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[Friz] Freleng would say, Ah, bullshit!
Lets knock em dead.
Over 1,000 were produced, so Im bound to have missed a classic or two.
Aint I a stinker?
Thanks also to theGilbert Gottfrieds Amazing Colossal Listener SocietyFacebook group).
The plucky Bosko is perhaps early animations least offensive black character.
He would star in 39 more cartoons.
Its Got Me Again!
The first Warner Bros. cartoon to earn an Oscar nomination.
I Love to Singa (1936, Avery)
ItsThe Jazz Singerin eight minutes.
Porkys Duck Hunt (1937, Avery)
Daffy Duck makes a big splash in his debut.
Dont let it worry you, Skipper, he whoops.
Im just a crazy, darn fool duck.
Dramatic angles and odd perspectives keep this one chugging along.
Thus, a miscreant is sentenced toLifebut escapes throughLibertywith other magazine figures in hot pursuit.
Its the guy in the third row of the theater to the rescue.
Daffy Duck & Egghead (1938, Avery)
Im not crazy.
I just dont give a darn, Daffy whoops.
Notable for his lively rendition of theLooney Tunestheme song, The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down.
But he was popular enough to be caricatured as Egghead in this and other Warner Bros. cartoons.
Daffy Duck in Hollywood (1938, Avery)
Warner Bros. cartoons were meta before meta was a thing.
Daffy runs amuck on a movie-studio set, but is sure to give his studio a plug.
Ive got an option coming up, he explains.
Akin to a Very Special Episode ofMerrie Melodies.
Brace yourself for the inevitable Cleveland Indians sight gag.
An impressive early blend of live action and animation that features a cameo by cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger.
Its five cents for admission, but a skunk cant get in because he has only one cent.
(Get it?)
Hollywood Steps Out (1941, Avery)
Once again, the celebrity caricatures are beside the point.
Clark Gable steals every scene he walks through.
(Stick around, folks.
This ought to be good.)
The rabbit-stew scene gets a reprise in Whats Cookin, Doc?
Thanks to Bugs, it is anything but a westful wetweat.
This is Bugs at his most goading.
Horton Hatches the Egg (1942, Clampett)
Faithful to Dr. Seusss beloved book 100 percent.
They dont know him very well, do they?
Introducing Tweety, whose I tawt I saw a putty tat became his instant catchphrase.
But unlike Bugs, Daffy gets whats coming to him, which is how that usually goes.
Its rare to see Bugs so desperate and defeated.
The end is particularly violent and dark.
His catchphrases were Greetings, Gate and Isnt it?, as in Fascinating, isnt it?
A Bugs Bunny cameo represents the first time all three Warner Bros. cartoon stars shared the screen.
A Corny Concerto (1943, Clampett)
Gweetings, music lovers.
Whats Cookin, Doc?
(1944, Clampett)
Bugs Bunny had yet to be acknowledged by the Motion Picture Academy.
Turns out Hitler is a stinker is no secret.
I cant believe it, coughs Bugs in his dramatic, tear-jerking death scene.
But flashbacks to their first encounter as babies anticipate the same-as-it-ever-was reversal of burial fortunes.
Mel Blanc debuts his Yosemite Sam voice in the character of a sheriff.
Enter a skunk with an outrageous French accent whose amorous advances will not be denied.
This would be the only time that Pepe Le Pew chased a male cat.
Life With Feathers (1945, Freleng)
Sufferin succotash!
Baseball Bugs (1946, Freleng)
Its Bugs Bunny versus the fierce Gas-House Gorillas.
Walky Talky Hawky (1946, Robert McKimson)
A star is hatched.
By the time Bugs is through with him, Rocky will be begging for the police to take him.
From now on, its fishin for me, and no more wabbits.
But Bugs intends to rock his dream boat and get the act back together.
Rhapsody Rabbit (1946, Freleng)
Franz Liszt?
Never heard of him.
In an uncharacteristic bit of role reversal, Bugs Bunny gets upstaged by a mouse loose in his piano.
This is his first pairing with Sylvester (here called Thomas).
And that pretty much sums him up: All hes ever going to be is mean.
In his sophomore appearance, Bugs will have to make like Gary Cooper to run him out of town.
Commander X-2), who is all set to blow up Earth.
High Diving Hare (1949, Freleng)
Im a sucker for obscure pop-culture references.
Bugs literally brings the house down as he sabotages Joness performance.
For Scent-imental Reasons (1949, Jones)
Here is the essence of the indefatigable Pepe Le Pew.
When she hears an off-screen shot and runs to him, he grabs her in his arms.
I missed, he coos, fortunately for you.
For this, he earned his well-deserved Oscar.
Rabbit Hood (1949, Jones)
Dont you worry.
Robin Hood will soon be here.
But not before Bugs Bunny gets the best of the Sheriff of Nottingham after poaching the Kings carrots.
Errol Flynn himself makes a last-second cameo courtesy ofThe Adventures of Robin Hood.
The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950, Jones)
Funny, that never happened to Errol Flynn.
Daffy, desperate for a dramatic role, pitches Warner Bros. studio head J.L.
on his adaptation of Dumass swashbuckling adventure.
Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, and Porky turn up in supporting roles.
Whats Up, Doc?
Now dont make a run at get away, he cautions.
He dont know Bugs very well, do he?
Another declaration of war.
The bulls reactions to Bugss various and increasingly elaborate paybacks are priceless.
Speedy Gonzales (1955, Freleng)
The fastest mouse in all Mexico makes his official Oscar-winning debut.
With his yellow sombrero and exaggerated Mexican accent, we may be entering Apu territory here.
Proceed at your own sensitivity.
Mine, mine, mine, he proclaims.
Im comfortably well off!
This is the one with Hassan chop.
But once a bad ol putty tat, always a bad ol putty tat.
These are the acts of an increasingly desperate duck.
Jones gets more personality out of his animated musical notes than many directors do with their human casts.
The Top 10
10.
This is one of Daffys best foiled-hero roles.
Daffy rushes in and fears to tread at the same time.
Porky, as his eager space cadet, gets the best lines.
A Wild Hare (1940, Avery)
How to get to Bugs Bunny in four easy toons.
This is the cartoon that established the Bugs-Elmer dynamic and Bugss trickster personality.
Mel Blancs iconic voice characterization, Whats up, Doc?, gave Bugs his Brooklyn brass.
/ Daintily, daintily!).
This is how most of us were first exposed to Rossinis opera.
Rabbit Fire (1951) / Rabbit Seasoning (1952) / Duck!
(1953, Jones)
Otherwise known as the hunting trilogy.
Bugs Bunny gets top billing, but these are actually two-handers between Bugs and Daffy.
Duck Amuck (1953, Jones)
Just because youre not paranoid doesnt mean no one is after you.
But his tormentor (guess who?)
is a real stinker.
It too is in the National Film Registry.
Whats Opera, Doc?
(1957, Jones)
It is so sad, Elaine Benes says to Jerry in theSeinfeldepisode The Opera.
All your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons.
You think Kill the wabbit.
This is Elmer Fudds career triumph as he wields his spear and magic helmet against Bugs.
This masterpiece is also enshrined in the National Film Registry.
It was close, but this masterpiece just edges out Whats Opera, Doc?
Ma Baby, The Michigan Rag, and other standards.
