Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk is a 1943 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.
Title[]
The title is both a play on the story "Jack and the Beanstalk," which the film is a parody of, and "jack-rabbit," a desert hare. In the case of the latter, it is written like how Elmer Fudd would pronounce it.
Plot[]
Bugs is in a giant's lofty realm, chopping down gigantic carrots. It turns out they belong to a dim-witted giant. "Well, don’t try nuttin’ funny, ‘cause I got ya covered”, pointing an enormous pistol at Bugs.
The giant is incensed at Bugs invading his "Victory garden", and Bugs spends most of the rest of the film trying to elude the giant. At one point he challenges him to a duel, and the giant starts pacing off into the distance and is soon over the horizon. Bugs says to the audience, "Ya know, I'm so smart, sometimes it almost frightens me!" Bugs' self-congratulation is short-lived, as the giant is then seen coming toward him from the other horizon.
Finally, as in the classic story, the giant accidentally falls from his sky-borne realm and crashes into the ground, making a huge giant-shaped hole. The giant survives the fall though, sits up dizzily and says, "Duh, watch out for dat foist step - it's a lulu!"
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Goofs[]
- The giant is mostly drawn with four fingers; during the part where he catches and has Bugs in his palm, he suddenly has five.
- When Bugs notices the grey hair, his dialogue is off sync to his mouth.
- In a very brief long-shot, right before the elevator scene, The beanstalk isn't visible.
- The scene with Bugs and the Giant at the elevator (animated by Gil Turner[5]) The Giant is suddenly much smaller.
Notes[]
- "Victory gardens" were a wartime civilian program in which civilians were encouraged to replace their gardens with vegetable crops to make up for wartime food shortages. They appear and are mentioned in several wartime-era cartoons, such as this one.
- During the opening credits, a staked sign identifies the garden vegetable: Marvel Brand (Inc.) Early Climber Beans Julian & Co. Packers. Julian is a reference to background artist Paul Julian.
- Both the American and European Turner "dubbed" versions replace the original 1941-55 Merrie Melodies ending music cue with the 1938-41 Merrie Melodies ending music cue.
- The restored version shown on HBO Max and the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray, like most pre-1948 restorations, uses the Turner print as the source of its soundtrack, hence the error persists in the restored print as well.
- The giant from this cartoon went on to appear in a few episodes of New Looney Tunes.
- The idea of Bugs in the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk would return in Beanstalk Bunny.
- This short's Vitaphone release number 993[6]
Music-Cues[7][]
- Suppé: The Jolly Robbers - Overture (by Franz von Suppé)
- Played during the opening credits
- Long, Long Ago (by Thomas Haynes Bayley)
- Played during the opening scene with the narrator (Mel Blanc)
- Says Who? Says You, Says I! (by Harold Arlen)
- Plays when Bugs says "So long, Jerky. Send me a postcard from Albuquerque."
- Sobre las olas [Over the Waves] (by Juventino Rosas)
- Plays when Bugs cuts out the glass.
- My Grandfather's Clock (by Henry Clay Work)
- Plays when the Giant looks at his watch.
- It Can't Be Wrong (by Max Steiner)
- Congo (by M.K. Jerome)
- Plays when Bugs Bunny is inside the Giant's hat.
- Twilight in Turkey (by Raymond Scott)
- Indian Dawn (by J.S. Zamecnik)
- Plays very briefly near the end when the Giant rises from the crater he created.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10165808603900578&set=pb.619090577.-2207520000
- ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries
- ↑ http://likelylooneymostlymerrie.blogspot.com/2016/07/405-jack-wabbit-and-beanstalk-1943.html
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/animationbreakdowns6/Jack+Wabbit+and+the+Beanstalk+(1943)-.mp4
- ↑ http://cartoonlogic.libsyn.com/cartoon-logic-episode-30-the-bugs-bunny-birthday-blu-ray-blow-out-part-1
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books/about/Vitaphone_Films.html?id=mmtZAAAAMAAJ
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036052/soundtrack/
External links[]
- Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk at SuperCartoons.net