Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears

Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (1944)

**** (out of 4)

A masterpiece in the animation field has Papa, Mama and Baby bears hungry so they decide to try and lure Goldilocks in with carrot soup but instead they get Bugs Bunny. This take on the classic story is one of the greatest animated movies ever made. While there's nothing too ground breaking or special here, I think the story works so well that it's impossible not to fall for all the charm and laughs. Bugs is his classic, smart self as he's always one step ahead of the bears who are wanting to eat him. He brings plenty of laughs to the screen including a great sequence when he's eating where he tricks the baby bear into getting him some ketchup. What really makes this short memorable are the three bears and their personalities. This short runs just 7-minutes but it's amazing how much personality Jones can get into the film. I love how Mama bear overacts for the camera, how Papa bear is embarrassed to be acting the story out and then there's Baby bear and his dumbness. Some might object to the father beating the son but hey, it's all good fun.

These Three Bears cartoons, of which "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" is the first, barely squeak past modern-day TV censors, and couldn't get made today. They feature a domineering patriarch who beats his child and browbeats his wife. Never mind that the cartoon hardly approves of his behavior. These are deadly serious subjects that must ... not ... be ... mocked!

This point of view has two errors. One, deadly serious subjects are the meat of comedy; certainly in Warner Brothers cartoons where the barely hidden themes are death, dismemberment, mayhem, sexual perversion, greed, humiliation, lust, abuse of power and so forth. As Steve Allen often said, comedy is tragedy plus time. Two, Papa Bear is not beating a helpless child or berating a gentle-spirited lady. Baby Bear is enormous, and he's stupid enough to blunt our sympathy. Mama Bear is a drip - and not even a nice drip. She's happy to go along with Papa Bear's cruel scheme to pulverize Bugs Bunny.

That scheme is odd, by the way. Baby Bear assumes they're doing it for food. But there's a strong suggestion that Papa Bear is just looking for some cruel fun. After all, they're not after a rabbit. They re-enact the "Three Bears" story to attract Goldilocks!

They get Bugs Bunny, who handily outwits them. But is Bugs a sexist, as modern scolds would have it? Bugs compliments the alleged beauty of Mama Bear in order to distract her from killing him. Later, when she lustily pursues him, he backs off in terror.

First, Bugs had every right to do what he could to save his life. He certainly didn't owe his would-be murderess an honest appraisal, i.e. that she's repulsive. Second, despite modern-day cant about inner beauty and unconventional beauty, Mama Bear has nothing to offer anyone. She's a homicidal drip.

Then again, audiences never hate her. You have to admire the spirit of a woman who gets one compliment, then immediately blocks every doorway against her admirer, while she wears various would-be attractive garments, or even wears nothing (!), and then shows up at his home to smother the unwilling suitor with kisses. Mama Bear, you're a multifaceted woman.

The animation in this cartoon is oddly crude for Warner Brothers and its director Chuck Jones. Otherwise, this is a top-notch, very funny short and highly recommended to all but prudes, scolds and P.C.-thinkers of all varieties.

This short is available on DVD on "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three," Disc 3.

There are Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear. The bears are hungry and they make porridge. It is too hot. They take a walk to let it cool off. It turns out to be a trick as they hide under the stairs. Bugs Bunny gets lured in by the smell of the food.

This is Bugs Bunny doing Bugs Bunny things... at first. It is interesting that the Bears are laying a trap for him. It is a different path than the traditional Goldilocks story. I like it. The middle is what I expect from Bugs as he gets the upper hand against the Bears. The ending is less like Bugs and it feels a bit off. I like the more standard story where Bugs wins.

Without any porridge left the cupboard, the three bears realise they won't be able to attract Goldilocks to their home. With only the old carrots available to eat, they make soup and lure Bugs Bunny into their house. However Bugs proves to be much harder to catch than Goldilocks and the 3 Bears are not getting their fairytale ending.

Bugs Bunny cartoons will always do roughly the same thing every time – Bugs will evade and trick and mock who/what ever is trying to catch him. In this case he is drawn into the fairytale world of the 3 Bears. Cue his usual trademark humour which I found as funny as always here.

Bugs' support characters usually make or break a film and here his foils are mostly pretty funny. The papa bear is a hoot with his impatience and quick temper, the baby bear is slow and dumb and combines well with the father. Only the mother fails to really establish herself, even though she is used in the punchline of the film she is not as strong as the others.

Overall though this is a funny film and the support characters do what they are supposed to do and carry a certain amount of the weight of the comedy and give a foil for Bugs to play off well.

This is one of my favorites. Every Character is absolutely hilarious. The Baby Bear being huge while the father is half his size is pure genius. Every time (and I am not promoting child abuse here) he Papa bear whacks Junyer I laugh out loud. Bea Benaderet is great as the ma bear. Stan Freberg was just as funny as Junyer.