Tag Archives: Looney Tunes

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk (1943)

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2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.

Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk (1943)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Michael Maltese
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Jack Bradbury (etc…)

The whole “Jack and the Beanstalk” fairy tale has been fodder for some of the best and worst movies ever made. It has always translated well especially in the comedy realm with Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes spoofing the story twice. “Jack Wabbit and the Beanstalk” should not be confused with “Beanstalk Bunny” from1955, yet another parody of this story starring Bugs Bunny, except this time featuring Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd pulling up the rear. That one is very good and very funny (we’ll get to that one), but “Jack Wabbit and the Beanstalk” has its merits just the same.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Super-Rabbit (1943)

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2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.

Super-Rabbit (1943)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris

“Look up there in the sky! It’s a boid…!”
“Naw, it ain’t no boid, it’s a dive bommah!”
“No… it’s Super Rabbit!”

This is my wheelhouse, baby. This is my niche. This is my milieu. This is my territory. They took Bugs Bunny, my favorite cartoon character of all time. They took Superman: My favorite fictional character and superhero of all time. Then they mixed them together to form this wonderful amalgam, satire, and homage that I loved as a kid and adore even more now. As a Superman fanatic going in to his forties, “Super-Rabbit” makes me happy. It makes me smile. And it’s also very funny, which is a plus. Superman was once upon a time the most popular character in America. He was a huge star of the radio, a big star on TV, and one of the highest selling comic book characters ever. Superman was a superstar of the early 1900’s, and continued to be, well in to the 1950’s.

So it only made sense for Merrie Melodies to not only satirize Superman, but satirize Superman by using one of the most popular cartoon characters of the time, Mr. Bugs Bunny.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Tortoise Wins By a Hare (1943)

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2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.

Tortoise Wins By a Hare (1943)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris

I don’t know entirely what the animators and writers had intended for Cecil the Turtle, when all is said and done. If he was intended as a villain, then they didn’t do a very good job, as with the sequel to “Tortoise Beats Hare,” he still comes off like a reluctant hero. If he’s intended as the hero, then there’s not a ton of logic behind making Bugs Bunny the villain. I get that they wanted to jump on the Tortoise and the Hare fable, but these pair of shorts where Cecil and Bugs race never works out in Bugs’ favor. Once again Bugs comes off petty, conniving, and kind of dumb. They’re traits that you figure the writers would have left way behind back in “Elmer’s Candid Camera,” but they insist on giving us a follow up to “Tortoise Beats Hare.”

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Case of the Missing Hare (1942)

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2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.

Case of the Missing Hare (1942)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Ted Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris

“Case of the Missing Hare” is one of the many Bugs Bunny shorts that I have sentimental value attached to. Once again, it’s in the public domain (one of the many from United Artists), so it was a part of the many VHS cartoon compilations that my siblings and I owned as kids (we must have owned at least ten of them). “Case of the Missing Hare” was one of my absolute favorites. While it definitely wasn’t one of Bugs’ best, it’s definitely one of my most watched. It also features yet another pretty much one and done villain for Bugs Bunny, which is a shame, because The Great Ala Bahma (also voiced by Blanc) is a pretty fun villain.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: The Hare-Brained Hypnotist (1942)

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2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.The Hare-Brained Hypnotist (1942)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Michael Maltese
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Phil Monroe 

One of the interesting things about “The Hare-Brained Hypnotist” is that I’ve often confused it for another Bugs Bunny short. Often times whenever I see this, I expect Bugs to eventually take on the clothing of Elmer Fudd, but that’s actually “Hare Brush” which would be released in 1955 (also a short that would be constantly played on “The Bugs and Daffy Show”). Both shorts, to be honest, aren’t very good when all is said and done. I don’t know if it’s the gimmick, or the plot twist or whatnot, but the premise for both shorts are pretty thin in laughs and gags. The latter being the lesser of the pair, but that’s beside the point.

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“Every Bugs Bunny Ever” Discussion on the Nutmeg Chatter Podcast!

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This week on WAPJ-FM’s award-winning “Nutmeg Chatter,” Phil Hall is joined by Cinema Crazed’s publisher and editor Felix Vasquez Jr. for a discussion on the 85th anniversary of Bugs Bunny’s debut.

(And listen carefully because we make a mistake in discussing Bugs’ history – can you guess where we went wrong?)

Listen Here!

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Fresh Hare (1942)

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2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.

Fresh Hare (1942)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Michael Maltese
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Manuel Perez

“Fresh Hare” is a triple layer kind of Bugs Bunny short. For one thing it is the last of the “Fat Elmer” Fudd shorts. Secondly, it bears immense nostalgic value for me, and number three is that it garners an ending that has been censored for decades. It’s a finale that once again includes Bugs Bunny celebrating a victory in none other than the dreaded black face. “Fresh Hare” is one of the many public domain animated Bugs Bunny shorts that I fondly recall watching as a kid on VHS as a child.

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