The 1976 made-for-television special “Bugs and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals” marked the first time since “False Hare” in 1964 that an original production starring Bugs Bunny was created by Warner Bros. Why did it take 12 years for Warner Bros. to bring Bugs back? And why did Warner Bros. wait until 1976 to produce an original prime time special featuring its animated characters?
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Transylvania 6-5000 (1963)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Story by John Dunn
Animation by Bob Bransford, Tom Ray, Ken Harris, Richard Thompson
Music by Bill Lava
Bugs Bunny is burrowing his way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but winds up in Pittsburghe, Transylvania. After engaging in a brief conversation with a two-headed lady vulture, he ventures to an eerie castle (which he mistakes for a motel) in search of a telephone to call his travel agent. The castle belongs to the vampire Count Bloodcount, who convinces Bugs to spend the night. Unable to sleep, Bugs finds a book of magic phrases and begins to read them aloud, not realizing that he is changing Count Bloodcount into a bat and then back into his human form – always at the worst possible moment.
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Mad as a Mars Hare (1963)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Story by John Dunn
Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Bob Bransford, Tom Ray, Harry Love
Music by Bill Lava
Marvin the Martian amuses himself by viewing the Earth through a telescope. He watches a rocket launch from the Florida peninsula – and within seconds, the spacecraft crashes through his observatory and lands on Mars. The rocket’s sole occupant is Astro-Rabbit Bugs Bunny, who claims the planet with a metal carrot-shaped canister that opens to wave a flag marked “Earth” and mechanized instruments that play “Yankee Doodle.” Marvin’s attempt to capture Bugs backfire when Bugs accidentally disintegrates him. Marvin tries again but uses one of his weapons incorrectly and turns Bugs into a behemothic “Neanderthal Rabbit” who crushes him.
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Compressed Hare (1961)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Story by Dave Detiege
Animation by Bob Bransford, Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Tom Ray, Harry Love
Music by Milt Franklyn
“Compressed Hare” is one of the stronger Bugs Bunny cartoons to emerge in the early 1960s, with inventive gags and stylish animation that harkened back to the series’ halcyon days in the late 1940s and early 1950s. There is even a sampling of Raymond Scott’s instrumental “Powerhouse” that had been missing from the cartoon soundtracks for too many years.
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The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Ken Harris, Tom Ray, Richard Thompson, Bob Bransford, David R. Green
Music by Milt Franklyn
Bugs Bunny burrows underground on a trip to Palm Springs, with Daffy Duck following him. Somehow, they wind up in the Himalayas. Daffy is exasperated by Bugs’ poor sense of direction and decides to burrow his way home, but winds up encountering the Abominable Snowman. This oversized creature is strong but cheerfully dimwitted, and he is too eager to have a pet rabbit that he wants to name George.
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For every Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck that becomes a pop culture icon, there are countless cartoon characters that get tested in one or a few shorts before being dropped for lacking versatility and viability. Conrad the Cat, a yellow bipedal feline created by Chuck Jones, is an example of a character that was jettisoned after failing to immediately click on the screen.
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Rabbit’s Feat (1960)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese (uncredited)
Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson
Music by Milt Franklyn
Wile E. Coyote – the talking version with the supercilious Mid-Atlantic accent – returns to pursue “rabbitus idioticus delicious.” As with his previous attempts to secure Bugs Bunny for his meal, the self-important coyote winds up falling victim to his cockamamie schemes and traps.
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