Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bugs and Thugs (1954)

Posted on April 16, 2025 by Phil Hall

Friz Freleng’s “Bugs and Thugs” is a reworking of his 1946 “Racketeer Rabbit” that pitted Bugs Bunny against the bank robbers Rocky and Hugo, which were caricatures of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre. In this 1954 film, the criminals are originals – Rocky, a diminutive, stone-faced tough guy with a cigarette hanging from his lower lip and an outrageously oversized vertical fedora that obscured his eyes, and his large oafish partner Mugsy. Rocky had previously been used in Daffy Duck’s “Golden Yeggs” (1950) and the Sylvester and Tweety “Catty Cornered” (1953) with different (and more competent) oversized sidekicks.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Captain Hareblower (1954)

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Phil Hall

Captain Hareblower (1954)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Manuel Perez, Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis
Music by Carl W. Stalling

Yosemite Sam returns to 18th century oceanic miscreancy, this time as Pirate Sam with a schooner that he sails all by himself. Just the thought of encountering him creates panic on well-manned ship – the crew abandons their vessel when Sam approaches, leaving only Bugs Bunny, a stowaway in a carrot crate who never heard of Pirate Sam and has no fear of what he can create. Sam bellows for Bugs to surrender, reminding him that “I’ve got you outnumbered one to one.” However, Sam quickly discovers his new long-eared foe is no pushover.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Robot Rabbit (1953)

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Phil Hall

Robot Rabbit (1953)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Ken Champin, Manuel Perez, Arthur Davis, Virgil Ross
Music by Carl Stalling

Carrot farmer Elmer Fudd is frustrated at having Bugs Bunny pilfering his harvest, but his attempts to fatally shoot the long-eared miscreant amounts to naught. Elmer places a call to Acme Pest Control and quickly receives a robot designed to obliterate irritating varmints. The robot initially gets the best of Bugs with a solid punch to the face and by digging him out of his hole, the rascally rabbit uses a mix of old and new tricks to speed the demise of his metallic foe.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Duck! Rabbit! Duck! (1953)

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Phil Hall

Duck! Rabbit! Duck! (1953)
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Richard Thompson, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam
Music by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn

The final entry in the “Hunting Trilogy” that pits Bugs Bunny against Daffy Duck against Elmer Fudd, “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!” is the weakest of the three films due to joke repetition and an uneven balance among the characters.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Lumber Jack-Rabbit (1953)

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Phil Hall

Lumber Jack-Rabbit (1953)
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Abe Levitow, Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam
Music by Carl Stalling

Notable as the only Bugs Bunny cartoon shot in the 3D process, “Lumber Jack-Rabbit” gets off to an amusing start when a wandering Bugs sings “Jimmy Crack Corn” while journeying into Paul Bunyan’s garden. Unaware that he is in a giant’s domain – he mistakes the asparagus for “funny looking trees” – he becomes ecstatic at discovering gigantic carrots. Bugs sets up mining equipment to cull his harvest, but is interrupted by Paul Bunyan’s equally massive Smidgen.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bully for Bugs (1953)

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Phil Hall

Bully for Bugs (1953)
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam, Lloyd Vaughan, Ken Harris
Music by Carl Stalling

According to Chuck Jones, “Bully for Bugs” came about because of an unexpected declaration made by producer Edward Selzer didn’t want any films related to bullfighting because he felt that bullfights aren’t funny. If Selzer was commenting on comedy films with a bullfighting theme, he was most correct – those films relied heavily on stock footage, trick editing, the obvious use of stunt doubles and connect-the-dots comedy with the funnymen supposedly being chased around a bullring.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare Trimmed (1953)

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Phil Hall

Hare Trimmed (1953)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Manuel Perez, Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis
Music by Carl Stalling

“Hare Trimmed” is notable as being the only Bugs Bunny cartoon where Granny plays a prominent role in the story. It is a shame that she wasn’t a more frequent presence, since she was an endearing and lively character – Granny turned up briefly two years later in “This is a Life?”, but that was more of a gag appearance.
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