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.
Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (1944)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Robert Cannon
“Once Upon a Time There were Three Bears–” is what sets of the chaos of what happens when Bugs Bunny meets the iconic three bears. The three bears is the iconic bedside story written by Robert Southey from the nineteenth century, and it’s been twisted, and retold, and adapted dozens of times since its introduction. While Warner and the Looney Tunes aren’t the first to offer animated versions of the Three Bears, they are surely the best. Here, rather than three inadvertent characters of a story that come across Goldilocks, they’re instead a dysfunctional family on the verge of starvation. This take on the three bears is not only prime material for pure comedy but it’s one of the few times in this era where there’s not a traditional nuclear family.
Instead it’s more of a realistic kind of family unit, with exaggerated qualities for the sake of driving the intended comedy home. They’re comprised of the rage-aholic papa bear, and their ditzy mama bear (Bea Benederet returns!), and they watch over their comically overgrown baby bear named “Junior” (played wonderfully by Kent Rogers—who sadly died shortly after during World War II). Things are amplified when they come across none other than Bugs Bunny. This take on the three bears is genius as they’re not the three bears from the story but just three bears. As they try to figure out what to do for food, Papa Bear decides to take inspiration from the fairytale and lure in a young girl like Goldilocks for the sake of knocking her out and eating her.
The meta joke is made even funnier because as a means of luring Goldilocks in, they go about making three bowls of carrot soup, which pretty much adds an unnecessary avenue to their plans. They have food, so why not just eat the carrot soup? That’s not a caveat, but just a hilarious turn on the whole short’s set up, as the central villains are either too dumb or too hungry to notice they have their solution right under their noses. The interplay between the Three Bears and Bugs Bunny just clicks as the writers take the whole fairy tale and build on it for some hilarious gags. Like previous shorts based on fairytales, the characters are fulfilling their intended purpose within the framework of the short story; but on Warner Bros. terms. I love the gag involving Bugs eating the carrot soup demanding Ketchup while the bears lie on the floor pretending to be rugs.
There’s also the hilarious skipping out of the house the bears do when in a hasty attempt to move the story along to lure in their intended target. There, of course, the whole bed scene which is when the whole plot is turned on poor Bugs. As he attempts to distract Mama Bear, he makes a flirtatious pass on her, prompting her to rabidly pursue him to seduce him. The animators aren’t shy this with this joke, portraying her in a see through negligee, and even half naked in a bath as Bugs attempts to flee her advances. It’s one of the few times something backfires on Bugs, as in the end, she winds up in his rabbit hole giggling “Tell me more about my eyes!” as Bugs bursts out screaming for the hills.
It’s a surprisingly raunchy turn of events, especially in the way they depict Mama Bear as something of an–ahem—frustrated wife. The Bears were just a great trio of foils that garnered enough cache to fuel their own solo shorts without the need for an anchor from one of the more established Warner characters. They’d eventually make appearances in the great “What’s Brewin, Bruin?” from 1948, sans Bugs Bunny. It’s a very funny solo spot that would be followed up with three more of their own solo shorts “The Bee-Deviled Bruin” and “Bear Feat” in 1949, and “A Bear for Punishment” in 1951. They’d be retired in 1951, but occasionally re-appear as the modern dysfunctional nineties family in the TV show “Tiny Toon Adventures.”
Nevertheless, “Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears” is absolutely hilarious, and makes for one of the best of Bugs Bunny’s library. I’ve seen it so many times, and it never stops making me laugh.
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