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.
The Big Snooze (1946)
Directed by Bob Clampett
Written by Bob Clampett
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Rod Scribner
Bob Clampett really did have a way of leaning in to the bizarre. He had a penchant for injecting surreal and out there comedy that not even Tex Avery was capable of accomplishing. That’s both a good thing and hindrance as I personally was never a big fan of Clampett’s habit for the weird. I always hated the “Yoyo DoDo” character as well as his first appearance in 1938’s “Porky in Wackyland.” And I was very annoyed when they made him something of a big part of “Tiny Toon Adventures.” I’m not against the animators venturing out of the norm and breaking the monotony, but Clampett always went too far in the other direction for my tastes.
His animation always felt stilted presenting a lot of wacky, outrageous gestures, but no actual motion or momentum like Chuck Jones or Friz Freleng. In either case, Clampett does have his fans and “The Big Snooze” marks what would be his final outing with Warner and the Looney Tunes universe. In fact according to various sources, Clampett left before the production for “The Big Snooze” ended, prompting Arthur Davis to come on board and complete it, leaving him as an uncredited contributor. This makes sense since reportedly a lot of the short reuses animation from older Bugs Bunny shorts, including backgrounds.
One scene involving Elmer attempting to chase after Bugs through a log, only for Bugs to aim it toward a ledge over and over was recycled from “All this and Rabbit Stew.” Except this time there’s Elmer drawn over the original character—ironically neither version of the gag is a laugh riot. Arthur Q. Bryan who voices Elmer Fudd for a majority of the shorts doesn’t even voice Elmer in some instances, giving Mel Blanc the task of filling in the holes of dialogue left behind. It’s not really noticeable, thankfully. “The Big Snooze” is one of the first shorts in a while where Bugs is a jerk for no reason other than to move the narrative along.
In a slice of meta-humor, Elmer is sick and tired of not being able to catch Bugs Bunny. So he breaks the fourth wall and alerts Warner Bros. that he’s done with his tenure at the studio. After ripping apart his contract, he decides to devote all of his time to fishing, despite Bugs begging him to come back. Again, for no real reason, Bugs decides to take sleeping pills while Elmer is sleeping basically torment him in his dreams, thus motivating Elmer in to wanting to kill Bugs again; or something to that effect. In either case, the short features a ton of weird and loud visuals including one scene of Elmer hallucinating multiple, multi-colored rabbits, and Bugs dressing Elmer up in the drag.
This causes him to be chased by wolves, all of whom feel suspiciously derivative of Tex Avery. They’re not on the screen long enough to be complete riffs on Avery’s version of the wolf in the Zoot suit, but it’s noticeable. For no other reason than to have Elmer in peril, Bugs convinces Elmer to run in a wild formation, in drag, while fleeing the wolves. And eventually Elmer awakens from his horrible nightmare after begging Bugs for help. After crashing down to Earth, Elmer revives his need to hunt Elmer, and that’s about it.
There’s not a lot of plot to this short, nor are there a ton of gags. What there are feel like left overs from other Bugs Bunny shorts balled in to this odd experience. It’s just a lot of recycled bits, and go nowhere animated segments that aren’t quite justified in the end. I guess if Elmer can break the fourth wall, Bugs can enter his dreams? And I’m still not too sure what the whole drag sight gag was.
In any case, “The Big Snooze” is a rare miss, and it’s too bad this had to be Bob Clampett’s last go around with Warner and the Looney Tunes.
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