A Star is Bored (1956)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Art Davis, Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Milt Franklyn
Daffy Duck is the malcontented janitor at a movie studio where Bugs Bunny is the reigning screen star. Annoyed at the attention Bugs is receiving, Daffy marches into the office of the casting director to demand a crack at stardom. Daffy is cast as Bugs’ stunt double in an ongoing production and is dressed in a rabbit suit but soon discovers to his frustration he is being assigned the most dangerous stunts.
A so-so entry in the Bugs-Daffy frenemy series, the humor in “A Star is Bored” centers on Daffy either losing his temper or absorbing the most violent stunts, including gunshots into his face and piloting a crashing airplane. Daffy also attempts to sabotage a couple of Bugs’ scenes, but those efforts predictably go awry.
Bugs is mostly a polite observer to the mayhem inflicted on Daffy, only acknowledging his pleasure over Daffy’s dilemma in the surprise closing gag. This comedy imbalance would become more pronounced in later cartoons as Daffy’s behavior became more obstreperous and less hilarious while Bugs’ dynamism faded into borderline monotony.
Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam briefly appear, but not in the same scene. Perhaps the funniest character is the unnamed, unsmiling film director with the heavy German accent who orders Daffy into his endless indignities. This is obviously a riff on the German talent who thrived behind Hollywood’s cameras since the 1920s and an amusing little inside joke on life in the Golden Age film studios.