Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk

Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk is a classic 1943 Bugs Bunny cartoon that blends fairy tale parody with Looney Tunes mischief in all the right ways. A riff on Jack and the Beanstalk, the short puts Bugs in the role of a savvy trespasser climbing a giant beanstalk into the clouds-only to find a castle guarded by a dimwitted but enormous giant. From the get-go, it's clear this is prime-era Bugs, armed with his signature wisecracks, cool confidence, and a knack for turning the tables on any foe, no matter their size.

One of the most memorable and delightful scenes is Bugs digging and mining the enormous, golden carrots in the giant's garden. As a kid watching this on The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show one Saturday morning, that sequence stuck with me-there was something both hilarious and satisfying about seeing Bugs treat these colossal carrots like precious treasure. It perfectly combined visual gags with clever animation timing, showing how the Looney Tunes team could turn even a simple act of harvesting into comic gold.

Watching it again years later in the Looney Tunes 80th Anniversary Collection only deepened my appreciation for the artistry and humor packed into this short. The animation still holds up, and Bugs' antics remain timeless. Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk may be a parody, but it's also a great example of how these shorts elevated slapstick into something smart, creative, and unforgettable. It's a beanstalk-sized dose of cartoon brilliance that never gets old.

The giant in this one has got to be the dumbest adversary Bugs has ever faced. Even Beaky Buzzard is brighter. However, lost in all this is the fact that the giant is actually the aggrieved party here. Bugs is stealing from his garden in the beginning. Granted, Bugs is our hero and the giant isn't the shiniest pebble in the pond, but there are property rights to consider.

This is mostly verbal gags, with a few sight gags involved for timing purposes, I'd expect. Lots of very funny gags here, with the obligatory reference gags to World War II here, naturally. The duel between Bugs and the giant is beautifully executed and the closing sequence is great! Well worth watching. Most recommended.

I notice that "Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk" is one of a couple of cartoons in which Bugs Bunny's opponent is a total klutz - complete with a voice like George from "Of Mice and Men"* - whom Bugs could clobber without even trying. But even though the giant here is an easy target, it's impossible not to like the wacky series of events (or the literal ear drum).

There's one other thing that I notice. This cartoon contains an obvious WWII theme, as the brainless giant claims to be more powerful than Bugs but obviously isn't (much like the Nazis claimed to be). If this is what's going to happen to the US given the current state of affairs...well, don't say that they didn't warn us.

But I digress. It's a pretty funny cartoon.

*Other such characters were Beaky Buzzard ("Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid"), Junyer Bear ("Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears") and Pete Puma ("Rabbit's Kin").

Discovering a bean stalk, Bugs Bunny climbs it to find himself face to boot with a giant who claims to be bigger and smarter than Bugs. However, the wily rabbit goes about outsmarting the giant and avoiding capture in his kingdom in the sky.

From the start I had a good feeling about this short as Bugs looks a little rough and ready in his sleek, darker grey version - it always makes me feel that he suits his smart mouth in this version. The plot is simple enough but the character with Bugs is not strong enough (you know what I mean!) to help carry the weight of the film and the gags.

While Bugs does his usual stuff well, the giant is not as responsive as other characters and doesn't really interact with Bugs as well as he needs to. The only point where he is effective is as a joke against the Nazi's as the giant claims superiority over little Bugs, but is easily defeated himself. Outside of this side joke, he doesn't have a whole lot to offer and Bugs seems to lose a little of his impact without a really good foil.

Overall I love Bugs and enjoyed this outing. However it goes to show that Bugs is weaker when he doesn't have a co-star to bounce things off (literally!).

While not among my favourite Looney Tunes cartoons, although it stars one of my favourite cartoon characters ever, 'Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk' is very well done and very entertaining.

As ever with Looney Tunes, although an early Bugs Bunny cartoon meaning that Bugs' design was still evolving, the animation is very good to great. It's beautifully drawn, everything moves smoothly with no stiffness, the backgrounds are rich in colour and detail and it's sumptuous and vibrant in colour.

Carl Stalling's music score is outstanding, then again there may be some bias as Stalling is my personal favourite of the Looney Tunes composers. The music is supremely characterful and energetic, the orchestration is lush and clever and most importantly aside from that it's very memorable it fits with to the action and adds to it, Stalling also showing his perhaps unmatched ability at that time to enhance the action.

The humour here, as has been said already, is mostly verbal rather than visual and kinetic. The script is incredibly funny and razor sharp in its wit, and there are some fun bits in the animation as well. The closing sequence is indeed terrific. The narration never falls into the trap of being over-explanatory or trying to tell too much. The story is somewhat formulaic, but the humour, crisp pacing and Bugs' charisma more than compensates.

Bugs is such a funny and charismatic leading character, and he doesn't disappoint here even relatively early on in his development. The giant is not as strong a character and the least strong thing about 'Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk', he's sometimes amusing and threatening, especially in one of the gags referencing World War 2 and the Nazis, but also a bit bland and rather too dumb, even for a character meant to be. His rapport with Bugs has its nice amusing moments but is not as inspired as it could have been and there could have been more tension perhaps. Mel Blanc does fantastically voicing both characters and the narrator, yet another cartoon that demonstrates his unparalleled ability to voice more than one character and make them completely different but distinctive.

In conclusion, very well done and well worth watching. Just could have been even better if Bugs' foil was as well written as Bugs. 8/10 Bethany Cox