Bugs im Bau

Big House Bunny (1950)

**** (out of 4)

Hilarious Looney Tunes short has Bugs Bunny accidentally digging into a prison where guard (Yosemite) Sam Schultz plans on keeping him. The hard trying Sam doesn't know who he's up against though. This here is one of my favorite shorts as it contains non-stop action, rather violent scenes and one hilarious moment after another. I think this is one short where every sequence could be considered classic and that's saying a whole lot considering how great the series was. There are countless great moments here but I'd have to say my favorite is the scene where Bugs dresses up like Sam's boss and of course this goes badly for Sam in two ways. Another great sequence is Bug's first prison escape.

Bugs tunnels into a prison yard and the guard (Yosemite) Sam Schulz believes him to be a prisoner. Now, what would any other bunny do? They'd probably just tunnel back out. But not Bugs, he uses his expert skills of lying, tricks and conviction to enrage Sam to boiling point.

In one classic Duck Season/Rabbit Season moment, Bugs is locked in a cell by Sam but claims that Sam is actually the one locked up. Sam angrily forces a switching of places. It's so funny, but he quickly realizes he's been duped.

The escalating anarchy soon causes Sam his job and before you know he's the one breaking rocks in the yard. Classic stuff!

Friz Freleng's 'Big House Bunny' benefits greatly from a good script by Tedd Pierce. Despite a couple of nonsensical jokes (hey, how'd he get out of there? And how did that noose get round his neck?), Pierce's writing takes the action in some unpredictable directions and punctuates it with some amusing wisecracks. Running away from some hunters who are distinctly more threatening than Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny takes refuge in Sing Song prison where he is immediately victimised by Sam Schulz (Yosemite Sam). Inevitably, Bugs turns the tables on Sam resulting in prisoner and free man switching places. Particularly memorable in the barrage of gags are the ball and chain in the cannon joke and the highly unusual climactic visual pun. While these old-rivalry-in-a-new-setting cartoons can sometimes prove tedious, Tedd Pierce's inventive writing ensures 'Big House Bunny' rises above the average efforts.

Of course, Bugs is one of the few characters who manages to always win in the end. To escape hunters, he tunnels his way out of danger, right into a prison year where Yosemite Sam (Schultz) is waiting for him. Soon he is unfairly incarcerated. What transpires are a series of tricks played on the guard as our bunny remains aloof. Quite good, actually.

Bugs Bunny escapes hunters by leaping into his rabbit hole and tunneling to safety. Unhappily he tunnels into Sing Song prison where a sadistic prison guard named Sam Schultz refuses to accept that he's anything but one of the prisoners. Soon Bugs is in stripes, but it's the guard who will find prison life to be hell when Bugs Bunny is around to trick him into a cell, the hangman's noose, an electric chair and even into the warden's office, where Bugs will put a severe strain on the relationship between boss and underling. Finally, Sam decides that enough is enough.

Some rather shockingly morbid gags highlight this very funny confrontation between Bugs and Yosemite Sam, who has dropped the "Yosemite" from his name in order to vary his roles beyond that of the Western outlaw.

This cartoon is available on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume One," Disc 1.