Bugsy and Mugsy (1957)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis
Music by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn
Bugs Bunny is forced to relocate from his hole-in-the-ground residence after it gets flooded during a rainstorm. He takes shelter in a condemned tenement, only to discover the building is the hideout of the bank robbers Rocky and Mugsy. The gangsters are unaware of Bugs’ presence, and the mischievous rabbit uses trickery to convince Rocky that Mugsy is trying to kill him and claim the stolen loot for himself.
The diminutive Rocky and his oversized comrade Mugsy were first paired against Bugs in the 1954 gem “Bugs and Thugs.” But rather than create a new adventure for these characters, director Friz Freleng and writer Warren Foster dusted off the less-than-stellar 1950 Sylvester cartoon “Stooge for a Mouse” and repeated most of the earlier short’s shenanigans in this effort.
The resulting work was a dull thud of a cartoon, with an obnoxious Bugs aggravating the too-dumb crooks with very obvious gags – including the perennial dynamite stick in the mouth routine. The cheap-looking background animation gives the impression that this was a toss-away effort. All told, this mediocrity was among the weakest in the Bugs Bunny series.