El Conejo Alí Babá

A wrong turn on the way to Pismo Beach finds Bugs and Daffy deep in Ali Baba's cave, where a mountain of treasure tempts the always avaricious duck despite a hulking guard wielding a scimitar. This is a pretty typical Bugs outing. All the expected gags are trotted out as the every-resourceful rabbit flips from identity to identity (genie, snake-charmer, etc) to outwit his dim-witted and credulous opponent despite the best efforts of his pushy, hyper-kinetic, duck-billed sidekick. I remember watching this one as a kid and then running around the playground waving a stick and yelling "Hassan chop", a behaviour that, these days, would result in the rapid deployment of a team of child counsellors tasked with explaining to me that ethnic stereotypes and threats to slice people in twain just aren't funny (#35 in the '50 Greatest Cartoons').

One fine day, the Sultan of Baghdad closes Sesame, and reminds guard Hassan: "Guard well this treasure, or may the jackal grow fat on thy carcass." Hassan affirms: "No one shall pass Hassan." However, neither man counted on two people, er, animals: Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. It just so happens that they accidentally burrow right into the cave. When they see where they've landed, Bugs tries to figure out where they took a wrong turn, while Daffy spots the treasure. His greedy side takes over, and after forcing Bugs back into the hole, Daffy proceeds to play in the treasure.

Meanwhile, Hassan has finally remembered the password. He goes after Daffy, while Bugs disguises himself as a genie and grants Hassan a wish. After they finally manage to get rid of that guard, Daffy accidentally finds the real genie, and...well, let's just say that they don't become friends. Bugs flees, of course.

Once again, Chuck Jones and company hit the comedy jackpot. This is what classic cartoons are all about. In my opinion, the Looney Tunes were always better than Disney.

OK, I'll admit that I'm a big fan of animated shows, having grown up with them, they were part of my life for as far back as I can remember.

My tastes have changed a little since that time, and I have added a sizable mental library of shows that I've seen, but overall I enjoy the animated shows quite a bit.

Taking that into account, I can say that I was lucky enough to grow up with the Bugs Bunny line of cartoons, the Looney Toons cartoons if you will. While I believe that some of them are better than others, I would give all of them a higher rating than most other animated shows in existence, each having something to offer in the way of humor, animation skill, or just plain silliness.

This specific one, with Bugs and Daffy, is one of my all time favorites, one that I've quoted (much to the chagrin of my family) often, especially the Daffy lines regarding how greedy he is when encountering the vast amount of wealth in the cave.

This one isn't played often enough on television, so if you have an opportunity to see it on TV, or in some sort of DVD set, do so and I believe that from the beginning, you will laugh.

This is a kind of variation on an Arabian Nights story. It's the old "Open Sesame" thing where an immerse treasure is kept in a cave. Daffy and Bugs are on their way to Pismo Beach, CA, to enjoy the beach, but a wrong turn in Albuquerque gets them lost. They end up in an Arabian desert. Because they have tunneled underground, they pop up in the treasure cave. Of course, when Daffy sees the jewels and gold, he drives Bugs into the ground and begins to take possession of all the loot. Unfortunately for him, Ali Baba or some other guy is around and he isn't happy to see someone running off with his treasure. Just like always, Daffy goes bananas, and Bugs is the unflappable one. Fun, familiar effort by Chuck Jones.

An absolutely wonderful cartoon. But I'm biased - saw it first at the Cartoon Cinema in Sheffield England in 1958 or thereabouts aged 7 with grandmother. To me it's one of the finest and funniest Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Granted it might attract disparaging comment for the stereotypical Arabs - but it is of its time and that time was 1957. So far as I know it never has attracted criticism from the Arab world.

It is delightful for the interplay between the greedy (capitalist?) duck and his pretensions ("I'm comfortably well off...") and the world wise but decent Bugs Bunny - who rescues the duck from his folly only for Daffy to blow it at the end - with yet more greed.

A fable for our times yet again?

Oh, and Pismo Beach is in California, not Florida.

Duncan Stewart.