2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.
Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.
Prest-O Change-O (1939)
Directed by Charles Jones
Produced by Leon Schlesinger
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Rudy Larriva
The Two Curious Puppies is easily my least favorite series of Merrie Melodies shorts, as it’s basically more of a series derived on being cute. I’m not against cute, but the Two Curious Puppies are almost too saccharine for me. Sure, the animation from Rudy Larriva is fantastic, but there’s only so much you can do with two mischievous puppies that get in to all sorts of misadventures. They’re thankfully not the sole stars of “Prest-O Change-O” as they’re complimented by one naughty rabbit. Yes, Happy Rabbit is back! But this time he’s in Technicolor! It’s the wave of the future!
The set up for the short includes the Two Curious Puppies who stow away on a dark and stormy night, on a truck headed to a weird house owned by magician Sham-Fu. They’re trapped in what is a house of virtual gags and bizarre magic rooms that drive them crazy. Sham-Fu never makes an actual appearance. They’re also taunted by Happy Rabbit who makes a point of driving the pair crazy. This is one of the few times in Bugs’ career where he’s basically the bad guy and loses. In this instance he’s more of a mischievous magician’s bunny than the personality we saw in “Porky’s Hare Hunt.”
He does include his early Woody Woodpecker laugh, but beyond that his role is virtually silent and he doesn’t have an arc at all. Despite my reservations for the Two Curious Puppies, the short is saved by Mel Blanc’s ace voice work and timing. There’s a great opening gag with a sinister cuckoo popping out of the clock proclaiming “It’s tw-elve o’clock! Muahahahaha!” Beyond much of the short is the house screwing with the puppies as they have to contend with their own obstacles that includes warping doors, sentient furniture, and various other Magician’s gags. Small Puppy fights off a sentient magician’s Hindu rope (and wand), while Big Puppy has to fight off Happy Rabbit time and time again.
He doesn’t show off a lot of the familiar aspects of Bugs Bunny, but spends a lot of time using the house as a means of driving the pair of dogs crazy. In the end he loses, as most of these shorts would have the villain do, as the short dissolves to a close on Happy Rabbit lying battered by the Big Puppy. One of the only shorts from the Curious Puppies in public domain, I don’t know if I’d consider this an essential Pro-Bugs/Bugs Bunny short to view. It’s at least interesting to see how they were gauging Happy Rabbit as a face or a heel, and what he could bring to the table when sharing the screen with established Merrie Melodies characters.
Find out what we think are the BEST and WORST Bugs Bunny shorts of all time!