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Knights Must Fall is a 1949 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.

Title[]

The title is a play on the 1937 film Night Must Fall.

Plot[]

The short opens showing several knights standing in line, with squire Bugs standing at the end. He ends up angering the knight he is standing next to by using his armor as a trashcan for his carrot. The angered knight, Sir Pantaslot of Drop Seat Manor, declares "Forsooth, varlet! Thou hast insulted me!" and slaps Bugs with a glove. Bugs gives a little back by declaring the "boiler boy" has insulted him, and slaps Pantsalot back with one of his own gauntlets. The knight then declares "So be it, then! We meet on the jousting field tomorrow at dawn! Agreed?", and Bugs agrees to the duel.

The jousting arena is marked like a football stadium, and has a modern announcer complete with microphone and a vendor hawking programs. Sir Pantsalot emerges from his fancy tent on a warhorse to thunderous applause, but Bugs comes out of his patched up US Army tent on a burro to the derision of the crowd, with Bugs telling them "Eh, boo yourself! You're expecting maybe Errol Flynn?". As the two ride out of their starting gates, Bugs ends up being knocked back across the field twice. On his third charge, Bugs decides to "use a little English on this one", chalking and wielding his lance like a pool cue, calling the 8-ball in the side pocket. The knight, however, raises his shield, splintering Bugs' lance on impact. Bugs doesn't like the jeering from this one bit, saying that "that cast-iron palooka's makin' a chump outta me!"

After a brief halftime show, Sir Pantsalot and Bugs resume their duel on foot, repeatedly beating each other over the heads with clubs. Bugs breaks this repetative pattern by pulling out a rivet gun and tickling the knight with it. The knight swings a flail, but Bugs puts a spring under it and it bounces back and strikes the knight on the head. Bugs then says, "It is to laugh!" Bugs then tricks Sir Pantsalot into peeking his head out from his helmet by knocking on the visor and claiming, "Don't you remember me? I was here last night with Joe!" Asiding, "Now he oughta know better than that," he then punches the knight's head back into the helmet. Bugs then dives into a rabbit hole and the knight follows him into it. Bugs then emerges from another hole and when Pantsalot emerges from the first, Bugs opens the helmet like a trash can and hits him on the head, causing a lump to form. When Pantsalot emerges, he swings an axe at what he thinks is Bugs, dismantling the armor piece by piece, but Bugs isn't inside it. When he wonders where Bugs is, Bugs pops up inside the knight's armor replying "Wouldn't you like to know?" and gives him a big kiss. The knight swings a club at him, but Bugs ducks and he hits himself in the head. Bugs then jabs the knight's butt with a pin, regardless of the knight begging him not to, causing the knight to leap into an arch, flattening his helmet, and in turn his head, against it. Bugs then jumps out of the armor before the knight lands back in it and unscrews the helmet, asiding "Look at the new Dick Tracy character, Accordian Head!" The knight gives chase to Bugs who quickly dives into a manhole. The knight dives after him, but Bugs quickly pulls the cover over the hole, causing the knight to crash into it and flatten himself.

Bugs, thinking he has won, then tries to leave, musing to himself "I guess I'd better go phone Lady Windemere not to expect her spouse home for dinner". But his exit is quickly blocked by Sir Pantsalot and several other knights appearing in formation, intending to charge together against Bugs. Bugs calls to the referee for a timeout, then he and his burro head to the blacksmith shop and emerge from it in steam-powered, tank/bomber-like super armor made from a wood stove and a gun turret. From his helmet-like cockpit, Bugs then declares, "Pilot to bombadier, pilot to bombadier. Open bomb bays, we're right on target," and his lance emerges from the wood stove as he charges full speed towards the approaching knights. The crowd can only watch as the two parties crash into each other off-screen, rattling the crowd with each collision.

The final scene reveals the results of the tussle. Bugs has set up shop as "The Smiling Rabbit, dealer in Used Armor", as in the armor of all the defeated knights. Bugs asides "Eh, so it shouldn't be a total loss" as he disposes another carrot in what used to be Sir Pantsalot's armor.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • The version of this cartoon shown on ABC's The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show cut the scene of Bugs stepping on a lever, lifting the top of the Black Knight's helmet, then hitting the Black Knight on the head with a hammer, producing a big lump.[2]

Notes[]

  • Strangely, even though it was reissued in 1967, it has the original opening and closing color rings replaced much like a 1959-61 season reissue. As movie listings during the time didn't list that this short was part of the Blue Ribbon package during the 1959-61 season, either the short's reissue was originally slated to be released during the 1959-61 seasons but was not released due to these season's reissue package already being full and Warner Bros.-Seven Arts used the otherwise unused print, or Warner Bros.-Seven Arts originally intended to reuse the original Blue Ribbon title sequence due to being the first short reissued in the 1967-68 season, but continued using the original titles for shorts reissued after this one due to budget reasons.
  • A 35mm print of this cartoon with the original opening and closing Color Rings and the "Bugs Bunny In" title was found online. The short was later remastered for HBO Max, with the original opening and ending titles restored, later released on 1 December 2020 on Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection.
  • The audio of the band playing "Frat" in this cartoon was also used for the Rubber Band scene in "Dough for the Do-Do".

Goofs[]

  • During the scene where both Bugs Bunny and Sir Pantaslot of Drop Seat Manor agree to duel jousting field the next day at dawn, after Bugs replies "Agreed" at the end of that scene their mouth movements as they make sinister smiles towards each other seems to be animated rather choppily compared to the rest of the cartoon, with their mouth movements in that scene being animated in 15 frames per second instead of the usual 24 frames per second.
  • When Bugs Bunny is introduced inside his tent, Bugs and his donkey are completely inside the tent, yet when they are shown close up, they are now almost completely outside the tent.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-OHare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraA Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitTortoise Beats HareHiawatha's Rabbit HuntThe Heckling HareAll This and Rabbit StewWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitHold the Lion, PleaseBugs Bunny Gets the BoidFresh HareThe Hare-Brained HypnotistCase of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a HareSuper-RabbitJack-Wabbit and the BeanstalkWackiki WabbitFalling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding RabbitWhat's Cookin' Doc?Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsHare Ribbin'Hare ForceBuckaroo BugsThe Old Grey HareStage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets HareThe Unruly HareHare TriggerHare ConditionedHare Tonic
1946 Baseball BugsHare RemoverHair-Raising HareAcrobatty BunnyRacketeer RabbitThe Big SnoozeRhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit TransitA Hare Grows in ManhattanEaster YeggsSlick Hare
1948 Gorilla My DreamsA Feather in His HareRabbit PunchBuccaneer BunnyBugs Bunny Rides AgainHaredevil HareHot Cross BunnyHare SplitterA-Lad-In His LampMy Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare DoMississippi HareRebel RabbitHigh Diving HareBowery BugsLong-Haired HareKnights Must FallThe Grey Hounded HareThe Windblown HareFrigid HareWhich Is WitchRabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy HareMutiny on the BunnyHomeless HareBig House BunnyWhat's Up Doc?8 Ball BunnyHillbilly HareBunker Hill BunnyBushy HareRabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We GoRabbit Every MondayBunny HuggedThe Fair Haired HareRabbit FireFrench RarebitHis Hare Raising TaleBallot Box BunnyBig Top Bunny
1952 Operation: RabbitFoxy by Proxy14 Carrot RabbitWater, Water Every HareThe Hasty HareOily HareRabbit SeasoningRabbit's KinHare Lift
1953 Forward March HareUpswept HareSouthern Fried RabbitHare TrimmedBully for BugsLumber Jack-RabbitDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain HareblowerBugs and ThugsNo Parking HareDevil May HareBewitched BunnyYankee Doodle BugsBaby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Hyde and HareKnight-Mare HareRoman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' BonnetsBroom-Stick BunnyRabbitson CrusoeNapoleon Bunny-PartBarbary-Coast BunnyHalf-Fare HareA Star Is BoredWideo WabbitTo Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBedevilled RabbitPiker's PeakWhat's Opera, Doc?Bugsy and MugsyShow Biz BugsRabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less WolfHare-Way to the StarsNow, Hare ThisKnighty Knight BugsPre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton BunnyHare-abian NightsApes of WrathBackwoods BunnyWild and Woolly HareBonanza BunnyA Witch's Tangled HarePeople Are Bunny
1960 Horse HarePerson to BunnyRabbit's FeatFrom Hare to HeirLighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitCompressed HarePrince Violent
1962 Wet HareBill of HareShishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud CakeThe Million HareHare-Breadth HurryThe UnmentionablesMad as a Mars HareTransylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb PatrolDr. Devil and Mr. HareThe Iceman DuckethFalse Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas CarolFright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young BunnySpaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las VegasDaffy Duck for President




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