Every Bugs Bunny Ever: People Are Bunny (1959)

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Phil Hall

People Are Bunny (1959)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Warren Batchelder, Tom Ray, Ted Bonnicksen, George Grandpré, David R. Green
Music by Milt Franklyn

Daffy Duck is watching television and dials into “The QTTV Sportsman Hour” where the host promises $1,000 for the first viewer who brings a rabbit into the station. Daffy tries to lure Bugs with free tickets to a television show, but when Bugs declines Daffy grabs a rifle and forces him to travel to QTTV. Once at the station, Bugs and Daffy have separate experiences with game shows – Bugs enjoys a profitable outcome while Daffy’s excursion ends painfully.
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Soup to Nuts (1930)

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Phil Hall

The roots of the Three Stooges filmography can be traced to this creaky 1930 feature for the Fox Film Corporation, which has received more attention lately than it deserves thanks to the expiration of its copyright and its new status as a public domain work.
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The Bootleg Files: A Streetcar Named Desire

Posted on January 30, 2026 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 928: “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1984 made-for-television film starring Ann-Margret and Treat Williams).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: As a VHS video release only.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: I have no idea why this is out of circulation.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nothing on the immediate horizon.

Remaking a classic film is always a thankless task, for nine times out of ten the remake is a pallid shadow that is eons removed from the artistry that made the original a beloved work. During the 1970s and 1980s there were plenty of misguided small-screen remakes of big-screen classics. Even the presence of genuine talent in those made-for television remakes couldn’t save them from being weak carbon copies – think of the 1972 “The Man Who Came to Dinner” with Orson Welles and Joan Collins, or the 1974 “Brief Encounter” with Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, or the 1976 “Dark Victory” with Elizabeth Montgomery and Anthony Hopkins, or the 1986 “Stagecoach” with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: A Witch’s Tangled Hare (1959)

Posted on January 28, 2026 by Phil Hall

A Witch’s Tangled Hare (1959)
Directed by Abe Levitow
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Keith Darling, Ken Harris, Ben Washam, Richard Thompson
Music by Milt Franklyn

“A Witch’s Tangled Hare” incorporates bits and pieces of William Shakespeare’s plays – along with a character who resembles Shakespeare – into a Bugs Bunny romp that brings back the zany Witch Hazel as the predator. It’s a cute idea for a cartoon, but the execution is off and it quickly becomes a bore.
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Journey to Italy (1954)

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Phil Hall

The other day, someone on social media posted this challenge: Name something that most people consider to be a masterpiece but you don’t like. Upon reading that, I immediately blurted out: “Journey to Italy.”
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The Bootleg Files: Uncle Walt

Posted on January 23, 2026 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 927: “Uncle Walt” (1964 student film that was unavailable for many years).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A student film made without the clearance of the rights owners of the original classic.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

One of the sad truths of locating films that are either lost or have been otherwise unavailable for decades is that the discovered titles are often far less interesting than the mystique that surrounded them during their absence from view.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bonanza Bugs (1959)

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Phil Hall

It is a winter’s night in Dawson City during the midst of the 1896 Gold Rush when a snow-covered Bugs Bunny walks into a saloon and orders a glass of carrot juice. He is carrying a bag of large gold nuggets, but believes they have no value – he mistakes the “karats” of the rocks with the carrots that make up his diet. The villainous Blacque Jacques Shellacque – who is wanted for such crimes as for claim-jumping, pogo-sticking, and square-dance calling – makes multiple attempts to take Bugs’ bag of gold nuggets, but ultimately winds up running off a with a bag of gunpowder that Bugs ignites. Bugs ultimately admits the rocks were merely covered in paint and he drives off in a sled powered by a chihuahua.
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