Bunker Hill Bunny
Bunker Hill Bunny is a 1950 Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short, starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam as a Hessian mercenary in the American Revolution.[1] It was directed by Isadore 'Friz' Freleng and written by Tedd Pierce.[2] Hawley Pratt and Paul Julian did the layout and backgrounds, while Arthur Davis, Ken Champin, Virgil Ross and Gerry Chiniquy headed the team of animators. Mel Blanc provided voice characterizations, and Carl Stalling created the musical score.
| Bunker Hill Bunny | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by | I. Freleng |
| Produced by | Edward Selzer (uncredited) |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Starring | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Gerry Chiniquy Ken Champin Virgil Ross Arthur Davis Morey Reden (uncredited) |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Paul Julian |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date | September 23, 1950 |
Running time | 7 minutes 20 seconds |
| Language | English |
Plot
The story opens with a title card indicating a time setting of 1776, before switching to footages of the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Yorktown. The scene then transitions to the Battle of Bagle Heights, where Bugs, dressed as an American Minuteman, is defending a wooden fort against the red-coated Sam von Schamm (or Schmamm), the Hessian, attacking from a large stone fortress. Sam's fortress is heavily armored, bristling with artillery; by contrast, Bugs' defenses are rather pathetic, with only one cannon.
Even then, Sam is the only one manning his fort, which makes capturing Bugs' difficult, considering the rabbit is able to retaliate by capturing his simultaneously. Sam attempts to continue his bombardment, but Bugs is able to put up a defence by simply catching his opponent's cannonballs with his own cannon and firing them back. When Bugs tires of that contest, he fires a large cork to plug Sam's main mortar. Sam is shot in the face while trying to remove the cork.
Frustrated, Sam burrows his way under his base and into Bugs' base using a pickaxe. Upon surfacing, Sam lights a match, only to find himself in a room full of TNT. An explosion occurs in a shack where the room is, with Sam stumbling out, dazed.
As the last gambit, Sam uses a keg of gunpowder in an attempt to blow up Bug's base; unbeknownst to Sam, gunpowder falls into Sam's back pocket due to a hole in the keg, creating a trail of gunpowder. After Sam lights the fuse, Bugs, sitting on the powder keg and munching a carrot, calmly extinguishes it and nonchalantly lights the trail of gunpowder left by Sam. Fleeing from the inevitable trail, Sam runs away from the base and up an apple tree, which eventually explodes on him.
At this setback, a thoroughly defeated Sam admits that he is a "Hessian without no aggression," and decides to defect to the rebels by saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." To this, Bugs and Sam march side by side in a fife-and-drum march reminiscent of the Archibald Willard painting The Spirit of '76, playing the song The Girl I Left Behind Me.
Cast
Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam
References
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60-61. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 215. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Bunker Hill Bunny |
| Preceded by Hillbilly Hare |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1950 |
Succeeded by Bushy Hare |