{"id":43294,"date":"2024-03-26T00:18:37","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T04:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=43294"},"modified":"2024-03-25T06:22:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T10:22:54","slug":"every-bugs-bunny-ever-a-lad-in-his-lamp-1948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/26\/every-bugs-bunny-ever-a-lad-in-his-lamp-1948\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Bugs Bunny Ever: A-Lad-In His Lamp (1948)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A-Lad-In His Lamp (1948)
\n<\/strong>Directed by Bob McKimson
\nWritten by Warren Foster
\nAnimation by Charles McKimson
\nMusic by Carl W. Stalling<\/p>\n

This short from Bob McKimson holds significance on two levels.<\/p>\n

The one being that it is apparently quite controversial for its depiction of middle Easterners. While I am not middle Eastern, I could understand why this short strikes a nerve today, as the middle East is depicted as nothing more than a lot of men that wield swords and solve everything with violence. Meanwhile the women are all mainly just harems and sex objects. It was apparently protested by late DJ Casey Kasem who hated the depiction of middle Easterners, and I can understand why that\u2019d be troublesome. It\u2019s a trope that Bugs Bunny\u2019s shorts would continue with a lot of shorts set in the middle East or Asian communities.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I think taken within its context it\u2019s best appreciated as more of a historic glimpse in to the cultural mindset more than anything. It\u2019s just not what I\u2019d tag as one of Bugs Bunny\u2019s best shorts, sadly. It\u2019s an okay short from the Bugs Bunny library but is only memorable mainly for its guest star voice performer. It actually feels a lot like one of his later entries when Bugs was essentially running on empty creatively. It also feels like one of his most generic, and that\u2019s because of the short\u2019s \u201ckind-of\u201d villain: the genie known as Smokey.<\/p>\n

The short\u2019s second bit of significance comes in the form of the genie Smokey who is played by none other than Jim Backus. As many pop culture buffs know, Backus would go on to play Mr. Howell in \u201cGilligan\u2019s Island\u201d and for many years famously voiced the iconic cartoon character Mr. Magoo alongside Warner\u2019s own Mel Blanc. Backus offers a rare appearance here as a one and done adversary to Bugs portraying one of the most problematic and annoying genies that ever existed. He\u2019s here for the most part to get the story moving forward.<\/p>\n

McKimson apparently modeled Smokey after Backus\u2019 character Hubert Updike III from \u201cThe Alan Young Show\u201d radio series. For the kids out there: Radio Series’ were like podcasts but often recorded live. Backus was also appearing in Blanc\u2019s radio series during the time he recorded his role in \u201cA-Lad-In his Lamp.\u201d For the most part, the whole set up is baffling. Bugs is digging up a rabbit hole and finds Aladdin\u2019s Lamp. While shining it, he conjures up the genie Smokey, a particularly lazy genie who is reluctant to give Bugs any of his wishes. He does grant him two carrots, and when Bugs mentions wishing he could to go Baghdad, he sends him there.<\/p>\n

Cut to a scene where Bugs is literally flying through the sky like an airplane for some reason. He lands in Baghdad where he ends up crossing Caliph Hassan Pfeffer who is most interested in getting the lamp. I\u2019m assuming he\u2019s the actual villain and does whatever he can to get the lamp, and despite Bugs asking for help, Smokey outright refuses. There isn\u2019t a ton of comedy, nor are there too many gags, just a lot of Bugs running from Hassan Pfeffer who is willing to kill Bugs for the lamp. But I do like when Bugs is thinking about potential wishes only for Smokey to cut him off and reject his proposal.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the pretty funny escalating gag of Bugs interrupting Smokey in the middle of one of his activities in the lamp. While the short isn\u2019t a laugh riot, the animation is sharp and Backus was always great in the voice acting department, so he\u2019s also the highlight. I just wish the short had been given more focus and an actual villain for Bugs to tussle with.<\/p>\n

Be Sure to Purchase Some Classic Bugs Bunny<\/a>! Also, <\/strong>find out what we think are the BEST<\/a> and WORST<\/a> Bugs Bunny shorts of all time!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A-Lad-In His Lamp (1948) Directed by Bob McKimson Written by Warren Foster Animation by Charles McKimson Music by Carl W. Stalling This short from Bob McKimson holds significance on two levels. The one being that it is apparently quite controversial for its depiction of middle Easterners. While I am not middle Eastern, I could understand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3068],"tags":[71,99,167,219,610,3069,1175],"class_list":["post-43294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bugs-bunny-ever","tag-adventure","tag-animation","tag-bugs-bunny","tag-comedy","tag-looney-tunes","tag-merrie-melodies","tag-warner-bros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43294"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43296,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43294\/revisions\/43296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}