Hol's der Geier!

Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (1942)

**** (out of 4)

A mama buzzard sends her four children out to get food but the dimwitted one, named Beaky Buzzard, is unlucky as he has to bring home a rabbit and he just happens to run into Bugs Bunny. This here has always been one of my favorite animated shorts because Bugs and Beaky just make the ultimate duo because both are just so damn cute here. The animation is perfectly done and the story contains enough great moments for two films. The best sequence is when Bugs goes to "take a shower" before going with Beaky who finally starts to realize a joke is being played on him. What happens next is just priceless. The final joke with Bugs also gets a big laugh just for the wonderful voice. To me what works best is actually Beaky because he's just so adorable and stupid at the same time. The voice work is downright brilliant and in itself brings a lot of laughs.

This is a Bob Clameptt Bugs Bunny cartoon that gives us the Bugs look as we now know him as done by animator Robert McKimson. Pretty cute, huh? Anyway, a buzzard with a voice that sounds like Mortimer Snerd is trying to capture him for his mama. As always, Bugs outsmarts him at every turn but there is one gag in which Bugs thinks he's dying (though even here he cracks, "Grusome, isn't it?"). There's also a wonderfully choreographed big-band dance that is one of the most entertaining animation I've ever seen in these Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons. Plenty of hilarious Clampett touches abound like the trombone sound Bugs makes when he fingers the buzzard's Adam's apple or the "bee-op" sound you hear in many of these cartoons. That was made by Bob himself. Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid is highly recommended.

Looney Tunes were part of my childhood and still hold a special place in my heart. Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid may not be quite classic status but it is a truly great cartoon indeed. The pacing is not as crisp and somewhat manic as it is in many other Looney Tunes cartoons, but again this is a matter of preference and there is so much to love about Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid anyway. The animation is colourful and fluid, with both characters well-drawn, while the music- especially in the big-band dance sequence- is cleverly orchestrated and enhances the humour so well. The humour here is more verbal than it is physical, but that is not a hindrance in any way, as the dialogue is fresh and witty and the gags are equally inspired. In terms of standout scenes, I did love the animal bone and "take a shower" gags but the highlight was definitely the big-band dance sequence, magnificently choreographed and perhaps among Bugs' best overall scenes out of all his cartoons. Bugs is on fine form, doing what he does best, while Beaky Buzzard while stupid is cute and funny rather than overly-dumb and annoying. These two work really well together. I have nothing to criticise in regard to Mel Blanc's vocals either. All in all, a great cartoon but not quite a classic. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This cartoon may be slow moving and dull for some, but personally I found it very entertaining and is one of my new favourites. This cartoon is one of the first with Bugs Bunny (this was made two years after his official debut) and the debut of a minor-ish Looney Tunes character named Beaky Buzzard.

This cartoon was a good surprise for me for the following reasons: 1. I was not expecting this to be nearly so old and I enjoyed the old-fashioned humour you have in a few WB cartoons, featured here. I think that the plot along with "old" jokes would work better than the plot along with new jokes.

2. I was expecting this to be quite a fast paced, slapstick cartoon, instead I found that hardly any of the jokes featured slapstick (as a whole, all WB cartoons have some slapstick in them) and there were some good verbal jokes inserted in too. It certainly kept my interest going! The other good things about the cartoon were the ever familiar Bugs Bunny in his trick mode (escaping baddies using clever ways) and the introduction of Beaky Buzzard and this was also my first cartoon with him in as well. I will certainly look out for more with him in. The animation was pretty good and overall, I found it a great episode. :-)

The cartoon starts with a mother buzzard (vulture to my fellow British) instructing each of her offspring to go and bring some meat back to the nest. She gives her babies serious challenges, such as horse and deer. However, one of her babies does not want to hunt at all (Beaky Buzzard), but he is pushed out of the nest anyway to go and find something. He ends up finding Bugs Bunny, who he is ready to hunt...

I recommend this cartoon to people who do not mind old, slightly slow-moving Looney Tunes. Enjoy "Bugs Gets the Boid"! :-) 8 and a half out of ten.

WE HAVE JUST watched this one on video; as a bonus feature on the special 2 disc DVD release of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. Although the cartoon has been around and available on television for well over the half century point, it seemed to be new.

THE SHORT BECAME familiar to us as one of those "Associated Artists Productions" TV releases. In our case, we saw it (often) on the old BUGS BUNNY & FRIENDS local kids TV show on WGN TV, Channel 9, in Chicago. As was the custom, there was a host; in this case, it was one Dick Coughlin. He always sported a sort of "Lumberjack Wardrobe"; featuring dungarees and flannel shirts (always).

THE SET WAS done up to look like a farm or woodland locale. A puppet version of Bugs would interact with the host in comic sketches; between the screening of the 2 or 3 cartoons that were shown each evening, from 6:30 to 7:00 PM. (there were some other character puppets, such as "Radcliffe Racoon" and others, whose names we can't recall). Mr. Coughlin provided the voices, although no ventriloquist himself.

AT THE TIME of seeing BUGS BUNNY GETS THE BOID, we found it to be funny and would have rated it at or near to the top of the pack. The gags were energetic and genuinely tickled the funny bone. The animation was smooth and the short storyline had not a wasted frame of film.

AS WITH ALL Warner Brothers Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies, a hallmark identifier is its music. This was no exception; as its soundtrack has the lively and totally customized Carl Stalling original score. Although the sound era animated shorts are visual, with the advantage of having snappy dialog & comical voices as an adjunct, just try viewing & listening to the same cartoon; but without the music.

ONE ASPECT OF the humor, that was not readily apparent to us as kids in the 1950's was that Warner's cartoons often time parodied some of the then popular entertainers or Radio characters. In this case, the young vulture, "Killer" is a spoof of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's Mortimer Snerd. The buzzard, his brothers and Italian accented mother would be reprised for other, recurring appearances.

ON THE PARTICULAR DVD that we viewed, the cartoon must have been remastered. The color is brilliant and the images are crystal clear. (Clever, these Americans!)