During the 1930s, several animated shorts presented silly caricatures of celebrities in unlikely situations. The 1933 Warner Bros. offering “I’ve Got to Sing a Torch Song” is among the most interesting of this mini-genre, with some genuinely amusing gags involving the big names of the day.
Bedevilled Rabbit (1957)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Ted Bonnicksen, Keith Darling, George Grandpré
Music by Milt Franklyn
When the Tasmanian Devil – or Taz, as his friends know him – debuted in the 1954 “Devil May Hare,” producer Edward Selzer took a dislike to the character and ordered director Robert McKimson not to use him again. However, studio chief Jack L. Warner later intervened by pointing to the surplus number of fan letters asking when Taz would be in another cartoon. Three years passed after “Devil May Hare” before he returned in “Bedevilled Rabbit,” which was the best of the Bugs-Taz pairings.
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A Star is Bored (1956)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Art Davis, Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Milt Franklyn
Daffy Duck is the malcontented janitor at a movie studio where Bugs Bunny is the reigning screen star. Annoyed at the attention Bugs is receiving, Daffy marches into the office of the casting director to demand a crack at stardom. Daffy is cast as Bugs’ stunt double in an ongoing production and is dressed in a rabbit suit but soon discovers to his frustration he is being assigned the most dangerous stunts.
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No, folks, don’t get your hopes up. This is not a review of a rediscovered lost film. Instead, it is an essay about a lost film and how it got lost.
Bugs’ Bonnets (1956)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Ben Washam, Richard Thompson
Music by Milt Franklyn
The impact of clothing – specifically, headgear – on one’s personality is the focus of this Chuck Jones offering, which involves the contents of a truck carrying theatrical hats falling from the vehicle and on the unsuspecting noggins of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. With each new hat that lands on their head, Bugs and Elmer take on a variety of aggressive and passive personalities.
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Rabbit Rampage (1955)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam
Music by Milt Franklyn
In my opinion, “Rabbit Rampage” is the worst of the Bugs Bunny cartoons – which is curious since it is a sequel to “Duck Amuck,” which is my choice as being the best of all the Warner Bros. cartoons.
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BOOTLEG FILES 909: “Rabbit Stew and Rabbits Too!” (1969 animated short).
LAST SEEN: On DailyMotion.com and several other sites.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A one-shot outing that came at the end of Warner Bros.’ animated theatrical run.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe in a Warner Bros. anthology collection.
The last iteration of this column featured “Rabbit Habit,” an underground parody film that imagined a drug-hazed post-script for the Warner Bros. animated characters. In retrospect, “Rabbit Habit” would have been a better sign-off than “Rabbit Stew and Rabbits Too!”, a 1969 short that was completed just before the celebrated animation studio finally ended its theatrical output.
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