I don’t know how many people would agree with me on this, but I think that “Pecos Pest” is the greatest of the Golden Age Tom and Jerry cartoons. I am enthralled with this short because it deviates from the usual knockabout of the series with the inclusion of an audacious new character who shakes up the comedy with inventive humor.
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Hare-Less Wolf (1958)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis, Virgil Ross
Music by Milt Franklyn
One of the most inspired one-shot characters in the Bugs Bunny series is Charles M. Wolf, a genial lupine slob who is yanked out a relaxing afternoon watching a baseball game on television by his harridan wife who orders him to hunt a rabbit for dinner. As he exits his cave residence with a rifle, Charles looks to the viewer and angrily whispers, “I hate her” – a declaration that is punctuated by his off-screen wife throwing a pot directly at his head.
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Rabbit Romeo (1957)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ted Bonnicksen and George Grandpre
Music by Milt Franklyn
Elmer Fudd’s Uncle Judd ships him a Slobovian rabbit to watch until he returns from abroad, with the offer of $500 for his efforts. The rabbit is a large female named Millicent who behaves with unhappy destructiveness. A doctor is called to examine Millicent and Elmer is informed that Millicent is lonely and wants another rabbit as a companion. Elmer lures Bugs Bunny in from a cold winter night, and Millicent immediately falls in love with Bugs – indeed, she’s ready to marry him after making his acquaintance for several seconds. Bugs tries to escape, but Elmer keeps blocking his exit by brandishing a rifle.
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Show Biz Bugs (1957)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Davis, Virgil Ross
Music by Milt Franklyn
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are performers in a vaudeville revue, but Daffy is furious that Bugs has top billing and a star’s dressing room plus the audience’s frenzied adulation while he faces the indignity of being assigned the men’s bathroom as his dressing room and an audience that greets his performing with either stony silence or a tomato thrown at his face. Unable to upstage and sabotage Bugs, Daffy pulls out all stops to perform a wildly dangerous act where he consumes multiple explosive ingredients and blows himself up. The audience loves the act and wants more, but alas it is too late – Daffy’s soul is Heaven bound when he ruefully confides to Bugs that he can only do that explosive act once.
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Bugsy and Mugsy (1957)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis
Music by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn
Bugs Bunny is forced to relocate from his hole-in-the-ground residence after it gets flooded during a rainstorm. He takes shelter in a condemned tenement, only to discover the building is the hideout of the bank robbers Rocky and Mugsy. The gangsters are unaware of Bugs’ presence, and the mischievous rabbit uses trickery to convince Rocky that Mugsy is trying to kill him and claim the stolen loot for himself.
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What’s Opera, Doc? (1957)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Abe Levitow
Music by Richard Wagner, arranged by Milt Franklyn
There are many people who believe “What’s Opera, Doc?” is the greatest cartoon of all time. I am not one of them. That’s not say I hate the film – I don’t. But at the same time, I don’t share the opinion that this represents the apex of animation. In fact, I wouldn’t even list it in the top 20 of all Bugs Bunny cartoons.
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Continuing from the What If…? episodes, Marvel Zombies is a quick-paced and thrilling animated mini-series on Disney+.