Gorilla My Dreams

Bugs is adrift at sea in a barrel, reading a book and singing a song as though he hasn't got a care in the world. Unfortunately, he doesn't realise he's near an island in the ocean populated by ferocious gorillas, and when one of the childless female apes sees him floating by, she takes an instant shine to him being her baby.. despite the fact he has long ears and fluffy tale. How will her hubby cope with the news that he has a rabbit as a heir (ho ho)? You'll have to watch to find out.

This short has almost exactly the same plot as another BB cartoon (the name escapes me for now) but the execution is far weaker. Aside from a couple of pratfalls involving a coconut tree and a shovel there are hardly any jokes here at all, just a few aimless chases and a several uninspiring background gags (Like Tarzan crossing at the traffic lights). The question: If you're going to rework earlier material, why bother if you're just going to strip out the good stuff and replace it with dead air? I don't have a clue. But what I am sure of is, when this appears on my Looney Tunes DVD in the future.. my finger will be firmly be rested on the SKIP button. 4/10

Bugs bunny is willing to play along when a female gorilla desperately wants to have a baby. But the husband of the gorilla, Mr. Gruesome hates Bugs and wants him out of the picture. This is YET another Robert McKimson directed short that fails when compared to the Bugs Bunny cartoons of other MUCH more competent directors. His name almost makes one weep when a TRUE Looney Tunes fan sees it in the credits. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by Jerry Beck that needless to say is more interesting than the actual short.

My Grade: C

While not the best of the Looney Tunes canon, Gorilla My Dreams is still a very entertaining cartoon I think. I agree the ending is rather abrupt and lame, and I cannot say I was a fan of the female gorilla, she doesn't do that much that is interesting.

However, the animation is solid and colourful, I especially loved how the jungle was animated. The music is lovely and has a lot of energy, Bugs's song at the beginning as he is sitting eating a carrot and reading a book in the boat is very amusing, especially for the lyrics. The dialogue is witty and funny, Bugs of course gets the best lines and does a lot with them, while the sight gags are good. Bugs of course is great fun, while the male gorilla was a decent foil, gruff he was but I think he was meant to be. Mel Blanc does a wonderful job yet again with the voices.

Overall, an entertaining cartoon while not the best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A female gorilla is depressed that she and her husband, Gruesome, haven't had a child. When Gruesome growls at her, she runs away crying and...you guessed it! She finds Bugs Bunny. When she takes him home, Gruesome decides to take Bugs for a walk, but then it turns out that the big guy wants to torment him. Naturally, Bugs has his own plans.

I think that my favorite scene was when Bugs shakes a coconut out of a tree, and it falls on Gruesome like a football helmet. No matter what, you can always count on that "scwewy wabbit" to do something great. Maybe it was Mel Blanc's voices or maybe it was something else (I would assume that it was the former), but those old Looney Tunes cartoons were always the best.

The best thing about Robert McKimson's 'Gorilla My Dreams' are the sumptuous jungle backgrounds against which the action is set. It's a lovely setting for a so-so cartoon. Bugs Bunny is washed ashore on a tropical island and immediately adopted against his will by a broody, childless mother gorilla. Her husband, Gruesome, is less than pleased by this development and sets out to render himself childless. It is from hereon in that the cartoon starts to falter with some clumsily timed sequences (the dance with the coconut tree being the prime example) and a less than satisfactory ending. It's a shame the script is so off during the main body of the cartoon because much of the animation is extremely nice, such as the beautiful chase sequence which culminates in a striking layout which charts the lengthiness of the pursuit by showing Bugs and Gruesome's silhouetted figures in several different places at once. Despite being serenaded by Bugs with several hit songs of the day, I still always think of 'Gorilla My Dreams' as a far nicer cartoon to look at than it is to listen to.