Baby Buggy Bunny is a 1954 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
Plot[]
Ant Hill Harry, alias Baby Face Finster, a thirty-five-year-old man who resembles a baby, makes a successful robbery of the Last National Bank disguised with stilts, dark clothes, a carriage, and baby clothing.
Finster loses his money down Bugs' rabbit hole and poses as a foundling in order to gain it back, pinning a “Please take care of my little baby” note to himself. Multiple attempts to grab it are interpreted as a baby's typical grabbiness. Finster even pulls and fires a gun, but this still does not fully register with Bugs. Finster beats Bugs with a baseball bat; he assumes the baby is having a nightmare.
Later, Bugs finds Finster is in the bathroom shaving himself, smoking a cigar, and wearing a tattoo reading "Maisie, Singapore, 1932". A brief news story on Bugs' television makes the rabbit realize what's going on. He takes the time to torment the man, before trussing him up like a baby. Finster reaches his boiling point and tries to stab Bugs with a large butcher knife, but stabs himself in the rear instead and murmurs inaudible obscenities. An angry Bugs repeatedly spanks him, weapons falling out with each blow of Bugs' hand. "We'll just HAVE to learn NOT TO PLAY WITH KNIVES and NOT to use NAUGHTY WORDS! And BELIEVE me, Finster, this hurts you MORE than it does ME!", Bugs berates him, then leaves Finster, still in baby attire but tied to the basket, on the doorstep of the local police station in the basket, along with the returned stolen money and a "please take care of my little baby" letter, which also describes Finster's crimes. Finster is sent to the state prison and is locked inside a playpen within his cell; he does not take it well, throwing a wild tantrum, to which a visiting Bugs says through a barred window, "Don't be such a crybaby. After all, ninety-nine years isn’t forever."
Censorship[]
- On ABC, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and the syndicated version of Merrie Melodies: Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends, the part where Finster draws a gun on Bugs and Bugs thinks it's a toy (until he gets shot in the face) was cut. Even though the scene doesn't change during this edit, the cut is fairly obvious due to a jump in the audio track.[1][2][3]
- ABC's version also cut Bugs shaking Baby Finster, admonishing him about playing with dirty money, sticking him in a washing machine, then hurling him into the ceiling, realizing that he has forgotten his fudge, and letting Finster fall to the ground. The ABC edited version just shows Bugs catching Finster climbing the bookshelf and the "Oh, dear, I do believe I've forgotten my fudge"/falling scene, making it look like Finster just fell off the bookshelf.[1]
- Some syndicated versions shorten the part where Bugs shakes Finster, though the other scenes of alleged child abuse (the washing machine and hurling Finster into the ceiling) were left intact.[1]
Notes[]
- The 2006 film Little Man employs a similar storyline, and on 22 January 2007, was given a Razzie nomination for "Worst Remake or Rip-off" for shamelessly ripping off this storyline, which it went on to 'win'.[4]
- Finster's tall, dark, stranger disguise was used throughout The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special with footage of the bank robbery reused. At the end, it was revealed that Porky Pig was wearing the disguise to get the story going.
- Despite being used in the Looney Tunes series, this is the first use of the 1954-1964 Bugs' mugshot in Merrie Melodies.
Television[]
- Warner Bros. Syndicated package (1964-1990)
- Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends [Syndication] (1990-1992)
- Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (1992-1995)
- The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (1995-2000)
- The Bugs and Daffy Show [Cartoon Network] (1999-2004)
- The Chuck Jones Show [Cartoon Network] (2001-2004)
- The Looney Tunes Show [Cartoon Network] (2001-2004)
- Looney Tunes on Boomerang (2003-2005; 2013-present)
- Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network (2009-2015)
- Bugs Bunny and Friends [Me TV] (2021-present)
- Toon In with Me [Me TV] (2021-present)
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Gallery[]
TV Title Cards[]
References[]
External Links[]
- Baby Buggy Bunny at SuperCartoons.net
- Baby Buggy Bunny at B99.TV
- Baby Buggy Bunny on the SFX Resource