My Bunny Lies Over the Sea (1948)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris
Music by Carl W. Stalling

The only thing more annoying than recycling the same gags is essentially recycling the same old villains. That is especially when they were so good in the previous shorts. And I don’t mean just featuring dogs over and over, as they’re a common predator, so it makes considerable sense. But more in the unnecessary recycling of one of Bugs’ banner villains is what kind of grinds my gears. “My Bunny Lies Over the Sea” is a pretty good Bugs Bunny short, and one that has a good time lampooning the Scottish culture. But once we meet his nemesis, it becomes apparent that the writers are basically just giving it the bare minimum.

So, Bugs meets a red haired, short, angry man with a hot temper, a funny accent, and who is prone to lashing out at Bugs quite often. You might think I’m discussing Yosemite Sam, but no. I’m talking about Angus MacRory.

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A-Lad-In His Lamp (1948)
Directed by Bob McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Animation by Charles McKimson
Music by Carl W. Stalling

This short from Bob McKimson holds significance on two levels.

The one being that it is apparently quite controversial for its depiction of middle Easterners. While I am not middle Eastern, I could understand why this short strikes a nerve today, as the middle East is depicted as nothing more than a lot of men that wield swords and solve everything with violence. Meanwhile the women are all mainly just harems and sex objects. It was apparently protested by late DJ Casey Kasem who hated the depiction of middle Easterners, and I can understand why that’d be troublesome. It’s a trope that Bugs Bunny’s shorts would continue with a lot of shorts set in the middle East or Asian communities.

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Hare Splitter (1948)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Champin

The premise for “Hare Splitter” feels like someone took an old script for “Tom and Jerry” and retooled it for Bugs Bunny. One of my main problems that completely hinders “Hare Splitter” for me is that the whole short feels too much like it’s cribbing from the MGM formula. All that’s missing is the rambunctious mouse or angry yard dog. It too often feels like Tom and Butch should be the ones taking center stage instead of Bugs and his one and done rival Casbah. Too much of the short here feels like the animators were borrowing from Fred Quimby or Tex Avery (before his move to MGM), creating a premise that feels so far removed from what we’re used to seeing with Bugs Bunny.

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Hot Cross Bunny (1948)
Directed by Bob McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Manny Gould

Robert McKimson is one of my all time favorite directors for the Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny, if only because his shorts always end up being so off the cuff and bizarre. But not bizarre in the Bob Clampett sense, but bizarre in original and outside the box. There’s just something so out of bounds about “Hot Cross Bunny” that even when I was a kid, I couldn’t get over the unusual energy of the short. When I was a kid, “Hot Cross Bunny” was one of the many shorts on constant rotation every Saturday morning on “The Bugs and Daffy Show” and I always got a kick out of it whenever it came on.

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