Category: Robert McKimson

Anything created by the man responsible for a loud-mouthed rooster, designing the ideal Bugs Bunny and teaching Americans about marsupials.

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Rebel Rabbit

“Rabbits are perfectly harmless.”

Bugs finds a sign in the forest that says foxes are worth $50.00. A bear is $75.00. A rabbit is only 2 cents. This bothers Bugs, who goes to Washington D.C. to complain. ( I don’t really get it. Are these paid for killing animals who are pests? Or do you just get paid if you kill an animal? Pretty mean if you ask me.) The game commissioner tells Bugs the reason for this is because rabbits are harmless. (Even in real life that’s wrong. They have sharp teeth and claws.) Obviously, this guy had no idea who Bugs is, and he is going to pay for it.

To prove rabbits are worth more than they think, Bugs is going to make Earth hell. He starts small by breaking someone’s kneecap and painting stripes on the Washington Memorial, but quickly moves on to turning off Niagara falls, filling in the Grand Canyon and sawing Florida off of the country. A meeting is held where Foghorn is a man suit demands Bugs be caught. (He talks just like him. Bugs even says his “That’s a joke” line. The fact McKimson directed this proves this is not just a coincidence. And I like it.) Bugs is declared a threat, and he is now worth one million dollars. Unfortunately, he is also now in Alcatraz for his crimes to the world. Or at least the Western hemisphere.

Personal Rating: 3

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Acrobatty Bunny

“Iron bars do not a prison make. But they sure help, eh doc?”

Wow! a new record of people visiting? More than 10? You like me! You really like me!

The first Bugs Bunny short directed by Robert McKimson begins with the circus coming to town. All the noise disturbs Bugs who is sleeping underground. (For the record, elephants wouldn’t make that much sound.) A lion’s cage is put right over Bug’s rabbit hole. The lion investigates the hole, causing more distress for Bugs. Bugs goes up to see what the deal is.

The lion (dubbed Nero by Bugs) begins to chase the rabbit. Bugs leaves and renters the cage to confuse the feline who is now on the outside and locked out. Nero tries to use an elephant to break back in. Bugs unleashes a wind up mouse which sends the pachyderm into hysterics and uses the lion to bat at the mouse. Bugs dresses up as an operatic circus clown and urges Nero to laugh. No sooner does he, when Bugs smacks him with a mallet.

The chase continues into the big top and onto the trapeze. In the end, Bugs tricks Nero into climbing into a cannon just as Bugs lights the fuse. Dazed and confused, Nero is taken advantage of by Bugs who uses the lion as a new act. A hula dancing lion.

Personal Rating: 3

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Easter Yeggs

“Remember: keep smiling.”

Just in time for Easter we have a Easter-themed short to talk about. Ironically, the first time I saw this was on Easter. (It was on DVD, so it WAS a coincidence.)

We open with Bugs reading, when he overhears some sobbing. It’s the Easter Rabbit bawling his eyes out. He claims his feet hurt and Bugs decides to take over the deliveries for him. The E.R. confides to us that he always gets some idiotic rabbit to do his work for him. (I don’t know what his problem is. Even when Bugs leaves he still is whining.) Bug’s first stop is the home of a character fans refer to as “The Dead End Kid” (Hes teething on a gun, Bugs. I wouldn’t hang around.) Bugs gives him an egg, but the brat just breaks it and demands more. (This is the kind of kid you’d want to strangle if you met.)

Bugs can’t put up with him and grabs his arm. The kid screams and his giant family appear, shooting guns at Bugs. Bugs is ready to quit, but E.R. convinces him to try once more. The next stop is Fudd’s house and judging by those signs he has in his front yard, he’s ready for Easter. His plan is to kill the Easter Rabbit and make stew. (“How the Fudd stole Easter”? It has potential.) He disguises himself as a baby to lower suspicions but Bugs is now wary of children sitting alone, and breaks the egg in Fudd’s hands. The chase begins.

Elmer digs a pitfall which Bugs falls into, and floats away when Fudd tries to flood him out. They both enter a hollow log and come out the tunnel of love. Bugs tries to use magic to keep Fudd occupied, but the rabbit he pulls out of a hat is E.R. telling him to get back to work. The chase resumes with Bugs running from Fudd, the rabbit, and even the brat returns. Bugs solves two of his problems by trapping Elmer in a door and painting his head like an Easter egg, which draws the kid to him with a hammer.

The E.R. sees a rather large egg (probably belongs to a moa) and figures Bugs forgot to deliver it and decides to do it himself. It turns out to be a bomb, which Bugs lights. (I can’t figure out if he was planning that or not.)

Personal Rating: 4

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Gorilla my Dreams

“I ain’t an ape, I’m a rabbit”

Sorry for lack of update. Went to Disneyland. (What? Looney Tunes fanboys can enjoy it too.)

Back in full swing now. (Pun intended.) We see Bugs in a barrel boat. How did he get here? Who knows, who cares, enjoy the cartoon already, you moron. The current is carrying him to the island of Bingzi Bangza which is home to ferocious apes. However, they seem to be good parents. One couple has no children to the dismay of the mother. (This being her and her husband’s first appearance.)

The father wants no kids, so she heads out to sob. But while she is crying, she finds Bugs. She adopts him (he only agrees to make her stop crying) and takes him home to meet his father. Deciding to do the “little” one in. He takes him out for a walk, where Bugs almost immediately catches on. A lovely chase scene (with Raymond Scott’s “Dinner music for a pack of hungry cannibals” is playing) climaxes with Bugs trapped against a cliff. He allows Gruesome to pound him but the big brute can’t. He’s too worn out from chasing him.

Personal Rating: 3

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French Rarebit

“Where do ya suppose I am?”

Since I’m in such a good mood, (I actually got a real comment) I decided to begin another post.

A truck carrying carrots is driving through France, and after driving over a bumpy road one of the boxes falls off and smashes. Of course, Bugs was in there and seeing that he is in Paris decides to look around. Walking down a street he is seen by two chefs who plan to have him for their menu. They are Louie with orange hair and Francois with black hair.

After a fight (egging them on is Bugs) Francois takes the rabbit to cook. Bugs tells him of a great recipe but refuses to share it unless the chef and him trade places so he can demonstrate. The chef is desperate enough, and soon him and Louie (who also wants to know Bug’s culinary secrets) are shoved into a stove with a lit stick of dynamite. Voila! C’est magnefique!

Personal Rating: 3

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Devil-May Hare

“I don’t even know what a Tasmanian devil is”

While spring cleaning, Bugs finds himself in a stampede of animals. Wanting to know what is going on, he stops a turtle (with a shovel) and learns that THE Tasmanian devil is on the loose! (What exactly does that mean? Was he in a zoo?) Bugs looks it up in an encyclopedia and the creature corners him in his lair. To keep his hide alive, Bugs offers to help him find plenty of other food. Groundhogs, chicken, pigs, and deer.

While the devil is falling for Bug’s tricks, a real deer comes up. (where is his “I am not Bambi” sign?) Taz shows up and says that he is done being fooled and will not fall for another fake animal. To spare the creature, Bugs lies and says that the little deer is made of straw. Taz reasons that Bugs is not, and tries to eat him again. Bugs only choice is to call Tasmania for a Tasmanian-she devil. The two fall in love and get married. A happy ending!

Personal Rating: 3

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A Broken Leghorn

“Its gotta be that kid, or me.”

Today is the day! Prissy is going to lay an egg! However, the other chickens mock her and overhearing this, Foghorn decides to do probably the best deed he ever has done. He steals an egg, and slips it under the elderly hen. It hatches into a young rooster, and since their can only be one on a farm, Foggy plans to kill it.

Pretending to train the chick to be a proper rooster, he gets it to retrieve a ball in traffic. (That’s why the chicken crossed the road: to have a ball.) Not thinking he did it right, the chick asks Foghorn to show him how. As to be expected, he is hit by two cars. Various methods including dynamite, rifles, and land mines all result in pain. Deciding the only way to settle this is to talk to the farmer in charge (old Mcdonald) and let him pick who leaves. We end with Foghorn being carted off to a poultry plant.

Personal Rating: 4

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Early to Bet

“So remember folks, the gambling bug will get you if you don’t watch out!”

This is one of those shorts that was a one shot. That did not make it any less hilarious, though. It opens with an nature documentary sort of thing. We are introduced to the Gambling Bug. (Hemipterus addictus.) An insect whose bite inflicts anyone with a need to gamble. Today, however, the bug thinks he needs a vacation, so he goes for a walk in the country. He witnesses a dog ask a cat to play cards with him, but the cat refuses. Perhaps it’s because every time the cat loses he must face a penalty?

The bug decides that this is a job for him, and gives the cat a bite. As to be expected, he loses and we see his penalties range from sneezing while being forced to chew bubble gum, to being forced to roll out a barrel of gunpowder. Finally the dog decides that the cat is too unlucky and if they play more, he’ll die. (Ruining the dogs fun). Feeling bad the bug plays the cat… only to promptly lose and have to face a penalty: being swatted.

Personal Rating: 3

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Daffy Duck Hunt

“B-B-Benedict Arnold!”

Porky and his dog, the Barnyard Dawg are out hunting. Cue duck. Daffy empties all the shells and taunts Porky and his dog with some french dancing. Porky tells the dog to get him and the dog decides that a trick will help him win. He begins to cry and Daffy asks what’s wrong. The dog explains (lies) that if he does not catch a duck, Porky will torture him. In a rare moment of selflessness, Daffy says they will pretend he was caught. After the dog brings Daffy back to his master, Porky decides that one duck is enough for dinner. They go home and put Daffy in a freezer.

Porky goes to sleep whilst the dog hears thumps in the freezer. His two consciousnesses appear and try to make him choose to let Daffy freeze or at least warm up for helping him. Choosing the right choice, he puts Daffy in the oven to get some heat. Daffy tries to leave but is explained that he is not going to leave. Daffy makes a lot of racket and Porky storms in to see what is going on. Daffy jumps in the dog’s mouth and the poor mutt gets beaten.

More of this zaniness follows. Finally, Porky says that if the duck is not in the freezer then the dog dies. Opening it up he allows Daffy to jump out, dressed like Santa and has them sing “Jingle Bells.” Porky then notices the calendar says April, and gets an axe to finish Daffy. However, he is stopped by the patch on Daffy that says, “Do not open until Christmas”. Daffy figures that by then, he will have figured a way out of the mess he got himself into.

Personal Rating: 3 (but it teeters dangerously towards the “4” category)

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The Foghorn Leghorn

“Still trying to prove you’re a chicken?”

Don’t I pick the most creatively titled cartoons to review?

It starts with Henery Hawk begging his dad to let him go chicken hunting with him. His dad says no because chickens are vicious monsters. This does not deter Henery in the slightest and secretly follows his pop. At the chicken farm Henery’s father gets beaten up by Foghorn. Having witnessed this Henery asks if that was a chicken. Not wanting to admit he was beaten by his prey, Dad identifies the rooster as “a loud mouthed schnook”

The dad goes away for the rest of the film and Henery tries to catch a chicken on his own. Finding a chickens “cave” (doghouse) he ventures in and easily nabs a “chicken.” Seeing this, Foghorn claims that he himself is a chicken while accidentally beating the farmyard Dawg. Henery does not believe and of course the dog calls a rooster a schnook as well. Eventually, after many failed attempts and many beatings of the dog. (Who thinks Foghorn is the one bothering him) he finally calls the chicken a chicken. Henery hears this and carries the rooster off. Now Foghorn identifies himself as a loud mouthed schnook.

Personal Rating: 3