Rocky and Mugsy are a pair of gangsters who appear in the shorts. Rocky, the leader and brains of the two, is the short one with the black hair, a hat that covers his eyes, and is constantly seen smoking a cigarette, and Mugsy, Rocky's henchman, is a big stupid oaf.
Rocky was first created in 1946 because many of Bugs Bunny's past foes (such as Elmer Fudd and Beaky Buzzard) were considered too gullible, and that Friz Freleng needed a more intelligent (and challenging) figure to face the rabbit; this mentality was what also led to the creation of Yosemite Sam.
History[]
Golden Age[]
Rocky first appeared in the 1946 film "Racketeer Rabbit" where Bugs decides to find himself a new home, but the one he chooses is unfortunately occupied by a duo of bank robbers. The characters here are called "Rocky" (drawn like movie gangster Edward G. Robinson) and "Hugo" (a caricatured Peter Lorre).
Freleng liked the Mobster idea, and Rocky later appeared in "Golden Yeggs" as a criminal who wanted Daffy Duck because he thought he could apparently lay golden eggs which were actually done by a goose although Mugsy didn't appear with him; he had a number of different henchmen with the main one named Nick and he made a deal with Daffy that if he couldn't lay a single golden egg he would kill him and when the time comes he shoots Daffy in the head causing him to actually lay a golden egg, but the catch was he had to lay enough to fill several egg cartons. Beginning from this cartoon, Freleng redesigned Rocky, making him a more generalized caricature of the "tough guy" gangster rather than Edward G. Robinson in particular. Freleng used several of the same techniques that would make Sam, his other Bugs villain, such a humorous character: despite Rocky's tough-guy demeanor, everlasting cigar (or cigarette) and foppish gangster clothing, he really is a little more than a dwarf in a much-too-large hat.
Rocky and Nick reappeared in "Catty Cornered", where they kidnapped Tweety because he was worth a lot of money, but Sylvester unknowingly rescued him after attempting to eat him many times and he was greatly rewarded.
Rocky next appeared this time with Mugsy in his first appearance in "Bugs and Thugs" where they unknowingly kidnapped Bugs Bunny after robbing a bank they concluded that he knew too much and held him hostage. Bugs attempted to call for help at a gas station but they saw through him and yanked him away from the phone, later on he tricks them into getting hit by a train which they survive afterwards, they force him to rebuilt their car and drag the car to their hideout. Once there, Rocky orders Mugsy to kill Bugs by saying "You know what to do, let him have it!" while entering the room he points his gun at Bugs and Bugs says "You heard him let me have it" and he stupidly gives him the gun and he shoots Mugsy in the face and he stumbles next to Rocky and says "Duh, I let him have it boss, just like you said", then he faints and lands on top of Rocky, who punches him off. Next, Bugs makes a siren sound and pretends to be a cop by using a thick Irish accent and he tells them to hide in a stove, then he goes into a conversation with himself pretending to be a cop, he says "Where's Rocky? Where's he hiding?", "He's not in the stove!", "Ho-ho, he's hiding in the stove, eh?", "Look pal, if my friend Rocky was in there, would I toin on the gas and toss a lit match inside?", "You might rabbit, you might", "I guess he's not here, let's go Clancy", immediately afterwards a real cop shows up (with exactly the same voice that Bugs uses) and they go through exactly the same routine but this time when he was about to throw in a lit match they run out and beg themselves to be arrested.
Mugsy (or another character that resembles him) made his only official single appearance in "Napoleon Bunny-Part" as Napoleon's foolish guard who would often inadvertently injure the emperor, leading to Mugsy getting stabbed back in retaliation. He is referred to as "Goof" in production art.
They appeared next in "Bugsy and Mugsy" in which Bugs makes Mugsy do things that cause him to get hit by Rocky and their fighting eventually leads to them getting arrested. Mugsy looked completely different from the previous short and depicted as being thinner and having a big chin.
The duo last appeared in "The Unmentionables" in which Bugs Bunny is an undercover detective come to arrest them; he does so by trapping them in cereal boxes. In this appearance Mugsy looked like he did in "Bugs and Thugs".
Post-Golden Age[]
The duo in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
The characters play a major role in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "The Cat Who Knew Too Much". They would later appear in "Furgo" as Ducky Wheeze's henchmen. They appear as antagonists again in "The Fifty Karat Furball" when they attempt to steal the "I of Istanbul" out of Sylvester's Stomach.
They make two very small cameos in The Looney Tunes Show. Once, they appear in a book of people that the police have arrested before. There are other older characters in there like Hugo. And another time in the Merrie Melodies Music Video "Stick to My Guns".
They appeared in the Looney Tunes Cartoons shorts "Chain Gangsters" and "Hideout Hare". Their designs remained identical except that Rocky's skin is more tan.
Rocky has a cameo appearance in the Bugs Bunny Builders episode "Cousin Billy".
They also appeared in the 1993 Sega Genesis video game Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers in the fourth level as silhouettes in the window, and in the 2000 Game Boy Color video game Looney Tunes Collector: Alert! as the third boss fight.
Appearances[]
Cartoons[]
"Racketeer Rabbit" (1946) (Rocky only)- "Golden Yeggs" (1950) (Rocky only)
- "Catty Cornered" (1953) (Rocky only)
- "Bugs and Thugs" (1954)
- "Satan's Waitin'" (1954) (Mugsy only)
- "Napoleon Bunny-Part" (1956) (Mugsy only)
- "Bugsy and Mugsy" (1957)
- "The Unmentionables" (1963)
- "Carrotblanca" (1995) (Mugsy only)
In other media[]
Tiny Toon Adventures episode:
The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episodes:
Duck Dodgers episode:
The Looney Tunes Show episodes:
- "It's a Handbag"
- "Mrs. Porkbunny's" (cameo)
Looney Tunes Cartoons shorts:
- "Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!" (cameo)
- "Chain Gangsters"
- "Hideout Hare"
Bugs Bunny Builders episode:
- "Cousin Billy" (cameo)
Gallery[]
