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People Are Bunny is a 1959 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.

Title[]

The title is a play on the show People Are Funny.

Plot[]

Watching television, Daffy Duck is excited by a hunting show called the QTTV Sportsman Hour that offers one thousand dollars for the first viewer to bring a rabbit to TV station QTTV. Attempting to convince Bugs Bunny to come to the station, Daffy first tries a ruse with TV show tickets, but Bugs immediately suspects Daffy is up to no good and declines. Daffy then grabs a gun and tells Bugs to oblige or be shot.

At the scene of Station QTTV [whose exterior bears more than a passing resemblance to CBS Television City in Hollywood], Daffy has Bugs at gunpoint when they see a parade of prizes coming out of a studio (car, boat, fur coat, refrigerator, "Key to Fort Knox", etc.), and they see people going into the show People Are Phoney starring Art Lamplighter. With dollar signs in his eyes, Daffy locks Bugs in a telephone booth, and runs into the studio. Bugs receives a call in the telephone booth from an announcer who tells Bugs if he correctly answers a question, he will win a jackpot. Bugs answers the math question and the jackpot dispenses through the coin return slot. The announcer asks Bugs how he knew the answer so quickly. Bugs says, "One thing we rabbits know how to do is multiply."

Meanwhile, Daffy appears as a contestant in People Are Phoney, where his task is to help a little old lady across the street while on camera. Things backfire in a hurry when the old lady starts belting Daffy with her umbrella, belligerently declaring she doesn't need help crossing the street. Daffy staggers, is missed by a speeding truck, "Nyaah, ya missed me," he gloats, sticking out his tongue, then gets hit by a motorcycle. Art Lamplighter tells the hysterical audience that Daffy didn't quite make it, and it goes to show that "People Are Phoney".

Sorely mad, Daffy comes back to the telephone booth where Bugs is counting the jackpot. Bugs says he got a call in the phone booth, which Daffy doesn't believe. Bugs says at any time now an announcer might call again. Bugs makes the sound of a ringing phone and cons Daffy into thinking they want another contestant. Daffy pushes Bugs out of the booth, telling Bugs to let him have it. Daffy grabs the "receiver", now a stick of dynamite, and it explodes as Bugs walks away. He shrugs, "So I let him have it."

Looking for Bugs, Daffy asks a studio usher, actually Bugs in disguise, if he saw a rabbit. Bugs points him to a door, and Daffy is sent to the show Were You There, a takeoff of the show You Are There, which happens to be depicting "Indian Massacre at Burton's Bend". Daffy then comes out with his head scalped. "All right, where's the wise guy?", he mutters, slapping his scalp back onto his head.

Bugs is disguised as a producer and he tells Daffy that he's suddenly wanted for Costume Party, a reference to the real Masquerade Party, tricking him into donning a rabbit costume. The show he is sent to is the QTTV Sportsman Hour to which Daffy intended to bring Bugs, and Bugs collects the fee Daffy wanted for himself. When Daffy protests that he's a duck, not a rabbit, the host declares it is now duck season, and a bunch of hunters shoot at Daffy. Bugs shrugs off Daffy's plight, noting, "Eh, they always shoot blanks on TV," Daffy, his beak full of bullet holes, mutters "'Blanks', he says." Emptying a stack of buckshot from his mouth, he offers them to Bugs: "Have a handful of blanks! Sheesh!"

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • In the FOX version of The Merrie Melodies Show, the part where Daffy walks up to Bugs after getting blasted by the hunters, spits out a handful of buckshots, and groans, "Blanks, he says! Have a handful of blanks" was cut with a fake iris-out after Bugs says, "Eh, they [the hunters] always use blanks on TV."[2]
  • The syndicated version of The Merrie Melodies Show leaves in the ending, but replaces Daffy getting shot by the hunters with a still shot of Bugs.[2] However, the part where Daffy gets scalped by Native Americans was left uncut. Other channels such as Cartoon Network, Boomerang and MeTV also left this scene intact.

Notes[]

  • People Are Bunny is a takeoff of the Art Linkletter show People Are Funny, where people performed different "stunts" to win money.
  • This is the second time in which Bugs disguises himself as an usher to send someone into a show that involved Indians and then trick his enemy into a hunter/sportsman related show. The first was "Wideo Wabbit" where Bugs sends Elmer Fudd into a TV studio playing You Were There, which was reenacting Custer's Last Stand and then trick him into his own show The Sportsman's Hour.
  • This is the first of the only two cartoons directed by Robert McKimson to pair Bugs and Daffy; the other is "The Million Hare".
  • This is the final Warner Bros. cartoon to be released in the 1950s.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. (3 October 2022) Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 (in en). BearManor Media, page 195. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-p.aspx

External Links[]

← A Witch's Tangled Hare Bugs Bunny Cartoons Horse Hare →
← China Jones Daffy Duck Cartoons Apes of Wrath →
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
Daffy Duck Cartoons
1937 Porky's Duck Hunt
1938 Daffy Duck & EggheadWhat Price PorkyPorky & DaffyThe Daffy DocDaffy Duck in Hollywood
1939 Daffy Duck and the DinosaurScalp TroubleWise Quacks
1940 Porky's Last StandYou Ought to Be in Pictures
1941 A Coy DecoyThe Henpecked Duck
1942 Conrad the SailorDaffy's Southern ExposureThe Impatient PatientThe Daffy DuckarooMy Favorite Duck
1943 To Duck .... or Not to DuckThe Wise Quacking DuckYankee Doodle DaffyPorky Pig's FeatScrap Happy DaffyA Corny ConcertoDaffy - The Commando
1944 Tom Turk and DaffyTick Tock TuckeredDuck Soup to NutsSlightly DaffyPlane DaffyThe Stupid Cupid
1945 Draftee DaffyAin't That DuckyNasty Quacks
1946 Book RevueBaby BottleneckDaffy DoodlesHollywood DaffyThe Great Piggy Bank Robbery
1947 Birth of a NotionAlong Came DaffyA Pest in the HouseMexican Joyride
1948 What Makes Daffy DuckDaffy Duck Slept HereThe Up-Standing SitterYou Were Never DuckierDaffy DillyThe Stupor SalesmanRiff Raffy Daffy
1949 Wise QuackersHoliday for DrumsticksDaffy Duck Hunt
1950 Boobs in the WoodsThe Scarlet PumpernickelHis Bitter HalfGolden YeggsThe Ducksters
1951 Rabbit FireDrip-Along DaffyThe Prize Pest
1952 Thumb FunCracked QuackRabbit SeasoningThe Super SnooperFool Coverage
1953 Duck AmuckMuscle TussleDuck Dodgers in the 24½th CenturyDuck! Rabbit, Duck!
1954 Design for LeavingQuack ShotMy Little Duckaroo
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareStork NakedThis Is a Life?Dime to Retire
1956 The High and the FlightyRocket SquadStupor DuckA Star Is BoredDeduce, You Say
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBoston QuackieDucking the DevilShow Biz Bugs
1958 Don't Axe MeRobin Hood Daffy
1959 China JonesPeople Are BunnyApes of Wrath
1960 Person to Bunny
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitDaffy's Inn Trouble
1962 Quackodile TearsGood Noose
1963 Fast Buck DuckThe Million HareAqua Duck
1964 The Iceman Ducketh
1965 It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the HouseMoby DuckAssault and PepperedWell Worn DaffySuppressed DuckCorn on the CopTease for TwoChili Corn CornyGo Go Amigo
1966 The AstroduckMucho LocosMexican MousepieceDaffy RentsA-Haunting We Will GoSnow ExcuseA Squeak in the DeepFeather FingerSwing Ding AmigoA Taste of Catnip
1967 Daffy's DinerQuacker TrackerThe Music Mice-TroThe Spy SwatterSpeedy Ghost to TownRodent to StardomGo Away StowawayFiesta Fiasco
1968 Skyscraper CaperSee Ya Later Gladiator
1980 The Yolks on YouThe Chocolate ChaseDaffy Flies NorthDuck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
1987 The Duxorcist
1988 The Night of the Living Duck
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1996 Superior Duck
2003 Attack of the Drones
2004 Daffy Duck for President
2012 Daffy's Rhapsody
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