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Shishkabugs is a 1962 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng.

Title[]

The title is a play on shish kebab, a type of grilled meat.

Plot[]

Yosemite Sam is the royal chef for a Spoiled King. On his way back to the castle from grocery shopping, Sam complains how the king never thanks him for his hard work in having to take up groceries and prepare meals three times a day, but whines that Sam takes too long with preparing the meals, much to Sam's annoyance. "Cook! Cook! Where's my lunch? Where's my dinner?" This drives Sam to the point where he insults the king behind the king's back.

After Sam prepares his latest meal, which consists of "Cornish Hen a la Westchester" and "Prime Rib of Mutton au Jus with kreplach Sauce Bordelaise," the king just kicks the dish and orders Sam to take it away. He then tells Sam he's fed up with having his meals served as variety. Wanting something different for a change, the king orders Sam to fix him some hassenpfeffer. Sam agrees to carry out the king's request, but doesn't know what hassenpfeffer is. When Sam checks back just to make sure the king said the right word, the king answers the question by throwing a bowl of custard into Sam's face.

While Sam is looking up the recipe, Bugs Bunny knocks on the door and explains that as he's one of the rabbits residing in the king's royal forest, he's come to borrow a cup of diced carrots. Sam just slams the door on Bugs and returns to the cookbook, only to discover that hassenpfeffer is a dish that includes a rabbit as one of the ingredients. Realizing who he just shooed away, Sam rushes out after Bugs.

Sam manages to trick Bugs into thinking that the king has invited Bugs for dinner and agrees to help him prepare for dinner. While Sam adds the required ingredients to the pot, Bugs states how glad he is to be a rabbit, but after Sam reads that he's to place Bugs into the oven and heat him at 350 degrees F, Bugs sees that he's been duped. Bugs gets out of the pot and pretends to go off to another commitment, but Sam blocks the exit and threatens him with the meat ax, forcing Bugs to return to the pot, with Bugs stating if it's that important, he'll stay.

At this point, the king is starting to get impatient again and whine that Sam is taking too long to make the hassenpfeffer. Realizing there's no time to cook Bugs, Sam just shuts him in the pot and serves him to the eager king. Just as the king lifts the pot lid, Bugs springs up and gives the king a kiss. After spitting out Bugs' cooties, the king scolds Sam for serving him a raw and alive hassenpfeffer and orders him to take it back to the kitchen and prepare it the right way, or else Sam will be "drawn and quartered."

Not wanting to face execution for his mistake, Sam shoves Bugs into the oven and orders him to stay there until the cooking time is up. Sam then pulls out an hourglass that gives the time for hassenpfeffer, prime ribs, fish, and fowl. While Sam's back is turned, Bugs escapes the oven, commenting on how hot it is in there, and leaves. As soon as the hourglass hits zero for hassenpfeffer, Sam thinks he's safe.

Just as the king starts getting impatient and whining that Sam's taking too long again, Sam brings out the supposed hassenpfeffer and presents it to the king. Just as the king is remarking that he hopes that Sam prepared the hassenpfeffer the right way, he lifts the pot lid and a spring released banana coconut creme pie, planted by Bugs before he left, springs out and hits the king in the face. Just as Sam realizes that his goose is cooked, the king shouts out for the guards to arrest Sam for his "crime" and announces that Sam is fired. Right away, a pair of clumsy guards rush in, arrest Sam, and lead him to the dungeon to await execution.

A sign reads "Cook Wanted," then Bugs, now the new royal chef, serves the king his hassenpfeffer. The king removes the pot lid and eats a giant carrot, which Bugs is passing off as a hassenpfeffer, but he doesn't seem to care that his dish is a carrot. Bugs closes one eye and remarks with a British Cockney accent a pun about how this goes to show us how "a one eyed jack-rabbit can beat a king!"

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

  • With only 5 minutes and 5 seconds of footage (not counting the credits and cards), "Shishkabugs" is the shortest Bugs Bunny short made in the Golden Age of American animation.
  • This cartoon combines the plots of both "Slick Hare" and "Roman Legion-Hare", albeit more dialogue-oriented than both shorts.
  • "Shishkabugs" is also a rare cartoon where Yosemite Sam is in the role of a victim instead of being the aggressor; in this case the villain/aggressor is the Spoiled King.
  • This is the first cartoon which Yosemite Sam hardly ever yells at the top of his lungs and instead speaks in a lower voice tone, as this cartoon was presumably recorded not long after Mel Blanc’s near-fatal car accident. Blanc would continue to voice Sam in this way until his death in 1989, perhaps due to Blanc's ailing throat as he ages.
  • This is the first time music director William Lava is credited as Bill Lava in the cartoon's credits.
  • The short notably features in the background of a scene in Days of Wine and Roses.
  • This is the last cartoon to feature a caricature of Charles Laughton, who died a week after this cartoon’s release.

Gallery[]

TV Title Cards[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
Bill of Hare
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1962
Succeeded by
Devil's Feud Cake
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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