Hau drauf, Hase!

It is a wrestling championships and it is the fearsome, muscle packed Crusher versus the dainty, light and silly Ravishing Ronald. An assemble of people come to announce the arrival of Ravishing Ronald, including Bugs Bunny, who, not that surprisingly, is scoffing carrots in a large carrot dish. Ravishing Ronald is having a huge amount of trouble a minute later in the contest and Bugs Bunny decides to take his place, having quite a lot of heart. Madcap intelligence and slapstick follow...

I like this episode because, it has good animation of the audience and the slapstick, the episode has a clever plot outline, there are clever twists of the plot, the slapstick is good (animation- wise of course - and entertainment wise) and the "Masked Terror" is a good character and believable.

I recommend this episode to people who like slapsticky Bugs Bunny episodes + wrestling. Enjoy "Bunny Hugged"! :-)

It is the world heavyweight wrestling championship. The Crusher is the defending champion. Ronald the Nature Boy is the challenger and Bugs Bunny is his mascot. Ronald is overwhelmed and needs help. Bugs enters the ring as Ronald's substitution, The Masked Terror.

This is one of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoon. When I think of a classic Bugs Bunny fighting cartoon, this has many of the most memorable scenes. It is top notch from start to finish. Bugs trying to wrestle Crusher's head is perfection and it all flows after that. It is one great gag after another. I like this even more than Rabbit Punch (1948).

Bunny Hugged (1951)

*** (out of 4)

Spoof of wrestling has Bugs Bunny jumping into the ring after his owner is destroyed by The Crusher. Once inside the ring the rabbit is totally out of his league so he must use his brains to try and bring down the best. There's quite a bit that happens inside the seven-minutes of this short. There's pretty much action from the start to finish and most of it is very good. The best sequence is early on in the picture and doesn't even feature the hero Bugs. It's a scene where The Crusher destroys the other wrestler, a "pretty boy" type and the way he's destroyed is just hilarious. The violent action is another plus as is all of the animation, which looks extremely well.

We are in a packed arena waiting for the World's Heavyweight Wrestling Championship to take place between the champ, "The Crusher," a snarling, growling beast of man with rippling muscles on his muscles, and "Ravishing Ronald," the denatured boy (whatever that means.). Ronald comes out in the best Roman tradition: on a platter, eating grapes. He has a mascot named "Bugs," who tells us, "Hey, it's a living."

In no time The Crusher literally makes a punching bag out of Ravishing Ronald. Bugs, "Yikes, there goes me bread and butter. I've got to do something."

What happens afterward, as Bugs becomes "The Masked Terror," is mostly funny. The stitching scene was kind of stupid but the rest of it was typical outlandish Bugs humor.

Bugs Bunny has to go Mano-a-rabbito as "the Masked Terror" for a wrestling bout with the Crusher after he easily pummels his former opponent and Bug's source of income, Ravashing Ronald. The rascally rabbit is also outmatched physically, so he has to pull some cunninggly clever yet somewhat devious tricks from his sleeves. I liked this cartoon a lot and it makes me chuckle every single time I see it. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional music and effects only track.

My Grade: A