Category Archives: Every Bugs Bunny Ever

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bushy Hare (1950)

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Bushy Hare (1950)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Animation by Phil De Lara, J.C. Melendez, Charles McKimson, Rod Scribner
Music by Carl Stalling

On several occasions, the Warner Bros. animators placed Bugs Bunny up against one-shot foes designed to plumb humor from politically incorrect stereotypes. In “Bushy Hare,” the antagonist is supposed to be an Aboriginal Australian. However, the Termite Terrace gang obviously knew nothing about Aboriginal Australians and instead created an all-purpose (albeit light tan skinned) wild man in a red loincloth who sports bushy hair and a beard and throws a boomerang and a spear while screaming unintelligibly. No one in America seemed to mind or notice any problems until June 2001 when Cartoon Network pulled it from its “June Bugs” marathon along with other shorts featuring racial and ethnic stereotype characters.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bunker Hill Bunny (1950)

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Editor’s Note: Cinema Crazed founder Felix Vasquez Jr. began the “Every Bugs Bunny Ever” series on January 3, 2023, with the goal of reviewing the cinematic output of the most popular star from the Warner Bros. animation studio. Felix passed away yesterday, and I will be inheriting the series and continuing with this weekly output in tribute to Felix’s legacy and his love for animated films.

Bunker Hill Bunny (1950)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Ken Champin, Virgil Ross and Arthur Davis
Music by Carl Stalling

“Bunker Hill Bunny” takes place during the American Revolution – specifically, the Battle of Bagle Heights. As battles go, this was on the small side, with the red-coated Hessian mercenary Sam von Scham (our old pal Yosemite Sam) taking on patriot Bugs Bunny. The rivals are in adjacent forts, with Sam firing multiple cannons at once from a might stone structure while Bugs shoots off a single cannon by reaching out of his hole-in-the-ground residence and pulling a string attached to the weapon.
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Bugs’ Nemesis Daffy: Daffy Duck’s Five Best Shorts

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Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943)
One of my favorites as a child, this Daffy short was featured on a VHS compilation I watched often. This is, yet again, Daffy tormenting Porky Pig; Porky is a show business agent who goes on vacation and Daffy storms his house with his client Sleepy Lagoon, desperate to convince him to represent him. Despite Porky’s protests about not working, Daffy makes it painfully clear he’s not taking no for an answer. He soon begins chasing him around, stalking him, and even engaging him in a hilarious Carmen Miranda impression. With all the antics, the short ends on a high note with Sleepy fumbling his big solo for Porky. It’s a hilarious high note to end on. 
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hillbilly Hare (1950)

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Hillbilly Hare (1950)
Directed by Bob McKimson
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Rod Scribner
Music by Carl Stalling

Sorry we missed you last week, but I’ve been very ill as of late.

In either case, “Hillbilly Hare” further emphasizes the wonderful marriage between Looney Tunes and classic music, or in case it’s Southern music. “HillBilly Hare” isn’t anything particularly special, but it’s a great and very funny misadventure with Bugs mainly because of the wonderful musical direction. I dare say that I learned about square dancing because of “HillBilly Hare” and loved the way the short utilized it as a means of comedy. While this certainly the first comedy to take square dancing and use it as a comedy plot point or running gag, “HillBilly Hare” is just so great about.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: 8 Ball Bunny (1950)

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8 Ball Bunny (1950)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Phil Monroe
Music by Carl Stalling

It’s the return of Playboy Penguin, the inadvertent hero we haven’t seen since 1949’s “Frigid Hare.”

This time the Playboy Penguin returns for his second and last collaboration with Bugs Bunny as his show “The Brooklyn Ice Frolics” leaves town without him. He accidentally falls in to Bugs’ rabbit hole garnering the sympathy of Bugs who agrees to take him back home. Little does he know home is the North Pole. Ooh! I’m Dy-ing! There is so much to unwrap with “8 Ball Bunny” as this is probably one of the best Chuck Jones outputs for Bugs that’s ever been made. It’s hysterical, it’s clever, it’s quotable, and it even has a three act structure.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: What’s Up, Doc? (1950)

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What’s Up Doc? (1950)
Directed by Bob McKimson
Written by William Foster
Animation by JC Melendez
Music by Carl Stalling 

And so it was: the birth of “What’s up, Doc?”

At least that’s how Bugs Bunny sees it. Although we know better, the big star known as Bugs prefers to think of it as a fluke that turned in to a successful shtick for a young Bugs Bunny. “What’s up, Doc?” is a pretty important short in the Bugs Bunny library even though pretty much all of his are just self contained stories with loose continuity. For example, the set up here is similar to “A Hare Grows in Manhattan” where Bugs even tells a different story of how he grew up and became a performer. Like Vaudeville, they all work within the confines of their frame work, and they’re just there as a reason to tell jokes and deliver some great gags.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Big House Bunny (1950)

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Big House Bunny (1950)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Virgil Ross
Music by Carl Stalling

I know that I compare a lot of the premises for Bugs Bunny shorts to Tex Avery, but there’s no doubting that a lot of his influence remained on the Looney Tunes long after he left for MGM. Not only did he have an unusual albeit genius formula, but he was funnier in MGM because he was pretty much allowed to be as insane as possible. With “Big House Bunny” it feels like a plot for one of Droopy’s shorts where Droopy ends up at the wrong place while the warden would normally be the hilarious rival of the wolf.

That doesn’t hinder the entertainment factor of “Big House Bunny” it’s just that the concept for this short feels familiar in its ingredients.

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