Bedevilled Rabbit is a 1957 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
Title[]
The title is a pun on "bedeviled", albeit with an additional "l" included, which means to cause great and continual trouble to a person.
Plot[]
A box of carrots is dropped into the middle of a jungle in Tasmania. Bugs pops out, wondering how he went from sleeping in a carrot patch to the middle of Tasmania. Suddenly, a group of animals (both wild and domesticated) come running through the woods, scared for their lives (Bugs mistakes it for “chow time at the zoo”). A crocodile (who turns himself inside out into a bag for a disguise) hands Bugs a booklet talking about the Tasmanian Devil and the many things it eats.
Bugs reads “Eats Aardvarks, Ants, Bears, Boars, Cats, Bats, Dogs, Hogs, Elephants, Antelopes, Pheasants, Ferrets, Giraffes, Gazelles. Heh, a likely story, bet there ain’t no such animal. Stoats, Goats…” While Bugs is going through the list, the Tasmanian Devil comes roaring in and greedily says that it 'especially' eats rabbits as it turns to the page that says it and eats the booklet. Bugs is able to temporarily fool Taz into thinking he's a monkey, which Tasmanian Devils don't eat (though one of the animals seen running for its life was a monkey — ostensibly because all animals are scared of Taz).
However, Taz soon starts chasing Bugs again. Bugs tricks "Baggy Eyes" into getting crushed under a tree but Taz manages to exit through a knothole in the tree. Bugs jokes around wondering what Tasmanian Devil pancakes would taste like, but he lets his guard down and Taz grabs Bugs by his ears and asks him "What for you say you monkey, when you got little powder puff tail like rabbit, Rabbit?!" Bugs ends up on a spit, trussed like a roast pig, as Taz puts salt and pepper on Bugs, which results in Bugs sneezing. Bugs is really nervous, because he is about to be eaten for lunch and has no escape plan, but luckily he sees Taz making a large salad to go with him. Bugs compliments Taz on his "mean salad" but informs him that the best thing to have with a salad is "wild turkey surprise," not rabbit. Taz, wanting to try it, unties Bugs. Bugs, wearing a chef hat and faking an Italian accent, throws some sticks of dynamite together, lights the fuses and dresses the 'legs' up to look like they're from a turkey. Taz gobbles the dish, but doesn't seem too harmed from the explosion in his stomach.
When Taz starts chasing Bugs again, Bugs runs into a store owned by a "Trader Mac" and buys some random items. He then disguises himself as a Tasmanian She-Devil, whom Taz goes gaga over. Bugs 'makes out' with Taz and, with a bear trap for lips, gives him a big kiss, driving Taz wild. This causes the real she-devil (whom Taz married at the end of "Devil May Hare" in 1954) to come in and smack him across the head with her rolling pin. Bugs comments, "She's a nice lady. Yeesh!"
Availability[]
A Salute to Mel Blanc
Bugs Bunny: Hare Beyond Compare: 14 More Bugs Bunny Classics
Stars of Space Jam: Tasmanian Devil
Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 5)
Japanese Looney Tunes LaserDiscs Tasmanian Devil
Space Jam Double Feature
Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 1: All-Stars
Looney Tunes Presents: Taz's Jungle Jams
Looney Tunes Super Stars' Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire (cropped to widescreen)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc Two (restored)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc Two (restored)
Looney Tunes Super Stars 3-Pack, Disc 1
Looney Tunes Super Stars Family Multi-Feature, Disc 1
Stars of Space Jam: Tasmanian Devil
Stars of Space Jam Collection Volume 1
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
The version of this cartoon shown on ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show had the following scenes cut:[1]
- The scene of Bugs serving Taz "wild turkey surprise" was oddly cut to remove Taz eating it and the resulting explosion, but not Bugs actually constructing it out of dynamite and singing in a faux Italian voice, making Taz's "Pardon" a non sequitur.
- Taz's wife catching him allegedly cheating on her and beating Taz several times with a rolling pin was cut to remove the actual beatings, going from Taz's wife pinching his ear and yelling at him to Bugs taking off the rest of his Tasmanian She-Devil costume as the beatings happen off-screen.
Notes[]
- Working title: "Hare Deviled"
- This was the second Taz cartoon, three years after the first, "Devil May Hare". Eddie Selzer had previously ordered Robert McKimson to stop using the character. [2] The decision was reversed due to demand from Jack Warner to bring him back in response to "boxes and boxes" of fan mail from audiences wanting to see more Taz cartoons. [3][4]
- Most of this cartoon was used in the Thanksgiving special, Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet, but with a redubbed scene where Bugs tells Taz that he should not serve rabbit on Thanksgiving, but instead serve Wild Turkey Surprise.
- Several elements of this cartoon (specifically the opening scene involving Taz's debut) were borrowed heavily from "Devil May Hare".
- The Tasmanian She-Devil calls Taz "Claude".
- This is the second and final classic era appearance of the Tasmanian She-Devil.
- The scene where Taz turns a page on Bugs' booklet, and eats it was also used in a "Now Available from Warner Home Video" bumper in 1999. Although, the page where it states that Tasmanian Devils eat rabbits was replaced with the aforementioned logo.
- Clips from this cartoon appear in a vignette on the 1996 VHS of "Twister" (by Warner Bros.)
- This short was featured on the 17 June 2001 episode of "The Chuck Jones Show", presumably in error.
Gallery[]
TV Title Cards[]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-b.aspx
- ↑ Owen, David; Pemberton, David (2005). Tasmanian Devil: A Unique and Threatened Animal (in en). Allen & Unwin, page 157. ISBN 978-1-74114-368-3.
- ↑ https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/two-more-notorious-animation-myths/
- ↑ https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2022/04/mckimson-meets-tazmanian-devil.html