Posts

Posted on

Tortoise beats Hare

“I tell ya, it just don’t make sense.”

Sorry for the delay. Christmas came and with it, Looney Tunes. I have been watching a lot of new ones and now I am ready for more action!

This is an early Bugs Bunny cartoon, number 3 for him. It was also one of the few made by Tex Avery. (I just noticed, he directed Daffy, and Bugs’ first cartoons.) Back on topic, Bugs comes out and reads the title and credits. (Pronouncing them wrong) When he gets to the title, he freaks out and demands a race with the tortoise. Winner gets ten bucks.

When the race begins, Bugs is off and Cecil calls nine other turtles to help him cheat. Bugs is still running and passes one of them. Needless to say, he is dumbstruck. He leaves him behind, but no matter how fast he goes, he keeps finding a tortoise ahead of him. He tries leaving various debris in the path, and destroying a bridge, but when he comes to the end, Cecil is already there.

Bugs gives him the money and wonders if he was tricked. Cecil and the turtles (each holding a dollar) tell him its a possibility. (I should have talked about this one before the second one.)

Personal Rating: 4

Posted on

Little Red Riding Rabbit

“Hey grandma! That’s an awfully big nose for you… ta have!”

Just like the original story, we open with Red going to her grandma’s house. She is an annoying, loud, bobbysoxer, who is obsessed with getting the story right. She is going to give her grandma a rabbit and as to be expected, a wolf makes it there first. (Grandma is not home.)

When Red arrives, the wolf kicks her out because all he wants is the rabbit. He chases Bugs through a great gag involving lots of doors. After this, Bugs decides to be helpful and show where he is hiding. Throughout this whole cartoon, Red keeps coming in to say her lines only for the wolf to throw her out again.

In the climax, the wolf is dangling over a pan of hot coals, and just as Bugs is about to make him fall, Red comes in again. Fed up, Bugs switches her with the wolf. Now the two are pals. It looks like a beginning to a beautiful friendship.

Personal Rating: 4

Posted on

The Heckling Hare

“Uh… flowers.”

Willoughby is out sniffing and, finding a hole, decides to dig for whatever reason. Bugs appears and the chase is on. After that, Bugs starts imitating his adversary’s faces and pretty soon, he gets Willoughby to copy him. He then clobbers him with a bat. Bugs dives into a lake and the chase briefly continues underwater.

After they get out, Bugs dives behind a tree while Willy reaches into the knot hole for him. Bugs puts a tomato in his paw and when he squishes it, he pines for the rabbit he “crushed.” Of course, once he realizes it was a trick he digs again only, to dig through a cliff! He manages not to fall but ends up walking off the cliff. Bugs is not remorseful but doesn’t watch his step and winds up falling too!

It’s too bad that Avery’s initial choice of ending; wherein the two would land safely, only to fall off another cliff was frowned upon. This would eventually lead to Avery leaving for MGM. It’s not like his work there could be considered bad cartoons (“King Sized Canary” is one of my favorite films, ever.) but it would have been great if Tex stayed. I’d really like to see how that reality would have panned out.

Personal Rating: 3, but it probably could have reached 4 if Avery had been allowed to end it how he wanted to.

Posted on

Willoughby

Warner bros. had plenty of dog characters, but most of them would only get the honor of appearing in one cartoon. Maybe two. One of the lesser known that still makes my five appearance rule, is this canine.

Willoughby in one word is: stupid. I’m sorry, but he is. That does not mean I hate him. He is quite funny. He is a bloodhound I think, and the majority of his pictures were him hunting. Of course he would fail. Whether it was a quail, Bugs, or a fox, he never was able to catch what he was after. By far his greatest appearance (in my opinion) is “An Itch in Time.” (A short that I should really talk about soon.

As a final note, you might find it interesting to know that this dog was voiced not by Blanc, but by his creator,  Tex Avery.

Posted on

Hare Conditioned

“Hmm…taxadoimy.”

At a department store, there’s a smaller store that is having a sale on sporting goods. As a nice touch, they also have a rabbit hopping around. The bad news is that the sale is over and Bugs is going to be…stuffed! The manager (a caricature of an old radio person, the Great Gildersleeve) is yellow and has an annoying laugh. When Bugs realizes what’s to become of him, a chase starts.

Bugs dresses in drag and yellow guy becomes a pervert. Soon after he learns it’s a ruse, and they begin the chase again. Each time they run into a clothing section, they come out wearing the wares. Soon, Bugs has been cornered on the roof of the building (this reveals Bugs’ eye color to be blue) and running out of tricks, tells about a story he was reading.

There was a situation like this, but behind the big character was a “frankinsense” monster. Bugs leaps behind him and makes a face. This scares the manager, and he leaps off the building. Bugs makes the face to himself and is so scared he jumps too.

Finally: I wonder why Porky does the ending. I think that’s the only time he did that for a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Personal Rating: 3

Posted on

The Hare-Brained Hypnotist

“Who’s the comedian in this picture anyway?”

Typical start. Elmer is hunting and he reads that animals are dumb* and can easily be hypnotized. He bumps into a bear and unlike most people (or his past self) he does not freak out and uses his new found knowledge to get the ursine to believe he is a canary. It actually works and the bear flies away.

Bugs pops up and Elmer immediately tries his new skill but just ends up with a balloon lookalike. He does not notice he is floating away until the bear flies by. He shoves his gun into the hole and a tug of war ensues. After this, Elmer breaks down and Bugs agrees to let him have a try at the hypnotism thing. However, Bugs hypnotizes Elmer instead and has him believe he’s a rabbit. Guess who Elmer takes after?

He acts like Bugs, while Bugs begins hunting Elmer, so he can snap him out of it. It climaxes with Elmer hypnotizing Bugs at last, but Bugs laughs because he can’t be hypnotized. Noticing the time, he flies to the airport. He is a B-19 after all.

* I will never type this again

Personal Rating: 3

Posted on

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

Posted on

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

Posted on

Bunny Hugged

“Its a living.”

At the championships of wrestling, we have in one corner: the Crusher! An athlete who is literally one, big muscle. In the other corner Ravishing Ronald (a take on real wrestler, Gorgeous George) and his mascot Bugs Bunny. Ronald is quickly turned into a punching bag and Bugs, worrying about his job, steps in to take on the champ himself as the masked terror. (I don’t care what you say. That is a cool mask and if I had one, I would wear it everyday.)

Unfortunately, Bugs is almost as bad as Ronald was. Looks like its time to cheat. He rips his mask to make the Crusher think he ripped his shorts. Bugs disguises himself as a tailor and gives the champ a poke in the butt. After getting slammed into a safe door, Bugs is able to pin the dazed crusher to the mat.

Personal Rating: 3

Posted on

Bugs Bunny Rides Again

“This town aint big enough for the two of us!”

You’d think with a title like that, it would be Sam’s second appearance. However, he appeared in the Bugs Bunny cartoon made before this one. Of course, he was a pirate there, so we can forgive that. (Besides, how could the animators have guessed it would arrive first?)

Plot time! Sam comes into western town and dares anyone to challenge him. Cue our hero! Bugs initially runs away, but eventually gets Sam to keep walking over lines until he falls off a cliff. The chase continues on horses until Bugs notes they are not getting anywhere. They play cards to see who leaves town, and even though Sam loses, Bugs hops on the train when he sees all the scantily clad women on there

Personal Rating: 4