Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Piker’s Peak (1957)

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Phil Hall

Piker’s Peak (1957)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Music by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Davis, and Virgil Ross

In a small Swiss village, a competition is announced where a prize of 50,000 kronkites will be given to the first one who can climb the Schmatterhorn mountain. Yosemite Sam, dressed in Alpine mountain-climbing gear rather than his usual cowboy attire, agrees to the challenge. To Sam’s unhappiness, Bugs Bunny decides to try his luck at conquering the Schmatterhorn. Sam engages in outlandish chicanery designed to throw his competitor from the mountain, but inevitably winds up the victim of his deranged schemes
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rabbitson Crusoe (1956)

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Phil Hall

Rabbitson Crusoe (1956)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis. Virgil Ross
Music by Milt Franklyn

This riff on “Robinson Crusoe” is the rare Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs is mostly a supporting character, with the bulk of the comedy handled by Yosemite Sam and a one-off shark character named Dopey Dick.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Roman Legion-Hare (1955)

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Phil Hall

Roman Legion-Hare (1955)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Virgil Ross, Art Davis, Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Milt Franklyn

It’s 54 AD in Rome and the crowd at the Coliseum is filing in to see the Detroit Lions – not the football team, of course, but the bungle-in-the-jungle bunch who devour any poor soul thrown into the path. Emperor Nero calls for a victim to be tossed to the lions, but the Coliseum is curiously bereft of victims to sacrifice. The captain of the guards (Yosemite Sam) is dispatched to locate a victim for Nero to sacrifice, but the only one around in Rome that afternoon is Bugs Bunny. Needless to say, Sam’s attempt to capture Bugs becomes an exercise in violent futility.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: This is a Life? (1955)

Posted on June 25, 2025 by Phil Hall

This is a Life? (1955)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Ted Bonnicksen, Arthur Davis
Music by Milt Franklyn

This offering is a hilarious riff on “This is Your Life,” a very 1950s popular program hosted by Ralph Edwards that surprised people with retrospectives of their life. The show was staged in front of a studio audience, and sometimes unsuspecting people would be taken from the audience and led to the stage. The concept of “This is Your Life” had already been brilliantly spoofed on “Your Show of Shows” in 1954, but screenwriter Warren Foster and director Friz Freleng opted to put their spin on the subject using the Looney Tunes characters.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Sahara Hare (1955)

Posted on June 4, 2025 by Phil Hall

Sahara Hare (1955)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Music by Milt Franklyn
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Ted Bonnicksen, Arthur Davis

“Sahara Hare” gets off to a great start when Bugs Bunny burrows his way into the middle of the Sahara Desert and mistakenly believes he is in Miami Beach. Bugs happily runs across the desert to take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean, but the endless hot sands confuse and exhaust him. “Man, dig this crazy beach,” he exhales before hitting upon a tiny oasis. Mistaking the oasis pond for the ocean, he dives in headfirst, but winds up with a headful of mud from the pond’s shallow bottom.
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The Bootleg Files: Rabbit Habit

Posted on May 23, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 908: “Rabbit Habit” (1975 parody of the Warner Bros. cartoons).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A wildly unauthorized use of copyright protected material.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Over the years, this column has occasionally featured underground cartoons that wickedly parodied beloved animated characters – “Apocalypse Pooh,” “Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Kwanzaa” and “Mickey Mouse in Vietnam” were among best titles that I’ve celebrated. However, I must apologize for taking so long to highlight a true masterpiece of this micro-genre: the 1975 “Rabbit Habit,” which imagines the Looney Tunes icons as drug dealers and addicts.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Captain Hareblower (1954)

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Phil Hall

Captain Hareblower (1954)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Manuel Perez, Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis
Music by Carl W. Stalling

Yosemite Sam returns to 18th century oceanic miscreancy, this time as Pirate Sam with a schooner that he sails all by himself. Just the thought of encountering him creates panic on well-manned ship – the crew abandons their vessel when Sam approaches, leaving only Bugs Bunny, a stowaway in a carrot crate who never heard of Pirate Sam and has no fear of what he can create. Sam bellows for Bugs to surrender, reminding him that “I’ve got you outnumbered one to one.” However, Sam quickly discovers his new long-eared foe is no pushover.
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