Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens (2000)

Walt Disney was not the only genius working in animated films during Hollywood's golden age. Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens, a feature-length PBS documentary, explores the career and creations of the legendary writer-director of Warner Bros.’ best cartoons. For more than 60 years, audiences have enjoyed his beloved characters — Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew and others. Filmmaker Margaret Selby mixes clips from Jones’ best work with interviews with Steven Speilberg, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) and John Lasseter (the Toy Story series), among others.

Jones’ cartoons aren't meant exclusively for children. They were intended to play in theaters as sixminute lead-ins to feature films for grown-ups. His well-defined characters embody cleverly exaggerated human qualities that are immediately recognizable. Jones’ comic timing and narrative economy have never been matched.

The Love Bug (1969)

Most car movies celebrate speed, risk-taking and an intense competitive spirit. The Love Bug, a Walt Disney live-action classic about racing, is a sweet, slapstick comedy that emphasizes kindness and a good heart instead. Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) is an over-the-hill race driver who buys a Volkswagen Beetle nicknamed Herbie. The vehicle's previous owner, the unscrupulous race driver Thorndyke (David Tomlinson), had mistreated him, and Herbie appreciates the loving care he receives from Jim.

Jim's friend, Tennessee (Buddy Hackett), suggests he enter the Volkswagen in a dirt-track race. Much to everyone's surprise, Herbie wins it and several others. Neither Jim nor the rest of the movie's human characters realize the Volkswagen has a mind of its own. Both kids and adults will enjoy the story's winning ways.

Saboteur (1942)

During World War II there was a fear of sabotage on American soil that's in some ways similar to our current worries about terrorism. Director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully dramatizes these concerns in this imaginative thriller. It develops a common Hitchcock theme found also in his masterworks, The Thirty-Nine Steps and North by Northwest. An innocent man is pursued both by the authorities (who've falsely accused him of a crime) and the real villains (who want to kill him before he tells the truth to the authorities).

Most memorable are the two New York City chase scenes. The first is a gunfight in Radio City Movie Hall during a gangster film; the other is a spectacular struggle atop the Statue of Liberty.