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.
Wackiki Wabbit (1943)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Ted Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris
When push comes to shove, I always think of “Wackiki Wabbit” as my favorite Bugs Bunny short ever made. There are a lot of competitors that just barely edge out this one, but Chuck Jones’ more self contained adventure with Bugs is easily my favorite. It’s one I always really go back to and re-visit and never stop laughing through. Bugs is just at the top of his game, and the villains of the piece are a mix of pathetic and devious. Yeah, they’re trying to survive, but so is Bugs. I always wonder why they didn’t just ask Bugs how he survived for so long on the island. You know what?
I’m over thinking the short. That’s not a caveat of the whole shebang, it’s just something that pops up if you pick apart the whole situation.
“Wackiki Wabbit” continues the tradition of set pieces that are more abstract and flat, allowing for a more poppy, surreal environment than most animated shorts. While Disney and even MGM opted for more detailed backgrounds, a lot of the back drops (this one by Gene Fleury and Bernyce Polifka) for Jones’ shorts offer consistently flat backgrounds, dominant colors, and what was considered a “theatrical” sense of aesthetic. For the most part it works, and it eventually becomes a part of a lot of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts with Chuck Jones at the helm.
Frankly, while I love a good detailed picture with some very vivid backgrounds and settings, I also really am a fan of Jones’ flat, simplistic backgrounds. They give the shorts a unique energy and it allows them to be set apart from MGM and Disney. The premise for “Wackiki Wabbit” is very simple. Two unnamed men are drifting on the sea, lost and hungry. They eventually find an island, and there they cross paths with Bugs Bunny. He’s also apparently marooned on the island. Hungry, they decide to start making their way to Bugs who uses his wits to survive. The set up is barebones, but the stage for a lot of fun gags. I also like how we don’t really question why Bugs is on this island.
He’s just on this island (Humuhumunukunukuapua’a’a’a island, to be exact!) at the wrong place and the wrong time. The pair of lost castaways are also one of the many one and done villains from the Bugs Bunny library. Despite being considerably dumb and slow witted, they have a unique quality to them that makes them fun. Their personality is also well defined despite us knowing so little about them. “Wackiki Wabbit” packs in a lot of fun gags, from the cast aways hallucinating about food upon their introduction, to the recurring gag of the off-screen slap, right down to the hysterical scene of Bugs Bunny doing a tribal dance in a floral skirt. I also love the fun the short has with subtitles as Bugs gives a long speech in a native tongue only for it to read “What’s Up, Doc?”
He then follows it up with a grunt, prompting a long speech. When he’s greeted by the castaways, the subtitles read in the native speech, prompting the smaller castaway to ask “Did you say all that?” I also found hilarious how Bugs may or may not know he’s being cooked, and fires back at his stalkers using a cooked chicken as a puppet to torment them. He then pulls the old switcheroo on them when a rescue ship pulls in allowing him to get away while the pair of cast aways is left on the island, ad hilarity. While Bugs is once again voiced by Mel Blanc, the two cast aways are beautifully voiced by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce, two animators for Warner that are uncreited for the short.
Apparently the cast aways are also modeled as caricatures of Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce, respectively, which is a nice bit of fun on the studios part. “Wackiki Wabbit,” one of Bugs’ shorts in the public domain, has so much replay value, and it easily charts my top five, scratching for the number one spot.
Find out what we think are the BEST and WORST Bugs Bunny shorts of all time!