El Conejo de Pascua

This time, Bugs Bunny substitutes for the infirm Easter Bunny, only to deliver eggs to a malevolent infant - named the Dead End Kid - and then to Elmer Fudd (who plans to make Easter Bunny stew). I noticed that at the beginning of "Easter Yeggs", Bugs is reading a book called "How to Multiply". No doubt that refers to one of the traits most associated with leporids*: having lots of offspring very quickly. In fact, rabbits' extreme fertility is precisely why they're associated with Easter: Easter is one of the major holidays in spring, which of course is associated with rebirth.

But I digress. I didn't think that this was the greatest Bugs Bunny cartoon, but it's still a pretty funny one. I kinda predicted what was going to happen with the log, but that didn't really weaken the cartoon.

*Leporids are rabbits and hares. The family is called Leporidae.

I grew up on Warner Bros. cartoons, and thought I had seen them all. Somehow I missed this one until I found it on a laserdisc collection. It is now one of my favorites because it contains two of the funniest lines in all of the WB cartoons (see quotes).

To Mightyzebra: You obviously have no appreciation for the finer things in life. Happy Easter.

Robert McKimson's 'Easter Yeggs' is an up and down cartoon that works in fits and starts. Crammed with ideas (perhaps too many), 'Easter Yeggs' pits Bugs against a lazy Easter Bunny, an annoying young child and his gangster family and a gun-toting Elmer Fudd. These threads are all drawn together with pleasing smoothness at the end but the jumping between them makes the cartoon seem a little lumpy and overstuffed. Another problem is the character of the Easter Bunny, who is whiney and entirely unappealing. Nevertheless, he gets the best moment in the cartoon when he makes an unexpected cameo in the middle of one of Bugs's heckles. Despite all it's flaws, I do like 'Easter Yeggs'. It's never going to be considered a classic by anyone but it is at least bright, colourful and inventive and there are enough decent jokes to counterbalance the dull spots.

Easter Yeggs isn't among the best, but it is very funny and a pleasant enough themed cartoon. I can understand why people mayn't like it, although I was personally satisfied by the ending it is very shocking all the same, and Elmer's character here has an inconsistency that he hunts for food here.If you ignore the inconsistency or at least try to, Easter Yeggs is quite fun. The story is simple but engaging enough, and there are many funny and quotable lines in the dialogue. The animation is crisp and smooth with beautiful colours and the music is lively. I feel this is an instance when the dialogue is better than the sight gags, but most of the sight gags do work, and the voice work is terrific as per usual.Overall, a nice cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox