{"id":39729,"date":"2023-05-23T00:14:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T04:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=39729"},"modified":"2023-12-10T22:40:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T03:40:17","slug":"every-bugs-bunny-ever-super-rabbit-1943","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/23\/every-bugs-bunny-ever-super-rabbit-1943\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Super-Rabbit (1943)"},"content":{"rendered":"

2023 marks the 85th<\/sup> Anniversary of Bug Bunny\u2019s first animated appearance in 1938’s \u201cPorky\u2019s Hare Hunt.\u201d 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\u2019re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We\u2019re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too. <\/em><\/p>\n

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Super-Rabbit (1943)<\/strong>
\nDirected by Chuck Jones
\nWritten by Tedd Pierce
\nMusic by Carl W. Stalling
\nAnimation by Ken Harris<\/p>\n

\u201cLook up there in the sky! It’s a boid…!\u201d
\n<\/em>\u201cNaw, it ain’t no boid, it\u2019s a dive bommah!\u201d
\n<\/em>\u201cNo\u2026 it\u2019s Super Rabbit<\/strong>!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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, \u201cSuper-Rabbit\u201d makes me happy. It makes me smile. And it\u2019s 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\u2019s, and continued to be, well in to the 1950\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One of the interesting things about \u201cSuper-Rabbit\u201d is that it would continue a tradition of associating Superman with Bugs Bunny that would go on for decades. It just made sense and was a natural pairing. Sure, there would be other animated spoofs like \u201cStupor Duck\u201d with Daffy Duck, and \u201cSnafuperman\u201d starring Private Snafu. But this pairing became especially consistent once Warner Bros. garnered the rights to the DC Comics stable of superheroes. Then it was always bound to come up. Super Bugs would appear through most of the 1900\u2019s in animation and even merchandise with a popular McDonald\u2019s toy, and even a comic book crossover in the early aughts. \u201cSuper-Rabbit\u201d knows exactly what it\u2019s doing, taking the Fleischer Brothers\u2019 model for the Superman cartoons and flipping them on their head for the sake of comedy.<\/p>\n

Thankfully the short never takes pot shots at Superman so much as it merely injects the trademark sense of lunacy that we usually see in Bugs Bunny shorts. The set up is that a scientist named Professor Canafrazz fortifies some chemically advanced carrots, which Bugs eats. They give him superpowers and now he can “leap tall buildings,\u201d and the whole shebang. He comes across a newspaper with a bulletin about Cottontail Smith, the notorious Texas bandit. As Super-Rabbit, he takes off for Deepinahata, Texas. There he assumes the disguise of a “mild-mannered forest creature” with glasses. \u201cSuper-Rabbit\u201d is a laugh riot from the beginning, with the quick change gag where Bugs appears in a Bo Peep costume, to his first flight.<\/p>\n

Playing on the expectations, Bugs flies past a horse walking casually in the sky; the horse then does a double take and exclaims \u201cA rabbit?! Up here?!\u201d Once Bugs meets Cottontail Smith (a prototypical Yosemite Sam), it gets better. When Bugs first comes across Cottontail, he\u2019s horseback with Bugs hopping alongside him. As they go out of frame they’re both hopping, and then Smith trades places with Bugs, and then they\u2019re both on the horse holding hands, and Smith then trades places with the horse. It\u2019s a hilarious sight gag that just hits all the right comedic tones. There\u2019s also the big cheer during the hilarious basketball scene as Bugs convinces Cottontail to fire a cannonball at him which Bugs then turns in to a basketball. He then drops Cottontail and his horse on to bleachers and goads them in to becoming his cheer section.<\/p>\n

The cheer: \u201cBricka Bracka Firecracka Sis-Boom-Bah! Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, rah! Rah! Rah!\u201d is a catchy and raucous gag that I\u2019ve been repeating ever since I first saw the short back when I was a kid. It\u2019s not just easy to remember, it\u2019s hysterical how Cottontail and his horse are so in the moment even they can\u2019t resist cheering Bugs on. The short then takes an interesting turn as Bugs, while flying off, drops his super powered carrots and crash lands only to find Cottontail and his horse have consumed them. Now turning the tables, Bugs announces he\u2019s going to become a \u201creal Superman\u201d and emerges dressed as a U.S. Marine. It\u2019s the kind of patriotic punch line you\u2019d expect from Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes around this era in the 1940\u2019s, but it\u2019s a fun twist ending, even if you don\u2019t fancy the insertion of the World War II nod.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting to note, though, that \u201cSuper-Rabbit\u201d injected such high morale for the armed troops that Bugs Bunny was made an honorary private of the Marine Corps. Throughout the entirety of World War II, Bugs was consistently promoted through the ranks as an honorary Marine until he was retired as a Master Sergeant.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless the whole spoof of Superman is still a home run for Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes get their point across beautifully with a short that is almost non-stop hilarity.<\/p>\n

Find out what we think are the BEST<\/a> and WORST<\/a> Bugs Bunny shorts of all time!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n