Gorilla My Dreams (1948)
Directed by Bob McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Charles McKimson
It’s interesting to review “Gorilla My Dreams” as it’s a fun introduction of the ape villain Gruesome. While Warren Foster does a good job of bringing us new Bugs Bunny foil, Gruesome and this whole premise was applied so much better in the 1959 remake “Apes of Wrath.” I could swear I had seen this short before, but for a long time it was always the aforementioned. It goes without saying that set up for “Apes…” is so much cleverer than the one we get in “Gorilla My Dreams.” That’s not to say that this short doesn’t bring with it its own merits. It’s not a terrible short at all, all things considered.
I’m not sure how he keeps getting himself in to these situations, but the set up involves Bugs Bunny once again drifting on the sea on a barrel. This scene features a bit of a raunchy gag as Bugs is reading “Esquire” which was once considered an adults only magazine. We then meet Mrs. Gruesome, a female ape who is anxious to have her own baby and discovers Bugs floating along the water. Deciding to adopt him and take him as her own child, she brings him to her home where her grouchy and ferocious husband Mr. Gruesome awaits.
Mr. Gruesome is, of course, not a big fan of having children in their little nest but Mrs. Gruesome is adamant in keeping Bugs. Bugs being Bugs, he decides to humor Mrs. Gruesome by pretending to be her baby. No good deed going unpunished, she brings him home and Mr. Gruesome makes it his mission to take Bugs out of their picture. The interaction between Mr. Gruesome and Bugs is hilarious as Mr. Gruesome is beyond any empathy or self awareness. His greeting and treatment of Bugs is the source of a lot of laughter as he takes it upon himself to torment and physically abuse his ersatz newborn baby Once Bugs begins to retaliate, director McKimson deals up some great gags including a hilarious tussle that turns in to a mambo.
Admittedly a lot of “Gorilla My Dreams” is barebones by way of gags and narrative. Mrs. Gruesome doesn’t really play a big role in the second half of the short, and there’s not a ton of resolution to Bugs being the adopted child, save for using Mr. Gruesome’s own energy against him. I wouldn’t have minded if they took more out of this premise and squeezed in a few more sight gags or jokes. Save for some misdirection with Mr. Gruesome, the writers feel like they’re stretching the whole shtick as far as they can to fit the seven minutes. That’s not something you see much at all with Bugs Bunny shorts. Plus the whole set up of a female character wanting to be a mother is so overused in Looney Tunes even with Foghorn Leghorn’s shorts.
Adoption is a big, recurring theme in the Looney Tunes library. I just think they do a better job of this premise with “Apes of Wrath.” It’s too bad since Mr. Gruesome is a fun, if imposing Bugs Bunny foil, which we don’t get too often. The only other is Tasmanian Devil, which Mr. Gruesome feels like he’s a precursor to.
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