Category Archives: Every Bugs Bunny Ever

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hyde and Hare (1955)

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Hyde and Hare (1955)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Davis, Virgil Ross, Ted Bonnicksen
Music by Carl Stalling

Bugs Bunny talks his way into being adopted by a kindly elderly man who feeds him carrots daily in a park. The man is Dr. Jekyll, who has created a potion that turns him into a hulking, green-skinned, red-eyed brute – the alter ego is never called Mr. Hyde in the film, but we all know who it is supposed to be. Bugs is pursued by this violent monster, who keeps turning back into Dr. Jekyll every few seconds before becoming Hyde again. Of course, Bugs never figures out the two very different figures are the same person.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: This is a Life? (1955)

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This is a Life? (1955)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Ted Bonnicksen, Arthur Davis
Music by Milt Franklyn

This offering is a hilarious riff on “This is Your Life,” a very 1950s popular program hosted by Ralph Edwards that surprised people with retrospectives of their life. The show was staged in front of a studio audience, and sometimes unsuspecting people would be taken from the audience and led to the stage. The concept of “This is Your Life” had already been brilliantly spoofed on “Your Show of Shows” in 1954, but screenwriter Warren Foster and director Friz Freleng opted to put their spin on the subject using the Looney Tunes characters.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rabbit Rampage (1955)

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Rabbit Rampage (1955)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam
Music by Milt Franklyn

In my opinion, “Rabbit Rampage” is the worst of the Bugs Bunny cartoons – which is curious since it is a sequel to “Duck Amuck,” which is my choice as being the best of all the Warner Bros. cartoons.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare Brush (1955)

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Hare Brush (1955)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Ted Bonnicksen, Art Davis, Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Milt Franklyn

Not unlike last week’s entry “Sahara Hare,” “Hare Brush” gets off to a great start with original humor but strangely falls flat midway through with dull and tired gags.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Sahara Hare (1955)

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Sahara Hare (1955)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Music by Milt Franklyn
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Ted Bonnicksen, Arthur Davis

“Sahara Hare” gets off to a great start when Bugs Bunny burrows his way into the middle of the Sahara Desert and mistakenly believes he is in Miami Beach. Bugs happily runs across the desert to take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean, but the endless hot sands confuse and exhaust him. “Man, dig this crazy beach,” he exhales before hitting upon a tiny oasis. Mistaking the oasis pond for the ocean, he dives in headfirst, but winds up with a headful of mud from the pond’s shallow bottom.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Beanstalk Bunny (1955)

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Beanstalk Bunny (1955)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Abe Levitow, Keith Darling
Music by Carl Stalling

A cute idea with a meh execution, “Beanstalk Bunny” reimagines the fairy tale with Daffy Duck as Jack, Elmer Fudd as the giant, and Bugs Bunny as an interloper who joins in the mayhem. Bugs went up the beanstalk before with “Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk” (1943) and found himself in a land of giants when he challenged Paul Bunyan’s dog in “Lumber Jack-Rabbit” (1953), so it was a bit strange to have him back for a third time in this type of a setting.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Baby Buggy Bunny (1954)

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Baby Buggy Bunny (1954)
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam
Music by Milt Franklyn

Of all the adversaries who challenged Bugs Bunny, Baby Face Finster was arguably the most inventive concept of a villain. The idea of an adult (and rather butch) midget disguising himself as a baby was pure genius, and Finster’s fracas with Bugs was among the most original and invigorating in the history of the character’s films.
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