Movies - Super-Rabbit

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	Movies - Super-Rabbit

Super-Rabbit is a Merrie Melodies
cartoon starring Bugs Bunny parodying Superman. It was released to theaters on April 3, 1943.

Plot

The cartoon opens with a similar opening to the Superman television and movie serials - "Faster than a bullet" (in this case, a cork popped out of a gun), "More powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" (of course, this being Bugs Bunny, Bugs falls frantically as soon as he clears the building). Once the cartoon establishes Bugs as "Super Rabbit", the cartoon moves to the lab of a scientist who is 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. 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, gives the professor a kiss on the nose and flies off. (In an amusing gag, Bugs flies past a horse who happens to be sauntering in the middle of the air, with the horse turning to the camera and going, "A rabbit? Up HERE?!")

Bugs lands 'Deepinaharta Texas', and assumes a 'disguise' as a mild-mannered reporter (complete with oversized glasses and hat). He soon encounters Smith, and within a few panels already 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 with their own 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 soon runs out of power, but when he tries to 'recharge' by eating another carrot, they 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 turns to the camera and 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 salute. Bugs marches out in a Marine uniform, singing The Marines Hymn, pausing to state "Sorry, fellas, I can't play with you anymore. I got some important work to do," before marching off to 'Berlin, Tokyo and all parts East' while finishing the Hymn.

Credits

Distributor: Warner Brothers
Producer: Leon Schlesinger
Supervision: Chuck Jones
Story: Tedd Pierce
Animation: Ken Harris
Musical Direction: Carl Stalling

Cast

Mel Blanc
: Bugs Bunny, Cottontail Smith, Texas Rabbit
Richard Haydn
: Professor Canafrazz
Tedd Pierce
: Observer

Quotes

BUGS: "Bricka bracka firecracker sis boom bah! Bugs Bunny! Bugs Bunny! RAH RAH RAH!"
BUGS: "Sorry, fellas. I can't play witchya anymore. I got some IMPORTANT work ta do!"

Trivia

The U.S. Marine Corps was so flattered that Bugs Bunny decides to become a marine in this film that they insisted that the character be officially inducted into the force as a private, which 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.

Professor Canafrazz was patterned at least in part after Richard Haydn's radio character Edwin Carp on the Burns and Allen radio show.

Numbers

This was Bugs' 16th cartoon, and this was the 47th cartoon Chuck Jones directed at WB.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Super-Rabbit ]

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