14 Carrot Rabbit (1952)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis, Manuel Perez, Ken Champin
Music by Carl Stalling
This cartoon is set during the Klondike Gold Rush, with claim jumper Chillicothe Sam (actually, our old pal Yosemite Sam) shooting his guns to chase an elderly prospector away from his meager findings. Sam is unhappy that his thievery is producing dismal results, and he is dumbfounded when he discovers Bugs Bunny has a knack for discovering huge gold deposits – whenever he’s over the precious metal, Bugs going into wild convulsions. Sam tries to trick Bugs into a partnership, but (as usual) is constantly outsmarted by his prey.
Another minor Friz Freleng-directed effort, “14 Carrot Rabbit” is best for Bugs’ gold-detecting gyrations (accompanied by a wild percussion beat) and for Sam’s extreme reactions to the mayhem that befalls him – including two falls from a cliff. In this cartoon, nearly all the big laughs belong to Sam, whose loud displays of befuddlement, temper and anguish are aurally and visually larger than life.
For years, this cartoon suffered from awkward editing when it ran on television – Sam’s gunfire at the older prospector and a segment where Sam chases Bugs across a map of North America while shooting at him were routinely scissored out. Considering some of the violent Looney Tunes humor that made it onto kiddie-oriented television, it is hard to understand why these brief segments were removed.