Bewitched Bunny

Bewitched Bunny
← Previous	The Oily American
Next →	Satan's Waitin'
Airdate:	24 July 1954
Series:	Looney Tunes
MPAA Number:	16171
Production Number:	1303
Copyright Renewed:	23 January 1981
Starring:	Bugs Bunny Witch Hazel
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Mel Blanc Bea Benaderet (uncredited)
Director:	Charles M. Jones
Written By:	Michael Maltese
Producer:	Eddie Selzer (uncredited)
Animated By:	Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Ken Harris Abe Levitow (uncredited)
Layout Artist:	Maurice Noble
Background Artist:	Philip DeGuard
Film Editor:	Treg Brown (uncredited)
Musician:	Carl Stalling

Bewitched Bunny is a 1954 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot

Bugs reads the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. The saga turns real as Witch Hazel tries to cook and eat some children. Bugs witnesses Witch Hazel coaxing the children inside and goes in her house, but disguised as a truant officer, he saves the youths from her clutches. However, once Hazel realizes that Bugs is a rabbit, she tries to cook him instead, using a carrot filled with sleeping potion as a lure. Bugs eats the carrot and falls asleep, and Witch Hazel puts him into a pot to make rabbit stew.

While the witch is occupied, Prince Charming enters the house and kisses Bugs' hand. Bugs wakes up and says, "You're looking for Snow White, this is the story of Hansel and Gretel," and the Prince leaves. Bugs then tries to escape down a corridor but is trapped by Hazel. As she approaches, Bugs finds her magic power and uses it to transform her into a gorgeous lady bunny who has a feminine voice but still has Hazel's laugh.

As he gets ready to leave with the bunny beauty, Bugs comments, "Ah sure, I know. But aren't they all witches inside?"

Availability

(1984) VHS
The Looney Tunes Video Show Volume 18

(1993) LaserDisc
Looney Tunes: After Dark

(1996) VHS
Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 3)

(1999) VHS
Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 15: A Battle of Wits

(2007) DVD
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc Two (with optional audio commentary by Eric Goldberg)

(2007) DVD
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5, Disc 2

(2011) Blu-ray
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc Two

(2012) DVD
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc Two

(2014) DVD
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection Volumes 4-5 Repack

Streaming

HBO Max (2020 - )

iTunes ( - ) (restored)

Censorship

This short was the subject of controversy in Canada, when, in July 1998, a viewer who saw the short on an airing of The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show on Global thought Bugs' final line (after Witch Hazel is transformed into a beautiful female rabbit, but still laughs like Witch Hazel): "Yeah, I know. But aren't they all witches inside?" was misogynistic. Charlotte Bell, Global's Vice-President of Regulatory Affairs at the time, wrote back, denying that there was anything misogynistic about the line. The complainant then filed a formal complaint with the Broadcast Standards Council, incorporating the Global executive who denied the claim into her analysis and cited that "Bewitched Bunny" showed women in an unflattering light and that the Global executive she talked to was lying about the claim. Eleven months and three days after it received the complaint, the Council reached its conclusion: while the ending line can be taken as sexist towards women, the short as a whole does not, in fact, show women in an unflattering light nor does it break any of Canada's broadcasting rules and regulations. For a while, the Global version of this short aired with the allegedly misogynist "witches" line replaced with "Yeah, I know. But who wants to be alone on Halloween?" (which was taken from the American TV special Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special). When the verdict that the original line wasn't in breach of any Canadian broadcasting rules, the edited version was swiftly replaced with the original. This controversy was briefly mentioned by Eric Goldberg on the DVD commentary of the fifth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set.

Notes

• This short was used in Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales and Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special, but edited for time in both.
• Animator Chuck Jones, of his own admission, got the idea of Witch Hazel from the Disney short "Trick or Treat" (1952), which featured a good-natured witch squaring off with Donald Duck. Enamored of the character's voice characterization, provided by June Foray, Jones developed his own Witch Hazel character for "Bewitched Bunny". As Jones was unable to get Foray to play the role, Bea Benaderet supplied the witch's voice. Foray provided the voice for Witch Hazel in subsequent shorts.
• Jones created the character Witch Hazel, who made her debut in this short. Witch Hazel later appeared in "Broom-Stick Bunny" (1956), "A Witch's Tangled Hare" (1959), and "A-Haunting We Will Go" (1966). She also has a brief cameo appearance in "Transylvania 6-5000" (1963).
• Witch Hazel's cookbook has such cannibalistic recipes that involve flesh of children such as:
  • Waif Waffles
  • Moppet Muffins
  • Urchin Pie
  • Kiddie Kippers
  • Children Chops
  • Smorgas Boy
• The name of the author, Endor, on the cover of the book of recipes, refers to the witch of Endor in the First Book of Samuel, Chapter 28.
• The spices in Witch Hazel's spice rack are the following:
  • Bee stingers with chutney
  • Worm sweat residue
  • Centipede bunions with chive
  • Pickled tarantula elbows
• Both Hansel and Gretel speak with German accents in this short.
• This was the final Looney Tunes short to be broadcast during Cartoon Network's original 1992-2004 run of Looney Tunes on 3 October 2004.

Gallery

Witch Hazel transformed into a rabbit in the controversial scene

External Links

• "Bewitched Bunny" at SuperCartoons.net
• "Bewitched Bunny" at B99.TV