All This and Rabbit Stew

A dimwitted black hunter is hunting Bugs Bunny. It does not go well. This is the old Hollywood stereotypical idiot black character. For a long time, that's all the work that black actors could get in mainstream films. Many black stars have based their performances on this type of role. It is no surprise that this character does not last into the modern era. Aside from that, this is fairly basic Bugs antics. Normally, we see this with Elmer Fudd except for the dice rolling. Again, the dice throwing is an old black stereotype. I won't mark this down too much, but the fact that it hasn't lasted is notable.

Tex Avery's last Bugs-starred cartoon is actually pretty funny. Unfortunately though, few will be able to see it because of the black stereotype that has been used on this new hunter.

If one ignores the racial slur, the jokes throughout the film are hilarious (including one in which a group of bullets takes on a life of its own) and only makes one wonder what future Avery Bugs cartoons would have been like.

Hopefully all fans of animated cartoons will be able to see it one day in the proper historical context. When they do, they'll be in for a treat.

When cartoons and movies were made in the 1930's, 40's and 50's the racial attitudes in America were different. Jim Crow laws discriminated against people of color in the south, the Army and pro sports were segregated until after World War II. Many of the ideas, laws and attitudes were wrong.

This cartoon has racial stereotypes and I cannot and will not speak for the cartoonists who produced it as to what their feelings and reasons were for making cartoons like this.

To ignore cartoons like All This and Rabbit Stew is to ignore our past, both good and bad. In order to understand the history of our great land, we must never hide from our past, but rather confront our past in an honest way.

Your typical Bugs Bunny chase cartoon, although he doesn't dress up in this one and Elmer Fudd's place been taken by a black hunter, which probably is the reason why it was banned in the first place.

The hunter tries to catch Bunny in which he obviously doesn't succeed, as he has an encounter with a huge bear and falls from a mountain a number of times. When in the end he finally does catch him, Bugs persuades him into a game of dice which the black hunter loses, and Bugs is leaving him without his gun and clothes.

Maybe a bit racist (though the hunter basicaly does the same things as Elmer Fudd), this cartoon isn't the best Bugs Bunny has offered the world. 5/10.

All This and Rabbit Stew' has historical interest for being the last Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Tex Avery. It has also gone down in history as one of the Censored 11 cartoons withheld from syndication, and over 70 years ago is still met with controversy.

Seeing it for myself, being a big fan of Bugs Bunny and as one of many who considers Avery a giant in animation, it is very easy to see why people will dislike it and there are issues with it, so it is never going to be a favourite. However, because 'All This and Rabbit Stew' also to me had a lot of things that make it a quite decent cartoon in spite of its flaws this viewer just can't bring herself to give it a low score. It is lesser Tex Avery, and it is not a Bugs Bunny classic, but at least Avery's style is detectable and both Bugs and Looney Tunes have done far worse than this.

The cartoon's biggest problem is the character of the hunter. That the character is a stereotypical caricature is not a problem as such, but people have taken issue with the way the stereotype is portrayed here and while I am not one to scream racism or anything like that it didn't sit well with me either. Even when judging it for back then, the hunter is ill-conceived from the get-go. The design is rather ugly, his dialogue is both unfunny and forgettable, his lazy personality and posture are taken to extremes, the voice really grates on the nerves- both the pitch and speed of it- and while one may say the character is like Elmer Fudd (with the dim-wittedness and the easily-fooled characteristics it is easy to see why) the chemistry between Bugs and the hunter lacks the same spark and the character really is more annoying than amusing , endearing or easy to empathise with, at least Elmer didn't speak like he was stupid and while dim-witted one cannot accuse him of being lazy.

As said, the hunter and Bugs together in chemistry are somewhat bland and the story does feel a touch thin and predictable to begin with. 'All This and Rabbit Stew' has several funny moments, but one gag does not work and that is the climactic dice gag. It is partly because the gags preceding it are all much funnier, and it is partly also because it is by far the most stereotypical of the gags, the depiction of the activity not being for the faint-hearted in both 1941 and now. It is mostly however because of timing, all the other gags before were becoming increasingly wild pacing and humour- wise, which was making for great entertainment, so it was a shame when the cartoon felt like it had ground to a halt and the comic timing lost its sharpness because it felt very at odds with everything else that had happened before.

On the other hand, with the exception of the hunter's character design the animation is very good, the old Looney Tunes and Avery styles unmistakable. The backgrounds are beautifully drawn and crisp, practically bursting with detail, Bugs is well designed (while mostly his first design, with more elongated features, there are small signs of evolution) and there are some gorgeously lush and atmospheric colours and enjoyably big, wacky expressions from Bugs and the bullets. Another truly excellent asset is the music score from Carl Stalling, my personal favourite of the regular Looney Tunes composers by a large margin. The music here has non-stop character and energy, it is sumptuously orchestrated and brilliantly in sync with the action, not just adding to the effectiveness of the physical comedy and the gags but making them even better as well.

Despite the controversial reputation 'All This and Rabbit Stew' now holds, it is very entertaining and its best bits are incredibly funny. Bugs' dialogue is as witty as can be and the log and bullet gags are not only perfectly timed, both of them getting increasingly and thrillingly wild, but they are also hilarious and clever. With the former it could have been quickly repetitive, but was very clever and varied in execution even if the outcome is not surprising. The bullet gag is the one that is the most wild in nature and it is entirely down to the animation, which is at its cleverest and wackiest here. The cartoon is inventively paced throughout, Avery's visual and directorial style genuinely shines, the cartoon shows all the qualities that make Bugs an all-time favourite and includes everything that makes him such a great character in the first place and Mel Blanc's voice work for Bugs is fabulous.

In conclusion, has historical value but despite some missteps, mainly with one character and one gag, has more to it than just that. 6/10 Bethany Cox