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.
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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Devil May Hare (1954)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Sid Marcus
Animation by Herman Cohen, Phil DeLara, Charles McKimson, Rod Scribner
Music by Milt Franklyn
Jack L. Warner rarely interfered with his studio’s animation unit, but on one notable occasion he pressured producer Edward Selzer to make cartoons with a character that Selzer disliked – the Tasmanian Devil, which debuted in the 1954 “Devil May Hare” but was shelved from future appearances at Selzer’s command. Warner had the character brought back after the studio received significant mail from moviegoers that loved the Tasmanian Devil and wanted to see it in more cartoons.
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Upswept Hare (1953)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Charles McKimson, Herman Cohen, Rod Scribner, Phil DeLara
Music by Carl Stalling
Wealthy amateur botanist Elmer Fudd discovers a rare flower during a drive through the desert and decides to add it to his floral collection at his penthouse apartment. Elmer digs around the flower to ensure it remains in its native soil, but he inadvertently digs up Bugs Bunny who is sleeping in his hole just under the flower’s roots and transplants him with the flower in a large planter. Bugs awakens the next morning and is initially baffled at being in a swanky penthouse, but he quickly makes himself at home – much to Elmer’s consternation. Elmer’s effort to evict his unwanted guest results in him being tricked by Bugs to jump off the penthouse, where he plummets into a sidewalk popcorn vending machine.
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Rabbit’s Kin (1952)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Charles McKimson, Herman Cohen, Rod Scribner, Phil DeLara, Keith Darling
Music by Carl Stalling
Of all the predators who pursued Bugs Bunny, Pete Puma was arguably the stupidest of the bunch. But at the same time, he might have been the most endearing – if only because his cheerful imbecility made him oblivious to the fact that he was his own worst enemy rather than Bugs’ greatest foe.
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