Conejo Rebelde

As a huge Looney Tunes fan, I have always thoroughly enjoyed Rebel Rabbit. Maybe it is not quite one of Bugs' or Looney Tunes' best, but it is one of my favourite Robert McKimson shorts. I do agree about the park bench gag, I have never really found that particular gag funny. Every other gag works though, with the ending especially memorable. The dialogue is also very fresh and witty, so on the humour side Rebel Rabbit scores with no problem. The animation is wonderful, the colours and character designs are classic McKimson and look beautiful, while the music is characterful energy personified. The story is engaging at the very least, and very crisply paced so there is rarely, if any, a dull moment. Bugs is on great form, he has been more likable before but his humour and personality do really shine here as you'd expect. Mel Blanc's voice work is right on the money, I've rarely heard Blanc put a foot wrong and Rebel Rabbit is no exception. Overall, not a classic for me, but still highly recommended with no hesitation. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I loved the live action military scenes in this cartoon! I believe they were from film footage of the Louisiana Maneuvers of September 1941. The tanks coming out of the garages are variants of the M2 Medium Tank, the forerunner of the M3 Lee. Also, there is a shot of an M3 Stuart light infantry tank without its main 37mm gun. Furthermore, there are clips showing M3 Scout Cars and horse mounted cavalry. All these were present at the Louisiana Maneuvers.

The aircraft shown are possibly Douglas Devastators from the U.S.S. Lexington's air group. I believe this to be so because of the canopy and shape of the fuselage on each aircraft. However, they might be Douglas Dauntless dive bombers or the USAAC's variant of the same plane.

When I saw the title and first minute of "Rebel Rabbit", I sort of assumed that it would be a Robin Hood-style story. Boy was I wrong! It portrays Bugs Bunny getting insulted when he finds that the government has placed exorbitant bounties on foxes and bears, but only 2 cents on rabbits (after all, rabbits are such cute little creatures). So, the carrot-chomping rascal proceeds to make a complete mess of the United States. The final scene reminded me of the Peter Sellers-Ringo Starr movie "The Magic Christian", how they ridiculously brought in the most elaborate weaponry to deal with so simple an animal (then again, Bugs isn't so simple to catch).

I especially agreed with one scene: Bugs cuts Florida off from the rest of the country. Considering that the Sunshine State is home to the rich Cubans who fled when Fidel Castro's army took over in Cuba, we should break that state off from the rest of the country and send it down to Cuba so that the current government there can prosecute Fulgencio Batista's henchmen.

But I digress. The point is, this is a really funny cartoon. That southern senator was obviously Mel Blanc doing Foghorn Leghorn's voice. Really neat.

Bugs Bunny peeved over rabbit pelts being only worth 2 cents each(on account of the sheer volume of the rabbit population), while Bear and foxes go for considerably much more, goes to Washington where a flamboyantly gay Games commissioner feeds him some bull about rabbits being all cuddly and friendly (this was the pre-Quest for the Holy Grail days mine you). So Bugs goes around America vandalizing and terrorizing, including (in what is every Liberal's fantasy) giving New York back to the Indians and cutting off Florida from the USA. This is McKimson's best short ever, that side it still isn't that good and is quite a bit overrated. This animated short can be found on Disk 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3.

My Grade: B-

Robert McKimson's 'Rebel Rabbit' is an extremely original cartoon that casts Bugs Bunny as an egotistical anarchist to terrifying effect. Outraged that the bounty for hunted rabbits is only two cents each, Bugs visits Washington and demands it be raised. When his request is refused, he sets about proving that rabbit's are more dangerous than people think by causing chaos up and down the country until the bounty on his head reaches a million dollars. 'Rebel Rabbit' is one of McKimson's finest cartoons. Beginning with a novel premise, McKimson takes his time by having Bugs deal with all the administrative side of things first. When this approach fails, the cartoon goes crazy as Bugs lets himself off the leash. From hereon in, all bets are off as Bugs commits senseless acts of assault, vandalism and general indecency. McKimson heightens the anything-can-happen atmosphere by interspersing the animated antics with live action footage. Bugs's nationwide rampage is a thrill to behold and the unexpected result makes for a very satisfying climax. All in all, 'Rebel Rabbit' is a fascinating and fun character experiment that comes highly recommended.