Bunny Hugged
Bunny Hugged is a 1951 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese.[1] The short was released on March 10, 1951 and stars Bugs Bunny.[2] Bunny Hugged is essentially a re-working of Jones' 1948 short Rabbit Punch, substituting wrestling for boxing.
| Bunny Hugged | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Produced by | Eddie Selzer (uncredited) |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Starring | Mel Blanc John T. Smith (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Phil Monroe Ken Harris Lloyd Vaughan Ben Washam |
| Layouts by | Peter Alvarado |
| Backgrounds by | Philip De Guard |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date | March 10, 1951 |
Running time | 7:17 |
| Language | English |
Plot
A wrestling match pits professional wrestler Ravishing Ronald, "the de-natured boy" (a parody of Gorgeous George and "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers) against current champion the Crusher. Bugs, the mascot of Ravishing Ronald, watches from a corner as the Crusher uses Ronald, tied up in his own hairnet, as a punching bag. Worried that he will soon be defeated, Bugs enters the match as "The Masked Terror", wearing a mask over his face, to save him. The Crusher sees the new opponent as "fresh meat," disposes of Ronald and goes after Bugs.
Bugs tries to wrestle Crusher, but Crusher is unfazed and literally sends Bugs flying into the audience. When he is caught in Crusher's leg-scissors hold, Bugs then tears his mask apart, which Crusher thinks is a rip in his trunks. Bugs comes back from off-screen wearing a sandwich board advertising his services as "Stychen Tyme," a tailor. Bugs then jabs a needle in Crusher's backside, causing him to fly screaming through the audience.
Crusher then comes charging back, but Bugs opens a safe door, letting Crusher run through it and bounce off the ring ropes before being slung back into the now closed door. A now disoriented Crusher is able to be pinned. When the match ends and Bugs is declared the new champion, Crusher snaps out of it. He offers his hand to shake Bugs' hand, despite the crowd's objections (Crusher merely growls them into silence). Bugs relents, but when Crusher tries to bite Bugs' arms he finds he is instead biting through a stick of dynamite, which blows up in his face.
Reception
Animation producer Paul Dini writes, "Many good cartoons feature realistic human animation. But a great cartoon features humans so wildly caricatured that every motion strikes us as real. Bunny Hugged is one such cartoon."[3]
References
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 221. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.
External links
| Preceded by Rabbit Every Monday |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1951 |
Succeeded by The Fair-Haired Hare |