Der Schneehase

One can point to this short as proof that Chuck Jones shorts could succeed without his frequent writing partner Mike Maltese. Here, Tedd Pierce (who at the time was mostly working for Robert McKimson) takes over the reins, and it has a lot of funny dialogue. In particular, he nails Daffy's self-centered personality: "It was me or him, and, obviously, it couldn't be me. It's a simple matter of logic. I'm not like other people. I can't stand pain. It hurts me." Classic!

The animation and music is still full of personality, even though budgets in both departments were slimmer by 1961. The snowman character, a take-off on Lennie from Of Mice and Men, is a fun "antagonist"- I say it in quotes because he's not really a bad guy, he just doesn't know his own strength and is a constant impediment to Bugs and Daffy's vacation.

It definitely holds up; give it a watch, especially if you're convinced Looney Tunes had no bright spots after 1960.

As Bugs and Daffy head for Palm Beach, they make a wrong turn at St. Louis and end up in some snowy climate. Bugs heads out but Daffy, who has some kind of scarf that looks like rabbit ears, is grabbed by the Abominable Snow Man and caressed like Lenny in "Of Mice and Men." This character was frequent in Warner Brothers Cartoons.

The Abominable Snow Rabbit is one of those Bugs & Daffy travel cartoons, in which the left turn at Albuquerque is always forgotten. This time, they go further than usual, ending up in the Himalayas. Here they inevitably meet the abominable snowman, a successful one-shot for many years until he made a second appearance on Mars - of all places - in Chuck Jones' TV production, Spaced Out Bunny. For such an insufferable analyst as me, I can watch, rewind and watch again my tape of this cartoon just to study how Bugs and Daffy are drawn in Jones' unique style in the 60's and beyond. Daffy is once again the heel of the picture, trying to cook Bugs' goose but repeatedly getting squashed himself. An excellent cartoon for all fans.

In this very funny Looney Tunes episode, Bugs Bunny has taken Daffy Duck somewhere or other and has ended up miles from home in the Himalayas. Bugs Bunny is pretty anxious and Daffy is also very annoyed. Just when things start to become better, a very mad yeti arrives on the scene. He likes bunny rabbits and thinks Daffy is one...

I was surprised this episode was so funny, as usually I do not particularly enjoy episodes where Daffy duck is greedy. However, I very much enjoyed this episode for his and Bugs' brilliant quotes, the mad yeti, the layout of the episode and the turn-out.

One theme about this episode to consider is that here, Bugs Bunny is quite stupid, taking Daffy Duck to a place a thousand miles from Palm Springs (where the pair originally wanted to go). Bugs Bunny is usually thought of as a clever character, although a great deal of the time he can be almost as stupid as Daffy. Hmm...

This is well worth spending seven or so minutes for, recommended to the average Looney Tunes fans and people who like mad yetis.

8 and a half out of ten.

This is one of the cartoons where we meet the Abominable Snowman, a parody of Lenny from Of Mice and Men, which became a staple joke at both Warner Brothers and MGM (courtesy of Tex Avery for the latter studio) and virtually every less than bright secondary character was modeled to some degree after Lenny. Daffy is his usual charming and affable self and much chaos follows. Good to see that it's available. Well worth watching. Recommended.