Tag Archives: Animation

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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Tiki Tiki (1971) [Fantasia Film Festival 2024]

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Fantasia Retro 2024

Animation buffs might end up appreciating and loving this oddity by Canadian filmmaker and animator Gerald Potterton based mainly on how it was conceived. On its own, “Tiki Tiki” is a gigantic mess of a movie that tries to fit a square peg in to a circle hole. At seventy minutes, Potterton’s film is packed with about forty minutes of filler. Most of the filler is comprised of random scenes of people dressed as monkeys, and nigh endless musical numbers. And what kind of musical numbers per se? It’s mostly funk and soul music, which when viewed in context, is absolutely awkward.

Most times Potterton almost seems to forget that this is kind of an animated movie pitting his characters as back drops for an incredibly dull story about pirates and Monchhichis.

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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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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Homeless Hare (1950)

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Homeless Hare (1950)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris
Music by Carl Stalling

A lot of Looney Tunes relies on the formula of the whole industrial revolution and the trampling of the environment. While most of it just used as a means of finding a catalyst for a narrative of the short, so many times these shorts always begin with the real bad guy of the piece. Either Bugs, or Daffy are minding their business and are interrupted by some company either destroying their homes, or demolishing some kind of ecosystem. Even shorts like the Coyote and Road Runner finds them primarily battling in man made roads, and train tracks and bridges. They’re rarely hunting each other in the wild, or in bushes, which is an interesting look at how much America was changing in this era.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Mutiny on the Bunny (1950)

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Mutiny on the Bunny (1950)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Carl Stalling

Friz Freleng’s “Mutiny on the Bunny” is another of Bugs Bunny’s sea faring adventures and they always manage to hit differently. There’s just something more inherently funny about Bugs Bunny out at sea that allows the writers to get a bit more creative. Meanwhile, we’re given yet another appearance by Yosemite Sam who plays the sea captain, and I couldn’t have asked for a better nemesis this time around. Yosemite Sam is one of my all time favorite nemeses for Bugs. Probably even more so than Elmer Fudd, now that I come to think about it.

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Five Animated Features that Deserve a Place in the National Film Registry

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Established in 1988, the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress works to ensure the survival, conservation, and increased public availability of America’s film heritage. Every year since 1989, the National Film Preservation Board has inducted 25 films showcasing the range and diversity of American film heritage as a way to increase awareness for its preservation.

As of 2023, there have only been fifteen animated movies included on the list, with the oldest being Disney’s “Snow White the Seven Dwarfs.” The newest: Pixar’s “WALL-E.” Disney is highly represented in this list, and I’d even argue absolutely over represented. Disney has absolutely created some of the biggest animated movies of all time, influencing so many, but while they dominate other amazing animated movies have waited in the wings deserving of a spot on the list. The Registry’s deadline is on August 15th, and I’m listing five (among so many) animated movies that deserve a spot in the National Film Registry to ensure curating and immortality.

These five films have not only proven to be influential and innovative, but they also deliver on statements and social commentary. They’re works of art begging to be re-assessed. The deadline for Public Voting ends on August 15th.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hurdy-Gurdy-Hare (1950)

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Hurdy-Gurdy Hare (1950)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Animation by JC Melendez
Music by Carl Stalling 

I love “Hurdy Gurdy Hare” because it doesn’t really follow the traditional formula for Bugs Bunny toons. It feels a lot like a callback to the Abbot and Costello show where there’s not a real plot line. There’s just a lot of stuff that happens and Bugs Bunny is at the forefront of it all. Seriously, a lot of stuff just happens with not a lot of the usual Bugs Bunny defending people or whatnot. It’s just Bugs trying to make a living and coming across a devious, greedy little monkey.

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