The Unmentionables (1963)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by John Dunn
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Virgil Ross, Bob Matz, Art Leonardi, Lee Halpern
Music by Bill Lava
“The Unmentionables” is a spoof of the then-popular television series “The Untouchables,” with Bugs Bunny as the federal agent Elegant Mess (a riff on the series’ crime fighter Elliot Ness). He is tasked with bringing in the notorious underworld figures Rocky and Mugsy, but he does his job a little too well. Bugs handcuffs the miscreants to his wrists and marches them to justice, but winds up serving their prison sentence with them because he lost the handcuff keys.
This cartoon gets off to a stylish launch by recalling the distinctive comic book art style of the Roaring Twenties. Bill Lava’s score perfectly recalls the jazzy sounds of that reckless era.
Unfortunately, the story quickly bogs down into segments that never fulfill their promise. Bugs looks great in his drag disguise as a Charleston-dancing flapper, but the sequence goes nowhere as his repeated wild high-kicks assault the slow-moving Rocky. The climactic chase through a breakfast cereal factory has a few stylish visual elements before collapsing into predictable sight gags with Rocky and Mugsy going through the mechanical processing system before being boxed into cereal packaging.
“The Unmentionables” was the last Golden Age Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. Unfortunately, his work by this time lacked spark and imagination. It is a shame this weak cartoon was his sign-off from the Bugs Bunny series.
Perhaps the most curious aspect of “The Unmentionables” came in the opening credits, with Ralph Harris sharing voice characterization acknowledgment with Mel Blanc. Harris impersonates the Walter Winchell narration of “The Untouchables” and he does a decent job, but it is odd that he would get credit while other notable voice actors in the Golden Age shorts – especially Arthur Q. Bryan, the voice of Elmer Fudd – were never acknowledged. Julie Bennett, who is briefly heard as a Brooklynese telephone operator, is not credited for her work.