2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.
Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.
Rhapsody Rabbit (1946)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Manuel Perez
One of the many reasons why I was a small kid that loved classical music was that I pretty much cut my teeth on the Looney Tunes shorts. I spent so much of my time watching the animated shorts that were not only comical and fun, but also embraced the idea of classical music. “Rhapsody Rabbit” further serves to convey the beautiful marriage between classical music and the Looney Tunes shorts. The animation studio has always used music as a wonderful means of filling in what the writers or animators couldn’t. Classical music, folk music, and pop music were used to convey all kinds of emotions and conflict, and with “Rhapsody Rabbit,” it’s merely an amazing example of how the music compliments the animation and vice versa.
It’s a wonderful symbiosis that’s been one of myriad reasons why the Looney Tunes were able to stand apart from contemporaries like MGM and Hanna Barbera. The only studio that’s remotely come close to rivaling their ability to merge music and animation is Disney. “Rhapsody Rabbit” doesn’t really have a narrative, and Bugs Bunny only has two short lines of dialogue, but that doesn’t matter at all. What matter is that we’re allowed to listen to some excellent music, while also indulging in some hilarious comedy. The animators and writers are able to make great use of the setting and the instrument of the piano, allowing for a set up, a conflict, and a resolution that’s more cute than funny, in the long.
Simply, Bugs Bunny is going to play a piano solo of Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody #2” in (in C-Sharp Minor) for a large audience. And he does. Along the way he comes across a small mouse hiding in the piano that gives him something of a hard time, but also proves to be competition when it comes to performing and commanding the audience’s attention. That’s about it, and it shockingly works and works very well. There are a lot of shorts similar to this one in the Looney Tunes gallery as well as with Tom and Jerry, but “Rhapsody Rabbit” gets it so right, and stages some great comedy.
Funny enough there’s been some notorious controversy with Tom and Jerry as MGM released a short called “Cat Concerto” on the same year that was almost identical to “Rabbit Rhapsody” in every way. It’s basically the same premise with Tom performing on the piano and him having to contend with Jerry who makes his performance difficult. Allegedly both studios accused the other of plagiarism, and whether or not there is, is fascinating. A case can be made for both Warner and MGM plagiarizing. On the one hand perhaps Warner introduced a mouse compete with Bugs and MGM took advantage. Or maybe MGM was producing their Tom and Jerry short and Warner jumped in to action with their identical short that conveniently had a mouse compete with Bugs.
I mean, why a mouse? The gallery of Bugs Bunny rivals don’t have a single mouse except for the one that appears in “Rhapsody Rabbit.” But I guess it depends on what the audience chooses to believe, even though the common consensus has been that MGM plagiarized Warner since “Cat Concerto” arrived five months subsequent “Rabbit Rhapsody.” The debate continues to this day among animation buffs. Playing devil’s advocate, “Cat Concerto” and “Rabbit Rhapsody” pull off the concept very well, and both are very funny in their own right.
Right off the bat, the mostly silent short relies on some excellent sight gags. Bugs appears to take off his gloves, and proceeds to take off various layers and lengths of gloves from his hands in preparation. Then he sits down to begin and someone in the audience suddenly breaks in to a coughing fit. After the second fit, Bugs shoots them dead, and continues on. The gags and physical comedy just get better and better with the animation just flowing so flawlessly with the music. While some may argue “Cat Concerto” did it better, I’m just more partial to “Rabbit Rhapsody.”
Bugs is much more suited for this concept, and his gags are just sharper. Regardless, you’ll leave it wanting more classical music, so it’s a win for everyone.
Find out what we think are the BEST and WORST Bugs Bunny shorts of all time!