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Acrobatty Bunny is a 1946 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert McKimson.

Title[]

The title is a portmanteau of "acrobat", a person skilled at balance and agility stunts, and "batty", a slang term for "crazy".

Plot[]

A circus is being set up just above Bugs' rabbit hole, causing much noise and vibration. The lion cage is set up directly above the hole, and the lion takes deep sniffs (alternatively yanking Bugs towards the hole or throwing him back) to determine that the animal below is Bugs. When the lion (whom Bugs eventually refers to as "Nero") roars again, Bugs comes to the surface to see what's going on, riding an elevator that makes twists and turns. Bugs tries to reason with the lion ("I'm the tenant downstairs, and there's entirely too much noise!"), but soon makes a hasty escape when Nero takes a swipe at him.

Nero manages to scare Bugs out of his cage, but he tries to swipe at Bugs again. So Bugs plays around with the bars but Nero tricks Bugs and thinks he got him. But Bugs goes back in Nero's cage and slams it closed. Nero initially goes away, but comes back with an elephant and tries to ram the cage down. But Bugs winds up a toy mouse and scares away the elephant.

Nero finally has had enough. He forces his way back into his cage and chases Bugs around the cage. Then they continue their chase around the circus grounds. Bugs at one point ducks into a dressing room, coming out as a clown trying to convince Nero to laugh ("COME ON, LAUGH!"), which he eventually does - until Bugs takes some whacks at the lion with a wooden board. The lion then chases Bugs into the big top, where they swing around acrobat swings. Eventually, Bugs tricks Nero into a cannon and sets the cannon off, causing Nero to do a hula in his 'skirt' (complete with a lei from Bugs) while Bugs plays the ukulele.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

  • This is the first Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Robert McKimson.
  • This cartoon marks Bugs' second encounter with a lion, the first being "Hold the Lion, Please" with Leo the Lion. However, Nero the Lion differs greatly from Leo, as Nero appears to be much more dangerous and aggressive in contrast to the dopey Leo. Nero is a much tougher figure, which makes outwitting him more delicious, although much like Leo, Nero is no smarter than Bugs.
  • This cartoon was the second Looney Tunes short to end with the written "That's all Folks!" on target Color Rings and the only Looney Tunes short to end with special ending music.
  • The previous Looney Tunes short, "Kitty Kornered", the written "That's all Folks!" on target rings, but used the Merrie Melodies ending music, most likely because the 1945-46 opening was still used on that cartoon, as well as this cartoon and the Porky drum ending theme would not make sense. The first to use the 1946-55 opening and closing renditions was "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery".
  • This was the last cartoon to begin with the 1945-1946 rendition of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", with brass and woodwinds, and the tuba playing the low melody part of the song. The next Looney Tunes short, "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" would use another abridged opening rendition from 1946-1955, which was done in a somewhat goofy manner, with the bass clarinet getting back to playing the low melody part of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down".
  • The special ending music is actually a variation of the Looney Tunes ending music used for the Porky Pig drum endings, minus Porky's "Th-Th-Th-That's all, folks!" line.
  • The gag where the frightened elephant picks up Nero the Lion to swat the wind-up mouse was later used in "Sahara Hare".
  • This cartoon was a Merrie Melodie during production, but released as a Looney Tune.[2] However, the lobby cards were never updated with the Looney Tunes name.


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External Links[]

Preceded by
Hair-Raising Hare
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1946
Succeeded by
Racketeer Rabbit
Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-O ā€¢ Hare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid Camera ā€¢ A Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet Rabbit ā€¢ Tortoise Beats Hare ā€¢ Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt ā€¢ The Heckling Hare ā€¢ All This and Rabbit Stew ā€¢ Wabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to Supper ā€¢ Any Bonds Today? ā€¢ The Wacky Wabbit ā€¢ Hold the Lion, Please ā€¢ Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid ā€¢ Fresh Hare ā€¢ The Hare-Brained Hypnotist ā€¢ Case of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a Hare ā€¢ Super-Rabbit ā€¢ Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk ā€¢ Wackiki Wabbit ā€¢ Falling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding Rabbit ā€¢ What's Cookin' Doc? ā€¢ Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears ā€¢ Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips ā€¢ Hare Ribbin' ā€¢ Hare Force ā€¢ Buckaroo Bugs ā€¢ The Old Grey Hare ā€¢ Stage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets Hare ā€¢ The Unruly Hare ā€¢ Hare Trigger ā€¢ Hare Conditioned ā€¢ Hare Tonic
1946 Baseball Bugs ā€¢ Hare Remover ā€¢ Hair-Raising Hare ā€¢ Acrobatty Bunny ā€¢ Racketeer Rabbit ā€¢ The Big Snooze ā€¢ Rhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit Transit ā€¢ A Hare Grows in Manhattan ā€¢ Easter Yeggs ā€¢ Slick Hare
1948 Gorilla My Dreams ā€¢ A Feather in His Hare ā€¢ Rabbit Punch ā€¢ Buccaneer Bunny ā€¢ Bugs Bunny Rides Again ā€¢ Haredevil Hare ā€¢ Hot Cross Bunny ā€¢ Hare Splitter ā€¢ A-Lad-In His Lamp ā€¢ My Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare Do ā€¢ Mississippi Hare ā€¢ Rebel Rabbit ā€¢ High Diving Hare ā€¢ Bowery Bugs ā€¢ Long-Haired Hare ā€¢ Knights Must Fall ā€¢ The Grey Hounded Hare ā€¢ The Windblown Hare ā€¢ Frigid Hare ā€¢ Which Is Witch ā€¢ Rabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy Hare ā€¢ Mutiny on the Bunny ā€¢ Homeless Hare ā€¢ Big House Bunny ā€¢ What's Up Doc? ā€¢ 8 Ball Bunny ā€¢ Hillbilly Hare ā€¢ Bunker Hill Bunny ā€¢ Bushy Hare ā€¢ Rabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We Go ā€¢ Rabbit Every Monday ā€¢ Bunny Hugged ā€¢ The Fair Haired Hare ā€¢ Rabbit Fire ā€¢ French Rarebit ā€¢ His Hare Raising Tale ā€¢ Ballot Box Bunny ā€¢ Big Top Bunny
1952 Operation: Rabbit ā€¢ Foxy by Proxy ā€¢ 14 Carrot Rabbit ā€¢ Water, Water Every Hare ā€¢ The Hasty Hare ā€¢ Oily Hare ā€¢ Rabbit Seasoning ā€¢ Rabbit's Kin ā€¢ Hare Lift
1953 Forward March Hare ā€¢ Upswept Hare ā€¢ Southern Fried Rabbit ā€¢ Hare Trimmed ā€¢ Bully for Bugs ā€¢ Lumber Jack-Rabbit ā€¢ Duck! Rabbit, Duck! ā€¢ Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain Hareblower ā€¢ Bugs and Thugs ā€¢ No Parking Hare ā€¢ Devil May Hare ā€¢ Bewitched Bunny ā€¢ Yankee Doodle Bugs ā€¢ Baby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk Bunny ā€¢ Sahara Hare ā€¢ Hare Brush ā€¢ Rabbit Rampage ā€¢ This Is a Life? ā€¢ Hyde and Hare ā€¢ Knight-Mare Hare ā€¢ Roman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' Bonnets ā€¢ Broom-Stick Bunny ā€¢ Rabbitson Crusoe ā€¢ Napoleon Bunny-Part ā€¢ Barbary-Coast Bunny ā€¢ Half-Fare Hare ā€¢ A Star Is Bored ā€¢ Wideo Wabbit ā€¢ To Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba Bunny ā€¢ Bedevilled Rabbit ā€¢ Piker's Peak ā€¢ What's Opera, Doc? ā€¢ Bugsy and Mugsy ā€¢ Show Biz Bugs ā€¢ Rabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less Wolf ā€¢ Hare-Way to the Stars ā€¢ Now, Hare This ā€¢ Knighty Knight Bugs ā€¢ Pre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton Bunny ā€¢ Hare-abian Nights ā€¢ Apes of Wrath ā€¢ Backwoods Bunny ā€¢ Wild and Woolly Hare ā€¢ Bonanza Bunny ā€¢ A Witch's Tangled Hare ā€¢ People Are Bunny
1960 Horse Hare ā€¢ Person to Bunny ā€¢ Rabbit's Feat ā€¢ From Hare to Heir ā€¢ Lighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow Rabbit ā€¢ Compressed Hare ā€¢ Prince Violent
1962 Wet Hare ā€¢ Bill of Hare ā€¢ Shishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud Cake ā€¢ The Million Hare ā€¢ Hare-Breadth Hurry ā€¢ The Unmentionables ā€¢ Mad as a Mars Hare ā€¢ Transylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb Patrol ā€¢ Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare ā€¢ The Iceman Ducketh ā€¢ False Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol ā€¢ Fright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny ā€¢ Spaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas ā€¢ Daffy Duck for President
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