chunky boy ♪ - Go Big Chungus!
- Mm, this one need to be moved a little bit.
- If they made him move, it would be better.
- Songs need more than eight bars to be a song.
That was kind of a musical passing gas.
♪ (mischievous piano music) ♪
- (Bugs) That'll hold him all right. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- (Bugs 2) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. - (Bugs 3) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- Yeah, that's the way he used to laugh,
but boy, there's a lot of Bugs Bunnies.
- Uh-oh! - (Bugs 9) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- (Bugs 10) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. - (Bugs 11) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- Wow! (chuckles) - (Bugs 12) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- (Bugs 13) Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
- Like a real rabbit. They just multiply. (laughs)
- Why? That would be my only question on that, is "Why?"
- Oh, it's an ugly Big Chungus now. - Looks like a gorilla. (chuckles)
Doesn't look like Bugs Bunny at all.
- (wheezing laughter) What?
♪ (dramatic music) ♪
- So, he set down a carrot, and he's now expanding.
- The burst.
- All right! Big Chungus!
- Trying to eat the world? What's that all about?
- It's the end of the world? (chuckles)
- (Big Chungus) Biggest Chungus. - I know there's some kind
of symbolism here, but don't ask me what.
- Wow. What will people think of next, huh?
- Kind of weird. (laughs) - Well, what the hell is that?
They take some innocent, sweet little rabbit
for fun and games and for kids
and turn it into something sinister and dominating.
- I think they're funny. I think they're cute.
I think people are having a good time.
I can't find any secret meaning in it unless it is that rabbits
are taking over the world. - (FBE) As we mentioned earlier,
the meme is called Big Chungus and started spreading last year.
But we're covering this today, because we wanted to get
a perspective from our elders cast, who might be more familiar
with the original Bugs Bunny character.
So, first off, what do you think the word "chungus" means?
- I have NO idea. I was gonna ask you that.
- I've heard of chimichangas, like at a Mexican restaurant
or something. (laughs) - Like a chunk, big.
- It's a combination of chunky and humongous.
- Something chunky, something big, something...
I guess it's not sexy. (laughs)
- (FBE) So, chungus is a nonsense term and was reportedly coined
by a video game journalist, who would use it in his videos
and podcasts with various meanings without a real set of definitions.
- Okay, no real definition. Okay, we got that clear.
- (FBE) The meme went viral after the word "chungus"
was paired with this image of the oversized Bugs Bunny,
which was from a cartoon in 1941. - Wow, that--
no, I wasn't born yet. (laughs) - I was born in 1941.
- (FBE) Did you ever think that stuff from when you were
growing up and prior to that would be utilized in this way?
- (chuckles) No, because-- okay, did I-- how would I have known
that things like this could happen? You saw the cartoon in the movies,
and there wasn't even TV. Where else would you watch it?
- Of course not. These young people, by god,
they're all geniuses when it comes to a computer now.
- Well, never thought of it, no. There was a lot of good stuff
from the past, and you know, they should use it,
but I think they're doing stupid things with it.
- No. Never, never, never, never. Although, that's not the first time
Bugs Bunny has been kind of borrowed
and integrated into other comedy. Every generation did that,
you know, took stuff from the past and modified it and changed it.
I'm not surprised it happens. It's gonna continue to happen,
'cause the past is-- you know, to a great deal,
that's our knowledge pool. That's what we've got to draw on.
- (FBE) So, some of the inspiration from this meme comes from
a 1941 Looney Tunes cartoon titled, "Wabbit Twouble."
The Looney Tunes series started in the 1930s
and has become a worldwide media franchise with TV shows,
films, albums, and amusement parks.
Growing up, did you watch Looney Tunes?
- Yes, all the time. My brother, my sister, and I,
we'd sit in front of the television, watch all those cartoons
before we would start our day. It was fun.
- I did. Between movies-- they used to have a double feature.
They'd have-- let's say you went to a western.
It would be a western-- two western movies,
and in between, they would show cartoons.
- I remember Speedy Gonzales. And we still use the term
Speedy Gonzales today when you refer to someone
who is real fast. - When I was a kid,
I was living in Hong Kong. And there was no TV.
And I had to go to a movie theater to watch the Bugs Bunny
every Sunday from 11 to 12.
Definitely, it's a worldwide phenomenon at that time.
Younger generation, they laugh at it the same way
that we did. I think that's treasures.
- (FBE) Finally, to end this episode, what other character
that was around when you were growing up do you think
would make a good meme today? - Oh, my!
♪ Popeye the sailor man ♪ Because it had a good story to it.
- Daffy Duck would be one, you know, because that poor guy,
you know, never get credit. - Mickey Mouse?
- Scrooge McDuck. I always liked him.
People could learn from Scrooge McDuck.
He's a heck of a guy and a real capitalist.
- The Road Runner. - Cinderella.
Snow White. Wholesome characters!
- The three pigs. They could certainly use the three pigs
with the wolf after them. - Daffy Duck and the Tasmanian Devil.
There's a treasure trove waiting to be mined there.
- Definitely Pluto, 'cause he was the dog.
(chuckles)
Maybe Snoop got his idea from him. I don't know.
- ♪ Dada dada da ♪
♪ It's one and the only D-O, double G ♪
- Thanks for watching Elders React. - Shoutout to Taylar Love.
- Subscribe to our channel if you wanna see more.
And a shoutout to buttons. - Bye.
- Hi, guys. JC here, producer here at FBE.
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