Rhapsodie à quatre mains

In one of many Looney Tunes cartoons involving classical music, Bugs Bunny is in concert playing Franz Liszt's "Second Hungarian Rhapsody" (despite claiming to have never heard of Liszt) but gets interrupted by audience members and then by a mouse. When I heard the tune, I remembered the scene in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" where Daffy Duck and Donald Duck are playing that song and keep undermining each other's performances. Hopefully, I'm not the only one who thinks that cartoons and Franz Liszt's music are a cool mix.

Anyway, "Rhapsody Rabbit" is truly part of the pantheon of classic cartoons. You may just feel like playing the piano yourself after watching this.

I had the pleasure of meeting Virgil Ross once at a public appearance, and I was able to talk with him briefly. He mentioned that this was the cartoon he had the most fun to work on, so I sought it out, curious to see it. I must say, it does look like it would have been fun to make, because it's really fun to watch. Even by today's standards, this is a very clever and humorous piece, free of cliches. I liked it!

This early Bugs (you always tell because his head is shaped more oblong and his ears are longer) has him in tuxedo and on stage ready to play Lizst's Second Hungarian Rhapsody on the piano.

After he warms up with some knuckle-crunching, he gets set to play but some idiot makes a loud coughing noise and stops him. After the second time, Bugs takes out a gun and shoots him. That's funny - something we wouldn't advise or condone but think about doing. Anyway, he then performs, hams it up a bit, and then bothered by a little mouse who pops out of the piano right above the keys.

The by-play between Bugs and the mouse is very reminiscent of some Tom and Jerry cartoons, most notably "Cat Concerto." The latter might have been considered a better work of art, but I laughed at more things in here as the mouse made the music change to jazz, then chopsticks, then taps, etc. There is more humor in this one and it's more fun to watch, especially with the fantastic artwork.

What I liked best about this animated short wasn't the solid humor or the music but the colors. This was a nicely drawn 'toon. The bright golden hued drapes and the dark piano, tuxedo, green floor, reflections on the piano, etc., all made for some nice visuals.

The 'toon got better and better as it went on with the last few minutes extremely creative and colorful.

Bugs Bunny is a musician playing Franz Liszt's 'Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2' for apparently a large audience. First Bugs has some problems with a coughing guy in the audience, he knows how to solve that, then with a mouse who plays parts of the rhapsody.

The way this cartoon makes fun of the preparation of a musician, the way Bugs solves the problem with the noisy audience, the way the mouse is used are hilarious. When the piano slowly changes into other things (typewriters) and the keys begin to move it gets even funnier. The music put together with the animation is a good reason to see this cartoon, the great gags make sure you will like it even more!

This is a truly wonderful and imaginative cartoon. The animation is very effective and beautiful if rather simple. The music is a real highlight, I love the cartoons that feature classical music, and this is no exception. Franz Lizst's "Hungarian Rhapsody no 2" (amongst others) is a real treat, but extremely complicated to play on the piano and put to really clever use. Bugs is not as funny as he usually is, but he does a stellar job, courtesy to some brilliant vocal characterisations from Mel Blanc. During his performance of "Hungarian Rhapsody no 2", Bugs has to overcome many obstacles, such as the coughing audience member and being upstaged by a musical (and cute) mouse in a Tom and Jerry-like scenario. The minimal use of dialogue is good, the funniest gag of the cartoon was the telephone call where Bugs says "Franz Lizst? Nah, never heard of him!" Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this, it mayn't be Bug's very best but it is great fun. 10/10 Bethany Cox