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Prince Violent, shown on television as Prince Varmint, is a 1961 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt.

Title[]

The original title is a play on the comic strip character Prince Valiant. The alternate title is derivative of one of Yosemite Sam's choice insults at Bugs Bunny in this cartoon: "You better open up that gate, Prince Varmint, or I'll bust it down!"

Plot[]

A Viking named Sam the Terrible is rowing upriver towards a castle, and he is noticed by two people on a nearby riverbank, who retreat to the castle sensing an invasion. As he passes by Bugs Bunny's hole, Bugs peeks out and thinks that Sam's outfit is that of an "electric can opener broken loose". As Bugs sees Sam enter the castle, Bugs takes it upon himself to fight Sam.

In Bugs' first confronting Sam, who is trying to get the locals to come out, Bugs calls Sam's outfit a Halloween costume, and takes the sword from Sam and dulls it, rendering it useless, and kicks Sam out of the castle. Sam tries to re-enter, only to see the horns of his cap get stuck in the castle door. In the meantime, Bugs paints a door on the castle walls to trick Sam, and Sam (this time with the help of a pink elephant) tries to break the "door" down, only to instead knock in some of the stones where the door was painted.

Next, Sam, with the help of the elephant, is catapulting rocks over the castle walls. Bugs sees an opportunity to ruin Sam's plans and pours pepper on the elephant, making him sneeze a rock right into Sam, flattening him. Thinking that Sam has retreated, Bugs asks for the bridge to be lowered. Sam, however, reappears and tries to cross the bridge with the elephant, but the elephant is so heavy that Sam and the elephant both fall through into the moat.

Sam then decides to try to sail in the back way, using the elephant's belly as a boat. Bugs, however, notices this and while Sam is sailing, he plugs the elephant's nose with a cork, forcing him back to land for air and forcing Sam to use his hat to sail back to shore, where he chases away the pink elephant.

Frustrated, Sam tries to mine his way into the castle under one of the towers, only to have the tower pancake onto him. After this attempt fails, Sam attempts to blow open the castle door with TNT. When Sam tries to leave, however, the drawbridge has been raised and Sam is forced to wait with the lit explosives. After the door blows open, Sam rushes in, only to meet the elephant that he chased away earlier, now on Bugs' side. The elephant chases Sam with a hammer to chase him away. Bugs comments about what can be accomplished with peanuts, as the elephant chews on some.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • This cartoon was retitled Prince Varmint upon reissue due to the intimidating title for TV broadcast versions on ABC, CBS, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, the syndicated Merrie Melodies Show and the former Fox Kids and Kids' WB! blocks. This edit applies to all TV versions of the cartoon worldwide, regardless of the channel (though, due to the classic Warner Bros. shorts airing infrequently on American television and the original title cards being reinstated on MeTV's Toon In With Me block, HBO Max, and The Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Blu-ray set, the "Prince Varmint" version is becoming less popular)[1].
    • On a 1992 episode of The Merrie Melodies Show, the original title card showing a Viking ship with the title on the sail was replaced with a title card where Bugs Bunny (in Viking garb) is sitting on the side of a castle along with new credits being issued. The intro and outro cards were also replaced with 1958 Blue Ribbon opening cards with the 1946-1955 Looney Tunes opening music cue playing over it (both plastered from "From A to Z-Z-Z-Z") and 1953 closing cards with 1946-1955 Looney Tunes ending music cue playing over it (both plastered from "Dr. Jerkyl's Hide"). This version is also used when aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the United States [2].
    • The version currently shown on Boomerang's streaming service is taken from Bugs 'n' Daffy, showing only the new title card from Merrie Melodies. Instead of actual credits, the full Bugs 'n' Daffy credits sequence is played at the end.[3]
    • An alternate version of this retitled version which airs in other countries (e.g. on the Italian TV station Mediaset Italia 1, and on the French TV station Canal+ Family) has the original title card showing a Viking ship with the title on the sail replaced by a plain title card as on an episode of The Bugs Bunny Show (as pictured below). The intro cards were replaced with 1950 Merrie Melodies opening cards (plastered from "Hare We Go" (note production code of 1156)), and uses the 1959-1960 Merrie Melodies closing cards, though preserving its original ending music cue [4].
  • In addition to the above cut, the version shown on ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show also edits the part where Bugs pulls up the drawbridge and traps Yosemite Sam on the castle's doorstep with the a pile of dynamite he had lit by replacing the scene with a repeat shot of Sam running away from the explosion (though the shot of Sam looking disheveled after the explosion was left intact).

Goofs[]

Notes[]

  • Bugs’ hourglass timepiece (17 Jewels Bruin), is a reference to the Gruen Watch Co., a U.S./Swiss manufacturer of fine wristwatches.
  • This is one of the only two post-1948 Looney Tunes shorts which were shown censored with a minor edit on the unrestored TV prints (even on the PAL masters) worldwide regardless of the TV channel. The other one is "Gonzales' Tamales". Both shorts would have their censored scenes reinstated when released to home media.

Gallery[]

TV Title Cards[]

References[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
Compressed Hare
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1940-1964
Succeeded by
Wet Hare
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

also see the List of Bugs Bunny cartoons and the List of Yosemite Sam cartoons

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