Super-Rabbit is a 1943 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
Plot[]
"Look! Up there in the sky! It's a boid!" "Nah, it ain't a boid, it's a dive bomba!" "No! It's Super-Rabbit!" "Faster than a speeding bullet", in this case, a cork popped out of a gun, "More powerful than a locomotive", a "choo-choo" train, "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound", though Bugs trips when he reaches the top and falls frantically as soon as he clears the building. Bugs is "Super-Rabbit, The Rabbit of Tomorrow!"
Professor Cannafraz is in his lab creating a "super carrot". Bugs is his test subject, and immediately wolfs down the carrot, which now gives him super-abilities, such as invulnerability and flight... but only temporarily. He must eat another one from time to time, to replenish his powers. Bugs pulls out a newspaper article about "Cottontail Smith", a hunter in Texas who wants to hunt down all rabbits. Seeing a need, Bugs gathers up the super carrots, stashes them in a cigarette case, gives the professor a kiss on the nose and flies off. Bugs flies past a horse who happens to be sauntering in the middle of the air, with the surprised horse turning to the camera and going, "A rabbit? UP HERE!?"
Bugs flies to "Deepinaharta Texas", and assumes a disguise as a "mild-mannered forest creature" complete with oversized glasses and hat. He soon encounters Smith and starts to have fun with him, switching Smith with his horse. When Smith tries to shoot Bugs, he finds than none of the bullets penetrate him. Bugs hands him a cannonball, eats another carrot, "Just a precaution," then plays basketball with the cannonball. The bemused Smith and his horse are soon outwitted by Bugs, but they don't give up. The pair fly into the sky in an airplane, try swooping in on Bugs, but soon find themselves piloting a control stick and the top window of their plane - and nothing else.
Bugs runs out of power, but when he tries to recharge by eating another carrot, he fumbles his cigarette case and the carrots all fall to the ground. When Bugs lands on the ground, he opens his eyes to see a line of eaten carrots - both Smith and his horse are now superheroes. Bugs then says "This looks like a job for a REAL Superman!" He ducks into a phone booth, and both Smith and the horse are ready to attack - until the booth opens and they both snap to attention and salute. Bugs marches out in a Marine uniform, singing the Marines' Hymn, pausing to say, "Sorry, fellas, I can't play with you anymore. I got some important work to do," before marching off towards a sign pointing to "Berlin, Tokyo and points East" while finishing the Hymn.
Caricatures[]
- Richard Haydn - Professor Canafrazz's voice is an imitation of him
Availability[]
(Associated Artists Productions print)
Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Bugs Bunny Cartoon Festival Featuring "Hold the Lion, Please"
Bugs Bunny No 1
Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons
Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons
Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny on Parade
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 3, Side 2: Bugs Bunny
Further Adventures of Bugs Bunny
Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 2: Running Amuck (1995 USA Turner dubbed version)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Four
Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition, Disc 13 (1995 Turner dubbed version)
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 7, Disc 2
The Superman Motion Picture Anthology, Disc 1 (same print as Golden Collection: Volume 3 in HD)
Looney Tunes Collection Volume 3
Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection, Disc 1 (restored in HD)
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- When this short aired on KPTV in the 1980s (as part of The Ramblin' Rod Show) the first 50 seconds (including the title card and credits) were cut due to time constraints, so the short now begins with Bugs Bunny tripping when he goes over the building.[2]
Notes[]
- The United States Marine Corps, impressed that Bugs Bunny decided to become a Marine in this film, insisted that the character be officially inducted into the force as a private. This was done, complete with dogtags. The character was regularly promoted until Bugs was officially "discharged" at the end of World War II as a Master Sergeant.[3]
- The cartoon is a parody of the 1940s Superman cartoons by Max Fleischer, including the opening of those cartoons.
- Although Superman and DC Comics were not associated with Warner Brothers at the time of the short's release, they would be due to future events: in 1969, Kinney National acquired Warner Bros. after having acquired DC Comics, publishers of Superman in 1967. Due to a financial scandal associated with the company's parking business, all entertainment assets including Warner Brothers and DC Comics would be spun off in 1971, divesting Kinney of both companies but keeping both linked as the same company from that point onward.
- "Professor Cannafrazz" is patterned in part after Richard Haydn's radio character Edwin Carp on the Burns and Allen radio show.
- Bugs calls Prof. Cannafrazz “Boibank” (Burbank) and “Edison”, references to “The Wizard of Horticulture”, botanist Luther Burbank, and “The Wizard of Menlo Park”, inventor Thomas Edison, respectively.
- "Deepinaharta, Texas" refers to the song "Deep in the Heart of Texas".
- Cottontail Smith resembles fellow Texan Lyndon Baines Johnson, at the time a United States congressman. He later appears as one of Yosemite Sam's sidekicks in Looney Tunes Back in Action. The character himself has a voice similar to Yosemite Sam's and Foghorn Leghorn's, but with a slightly less raucous voice put into the character.
- Bugs, impervious to bullets, tells Cottontail Smith “You may fire when (you are) ready, Gridley!” This is an oft-quoted line from Commodore George Dewey to his flagship captain Charles Gridley, as an order to commence the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
- The engine on the train is a 4-2-0 (four leading wheels, two driving wheels, and no trailing wheels), commonly called a "Jervis" type.
- This is the first Superman parody in Looney Tunes. The second is Robert McKimson's 1956 cartoon Stupor Duck, where Daffy Duck is the bumbling not-so-superhero looking for a nonexistent villain.
- Near the end of the cartoon, Bugs refers to the Marines as a "real Superman", comparing the Marines to the famous comic book superhero Superman.[4] At the time this cartoon was released, The United States Marine Corps were actual heroes that served to battle the enemy countries during World War II.[5]
- When Bugs is introduced during the origin story, he is given a scientific name in the box he's kept in ("Rabbitus Idiotus Americanus"). This is the earliest usage of the "scientific name" joke used by Chuck Jones that would become more prominent in the Road Runner and Coyote series starting in 1949's "Fast and Furry-ous".
Music-Cues[6][]
- A Midsummer Night's Dream - Overture (by Felix Mendelssohn)
- Plays during the sequence with the professor.
- Cheyenne (by Egbert Van Alstyne)
- A much slower rendition plays during the introduction scene with Cottontail Smith.
- Freddy the Freshman (by Cliff Friend and Dave Oppenheim)
- Plays when Bugs, Cottontail Smith, and the horse play basketball.
- Frat (by John F. Barth)
- Plays briefly when Bugs is playing basketball
- Cheyenne (by Egbert Van Alstyne)
- A much slower rendition plays again when Cottontail Smith and his horse are flying in the air without a plane.
- Marine Hymn (by Jacques Offenbach)
- Plays at the end with Bugs becoming a soldier.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Stupor Duck—a Superman parody with Daffy Duck
- Snafuperman—A Superman parody with Private Snafu
References[]
- ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSTooZXPZbs
- ↑ Audio commentary by Paul Dini for "Super-Rabbit" on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 (2005).
- ↑ (2004) "Filmography 1943", Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786481699.
- ↑ https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/10-legendary-heroes-us-marine-corps/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036402/soundtrack/