Big Top Bunny is a 1951 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
Title[]
The title is a play of the main tent used by a traveling circus, alluding to the cartoon's circus setting.
Plot[]
At Colonel Korny's World Famous Circus, Bruno the Slobbovian Bear is the star of the show. When the Colonel gets a phone call about Bugs Bunny's talents, he agrees to put him on stage with Bruno. Bruno shows his disgust by spitting into a corner.
When Bugs is introduced along with Bruno, Bruno can't help but smack Bugs around a little. Bruno tries to get the better of Bugs - either by placing an anvil on top of a series of targets so Bugs can hit his head, or by not catching Bugs during a trapeze act, but not before Bugs says "Don't you believe it!". However, Bugs soon starts getting the better of Bruno, which includes turning the tables on the bear by letting him fall from the trapeze into the band section, twice.
After telling Bruno he's "too clumsy", Bugs then starts playing up the idea that he's going to be the sole star of the show, and to prove it, he'll take a 200-foot dive off a platform into a tank of water. Bruno gets on an adjacent platform, and challenges Bugs to an even higher heights and diving into smaller amounts of water (a damped sponge). Eventually, Bruno comes up with the challenge of diving off the platform into a block of cement, "On my head, yet!" Bugs accepts the challenge and starts to do the stunt, but Bruno forces his way into going first. When Bruno lands flat on the cement block, Bugs leads the dazed bear around, telling him that he's going on a 'trip'. "But I'm not going on any trip", Bruno says, thoroughly dazed; "Oh, yes, you are...", Bugs advises him. Cutting a rope, Bugs starts a series of thoroughly timed "accidents" that initially sends the bear flying across the tent. Bruno then gets whacked around by various stronger performers of the circus until finally landing in a cannon, which Bugs uses to shoot him out of the tent. Bugs says, "Well, that's one way to wind this up with a bang.", and then, he laughs.
Availability[]
Bugs Bunny: Hare Beyond Compare: 14 More Bugs Bunny Classics
Bugs and Friends - Bugs and Road Runner: Runaway Rabbit (1997 dubbed version) (only in PAL regions and Japan)
Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 7)
Looney Tunes Presents Bugs Bunny: Big Top Bunny (1997 dubbed version)
Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 4: Daffy Doodles (1997 dubbed version, without notice)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc One (restored with DVNR)
Looney Tunes Collection Best of Bugs Bunny
3 Spooky DVD Treats
Looney Tunes Super Stars' Bugs Bunny: Wascally Wabbit (restored with DVNR) (Region 4 only)
Bugs Bunny
Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Golden Carrot Collection, Disc 1 (restored with DVNR)
Streaming[]
Notes[]
- Bugs Bunny saying "Don't you believe it!" is a reference to the phrase popularized in a radio show of the same name.
- Similar to Robert McKimson's "Acrobatty Bunny" released five years earlier, this cartoon depicts Bugs in a circus setting, where he deals with a wild circus animal as the antagonist.
- This cartoon, "Tweety's S.O.S.", and "Tweet Tweet Tweety" were the only three cartoons in 1951 to feature blue Color Rings with red backgrounds.
Gallery[]
References[]