Bugs Bunny - the Rare and Unusual

Bugs Bunny celebrated his 75th birthday last month, and I celebrated the occassion by posting my choice for top ten Bugs Bunny cartoons of all time.   Now, here's a posting listing some of Bugs' most rare, most unusual, and most unseen appearances.   We'll start with a 1942 film commissioned by the US Treasury.   America had just entered World war II and the treasury was using all the Hollywood stars to promote the sale of US Savings Bonds, so why not Bugs Bunny?  The short film features Bugs Bunny singing an Irving Berlin number, "Any Bonds Today?" and includes a short sequence of Bugs imitating Al Jolson.



Warner Bros. was not above using Bugs Bunny as a cameo in other shorts...  one of my favorites occurs in Porky Pig's Feat, which I posted on my blog HERE.  But Bugs made appearances in other places as weel.  During World War II, Warners Bros. produced a series of cartoons for the armed forces that starred a less-than-perfect soldier named Private SNAFU.  Snafu usually demonstaretd the wrong way to do things and was a big hit at the Army camps.  The cartoons were never meant for public viewings but have recently been showing up on Youtube and in DVD sets.  Here is a typical entry, GAS, with a short cameo by Bugs Bunny.



Bugs was so popular, he could even make a cameo in cartoons made by other studios.  In 1944, Paramount released a stop-motion cartoon by George Pal, Jasper Goes Hunting.  Take a look at who joins the film briefly at the 4:40 mark (and sorry for the poor condition of the clip)



Bugs Bunny - (Ep. 36) - Jasper Goes Hunting 2015 by serijedomace04

Bugs Bunny also appeared in a couple of live-action features for Warner Bros..   In the 1949 Doris Day comedy My Dream is Yours, Bugs gets a full song and dance routine along with Day and Jack Carson.  Friz Freleng directed the animation.




Next time, we'll hit a few other rare appearances of Bugs, including one of his several appearances at the Academy Awards!   Stay tuned!

Happy 75th Birthday, Bugs Bunny!

1940 was a banner year for cartoons.   In that year we saw the debut of three cartoon characters that would go on to become among the biggest, most recognizable cartoon stars of all time - as well as the most successful characters for each studio. In February 1940, MGM released Puss Gets the Boot, which introduced Tom and Jerry to the populace. In November 1940, Walter Lantz produced an Andy Panda cartoon dealing with a crazy woodpecker who was pecking holes in Andy's roof, and Woody Woodpecker was born.  And on July 27, 1940, Warner Bros released a cartoon that began very simply, with a hunter slowly making his way through the woods, pausing a moment, then turning to the audience to say, "Be vewy, vewy quiet...   I'm hunting wabbits."

And so it began.  Bugs Bunny popped out of his hole for the first time 75 years ago this week, and his first line, was, of course, "Eh, what's up doc?"  The classic line, then completely unexpected from the subject of a rabbit hunt, instantly became the rabbit's trademark and solidified his personality.  Bugs Bunny was not going to be the typical cartoon star that we had seen before 1940.   Bugs was calm, cool and collected in the face of adversity, and was always able to overcome his opponents in every situation (unless you were a turtle...  or a gremlin).  Bugs Bunny has always been my favorite cartoon star, and I am glad to be able to post this 75th birthday tribute to the wily rabbit.


Model sheet from "A Wild Hare" the first true Bugs Bunny cartoon

As a kid, the Warner Bros. cartoons were shown continuously on TV.  I've seen them all so many times I know them by heart.   However, as new generations come and go, I am finding that there are some younger people out there who are much less aware of the Warner Bros. cartoons.   Worse yet, I have heard that there are people who can listen to Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen without singing "kill the wabbit" to themselves.  To them, I am offering my list of Top Ten Bugs Bunny Cartoons.  After watching these ten classics, I am sure you'll understand why I can't turn off the TV whenever that rabbit comes into view.

I was able to find posted versions of most of the cartoons, with the exception of Hillbilly Hare.  If you look around the Internet a bit more you can probably find it.

10.  Hillbilly Hare (1950)  Robert McKimson
I had to include one cartoon from Robert McKimson.   Bugs Bunny vacations in the Ozarks, where he runs afoul of the Martins and Coy's infamous feud.   The last half of the cartoon, where Bugs directs a square dance like no other, is embedded below with subtitles added so you can sing along!



9. Little Red Riding Rabbit (1943) Friz Freleng
At this point, Bugs is only three years old, and the directors were still figuring out exactly how to handle him.   There is still some issues drawing him consistently from one scene to the next.   However, this cartoon has a lot of great things going for it, especially an unexpected ending that comes out of nowhere.   Follow the link and watch the full cartoon!


Bugs Bunny - Little Red Riding Rabbit by bugs-bunny1

8.  High Diving Hare (1949) Friz Freleng
A classic encounter with Yosemite Sam.   Freleng takes a one-joke premise, adds in some great gags and some razor-sharp timing, and ends up with one of the best Bugs cartoons there is. 


Bugs Bunny - (Ep. 73) - High Diving Hare by werewolf1912

7.  Rhapsody Rabbit (1946)  Friz Freleng
One of the more controversial cartoons on the list, due to its resemblance to a similar Tom and Jerry cartoon.  However, it's a great film on its own.


Bugs Bunny - Rhapsody Rabbit by bugs-bunny1

6.  Long Haired Hare (1949) Chuck Jones
Bug's first encounter with classical music, and in my opinion, the ultimate Bugs Bunny cartoon that defines all that is Bugs.   Bugs has no inclination to bother anyone - in fact, he is provoked three times until he finally delivers his famous line, "Of course, you know this means war."  From then on, it's Bugs getting revenge on his opponent in hilarious fashion. 


Bugs Bunny - Long-Haired Hare by bugs-bunny

5.  Baseball Bugs (1946) Friz Freleng
The best Bugs Bunny cartoons pit him against a worthy adversary, place him at a disadvantage, and have him come out on top.  In this cartoon, Bugs is bullied into playing a baseball game, by himself, against an entire team of thugs and cheats called the Gashouse Gorillas.  Guess who wins.


Bugs Bunny - Baseball Bugs (1946) by enteritament

4.  What's Opera, Doc?  (1957) Chuck Jones
I'll probably get berated for not putting this higher.  This cartoon takes the classic Bugs Bunny formula (Elmer hunting Bugs), uses the same gags we have seen a million times (Elmer not recognizing that Bugs is a rabbit, Bugs in drag, Bugs faking death, etc.) and sets it in the world of a Wagner opera. 


What's Opera Doc by MistyIsland1

3.  Rabbit Seasoning (1952) Chuck Jones
It was hard not to put all of the Bugs / Daffy / Elmer cartoons in here. I settled on the next two.  I doubt there's anyone out there who hasn't seen it, but it's definitely worth seeing again...


Daffy Duck - (Ep. 65) - Rabbit Seasoning by cartoonNetworks

2.  Duck!   Rabbit!   Duck!  (1953)  Chuck Jones
The less famous of the three "hunting trilogy", but in my opinion the funniest.  If you've never seen it, you're in for a real treat...


Bugs Bunny - Duck! Rabbit, Duck! by bugs-bunny1

1.  The Rabbit of Seville  (1951) Chuck Jones
Here it is, my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon of all time!  As near a perfect cartoon as there ever was.   Great characters, great music, great animation and truly funny gags all combine to make this a true tour de force.


Bugs Bunny - Rabbit Of Seville by bugs-bunny1

BONUS!   A Wild Hare (1940) Tex Avery
Here it is, Bugs Bunny's first true appearance, 75 years ago.  You can see how many of the gags and situations in this first film were carried on in the series. 


Merrie Melodies - A Wild Hare (1940) by Cartoonzof2006

There you go!  I hate to leave of so many true classics...   Slick Hare, Rabbit Fire, Show Biz Bugs, Buccaneer Bunny, Hare Trigger, Racketeer Rabbit, Bully for Bugs, The Old Gray Hare and Rabbit Punch are among the cartoons I was sorry to leave off.   I welcome you to leave your own top ten in the comments below.  Next week, I will post some rarely seen Bugs Bunny appearances.   Stay tuned!

The Top Ten Worst Cartoon Characters of all Time, Part 4

We're now diving into the depths of despair as we continue to list the Top Ten Worst Cartoon Characters of all Time.  We are now moving onto number four, which means after this we'll be listing the top three....  Please do what you can to refrain from hitting the play button on the videos.   Like a bad accident, once you look you may find yourself not looking away.  Please find something else to watch as we proceed onto number four...

10.  Baby Huey
9.    Squiddly Diddly
8.    Buzzy the Crow
7.    Hippity Hopper
6.    Loopy De Loop
5.    Go Go Gophers
4.    The Blue Racer

Depatie-Freleng produced some pretty bad cartoons at the end of their existence, any one of which would qualify as one of the "Worst Cartoon Characters of all time"  I chose the Blue Racer due to fact that A) it's racially insensitive as well as being a bad series and B) I could find a video on line.

Depatie-Freleng was a studio that got its start from the remains of the old Warner Bros. Cartoon Studio.  Friz Freleng teamed up with former WB cartoon producer Dave Depatie to form their own studio, DFE.  They started with commercial work, and were eventually approached by Blake Edwards to produce a title sequence for his Pink Panther film.  The titles were so successful that DFE soon spun the panther off into a series of cartoon for United Artist.  The studio enjoyed success with the Pink Panther cartoons, and eventually produced other cartoon series such as The Inspector and The Ant and the Aardvark.   However, as they went on to produce more cartoon stars, the quality began to slip more and more with each subsequent series.   The last few cartoon series they produced all had the same attributes:  Good design, good music and some decent animation, but lousy concepts and unfunny scripts.   Among the cartoons were:

The Tijuana Toads, which were later renamed (and redubbed) for television as the Texas Toads. 

Sheriff Hoot Kloot, who was modeled after a spokesman for Dodge Trucks...   I kid you not.

The Dogfather.   This was Depatie Freleng's last theatrical series...  Although in television they would go on to create Crazylegs Crane, MisterJaw, and others...

And finally, we get to the Blue Racer.   The Blue Racer was a snake, based on actual snakes found in the Northern United States.   The Blue Racer claims to be the "Fastest Snake in the World" and is usually shown zipping through the scenic backgrounds.   The Blue Racer has no name and very little personality, so the cartoons live and die by the scripts and gags that the writers came up with for this character.   Unfortunatley, most of the cartoons die a painful death.   To add insult to injury, many of the cartoons have the Blue Racer chasing a Japanese Beetle in an effort to make a meal out of the insect.   The beetle is, of course, the most racial insensitive portrayal the writers can come up with...  which you can judge by yourself by watching the snake's debut cartoon, Hiss and Hers, released in 1972.



I admit, this series should have ranked slightly higher....   but I had a hard time finding samples.   To make up for it, as an added bonus, today only, we offer the last Depatie Freleng Dogfather cartoon...   Medicur, from 1976.