Rabbit’s Feat (1960)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese (uncredited)
Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson
Music by Milt Franklyn
Wile E. Coyote – the talking version with the supercilious Mid-Atlantic accent – returns to pursue “rabbitus idioticus delicious.” As with his previous attempts to secure Bugs Bunny for his meal, the self-important coyote winds up falling victim to his cockamamie schemes and traps.
The third and weakest of the Bugs Bunny cartoons with Wile E. Coyote as the predator, “Rabbit’s Feat” has a lazy and sloppy feel, as if its creators needed to fill a quota and quickly cobbled together a rehash of recycled situations and mannerisms to meet their output needs. Screenwriter Michael Maltese had already departed Warner Bros. for Hanna-Barbera before this short was completed and he did not receive on-screen credit – which is just as well, considering the weak quality of the work.
“Rabbit’s Feat” is peculiar for a 1960s-era cartoon in presenting Bugs Bunny in a personality closer to the early 1940s concept when the character first appeared on screen. Bugs’ behavior is zany and silly (and, perhaps, puerile), far removed from what Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson were doing at this time. While Bugs has a couple of amusing non-sequitur remarks (including his holding the dazed coyote up by the armpits and declaring “Daddy, you’re back from Peru!”), the character’s antics are too cutesy and too stupid for comfort.
Also, the short is burdened by Chuck Jones’ annoying habit of constantly having the characters break the fourth wall and sneak glances and make silly comments to the viewer for cheap laughs. Watching this cartoon, it is difficult to acknowledge this dismal mess was made by the same team that used the same characters to create the brilliant “Operation: Rabbit” a mere eight years earlier.