Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Big Top Bunny (1951)

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Phil Hall

Big Top Bunny (1951)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Charles McKimson, Rod Scribner, Phil DeLara, Bob Wickersham
Music by Carl Stalling

The reigning animal star of Col. Korny’s Circus is Bruno the Slobokian Acrobatic Bear – the ursine star is a burly biped with a tan body, a chalk white face and a green and red derby, as well as a heavy accent that sounds like it comes from any country behind the Iron Curtain. Bruno’s spotlight reign is threatened when he is given a new performing partner with Bugs Bunny. Bruno is furious at this arrangement and tries to sabotage Bugs during their premiere engagement. Bugs quickly realizes Bruno’s intentions and deftly turns the tables on the arrogant acrobat, ultimately resulting in a big top ejection via a cannon.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: His Hare-Raising Tale (1951)

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Phil Hall

His Hare-Raising Tale (1951)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Virgil Ross
Music by Carl Stalling

One of the relatively few Warner Bros. cartoons that mainly consisted of recycled footage from older shorts, “His Hare-Raising Tale” is an amusing endeavor that pointed to a potential scenario shift that, sadly, was never explored in depth.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rabbit Fire (1951)

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Phil Hall

Rabbit Fire (1951)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, Lloyd Vaughan and Ben Washam
Music by Carl W. Stalling

In the realm of the Bugs Bunny cartoons, “Rabbit Fire” is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing, of course, is the film’s contents – a fast, inventive serving of classic dialogue and innovative visual comedy that resulted in an animated masterpiece. The curse, however, involved the same issues that make it a blessing. “Rabbit Fire” is so remarkable that it created a lightning-in-a-bottle moment that could never be repeated with the same level of style and substance. And Lord knows the Termite Terrace gang tried endlessly to duplicate its brilliance, with results that ranged from almost perfect to dreadful.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: The Fair-Haired Hare (1951)

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Phil Hall

The Fair-Haired Hare (1951)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis, Manuel Perez, John Carey
Music by Carl Stalling

When Yosemite Sam builds a cabin on top of Bugs Bunny’s hole-in-the-ground domicile, Bugs vows to sue Sam for damages. A judge rules that Bugs and Sam must share the newly constructed residence, with the knowledge that full ownership goes to the survivor if one of them should pass away. Sam opts to speed Bugs’ demise, but his homicidal schemes inevitably backfire. Furious at being outsmarted, he opts to fill Bugs’ subterranean home with explosives, but Bugs redirects the devices to the crawl space between the cabin’s floor and the bare ground. Sam winds up blowing his home into the clouds while declaring, “Well, whaddya know, I’ve got a cabin in the sky!”
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bunny Hugged (1951)

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Phil Hall

Bunny Hugged (1951)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Phil Monroe, Ken Harris, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam
Music by Carl Stalling

During the early 1950s, professional wrestling enjoyed a flurry of popularity thanks to television. The Termite Terrace gang took advantage of this new wave of attention by dusting off the 1948 boxing cartoon “Rabbit Punch” and reimagining the action in a wrestling ring – with the musclebound pugilist Battling McGook brought back under the name Crusher.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rabbit Every Monday (1951)

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Phil Hall

Rabbit Every Monday (1951)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Animation by Manuel Perez, Ken Champin. Virgil Ross, Art Davis
Music by Carl Stalling

“Rabbit Every Monday” casts Yosemite Sam in the hunter role usually occupied by Elmer Fudd, and Sam’s distinctive mix of bellicosity and idiocy expanded the possibilities for wildly original comedy.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare We Go (1951)

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Phil Hall

Hare We Go (1951)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Phil DeLara, Charles McKimson, John Carey, Rod Scribner, J.C. Melendez
Music by Carl Stalling

One of the weaker entries in the Bugs Bunny series, Robert McKimson’s “Hare We Go” opens in the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, where Christopher Columbus is trying in vain to convince the monarchs that the world is round. “It’s-a round like-a my head,” the blonde Columbus declares in his Chico Marx-worthy Italian accent – to which the king bangs his noggin with a mallet, leaving it horizontal while declaring “It’s flat like you’re head!” in the Mexican accent that Mel Blanc used on Jack Benny’s show.
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