Bowery Bugs

I think that I'd heard of Steve Brody before I'd seen Arthur Davis's "Bowery Bugs", but I wish to call this cartoon the coolest way to know him. The plot has Brody suffering a bout of bad luck, so he decides to find himself a rabbit's foot. While we should immediately be able to guess which rabbit he tries to get it from, we still haven't seen what Bugs Bunny makes the poor sucker do! It goes to show that Bugs was a New Yorker all the way.

Truth be told, what Bugs does to the guy towards the end reminds me of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", how Kevin McCarthy's character starts finding that everyone has been taken over by the aliens and doesn't know whether or not he can trust anyone. But that's just me.

While I have to admit that Arthur Davis is not the Warner animation director who first comes to my mind, he did helm some fairly interesting cartoons during his few years as a director: "Mexican Joyride", "The Stupor Salesman" and "Porky Chops" are the ones that I know aside from this one. All in all, this is one that you're sure to like.

Bugs tells the story of the luckless Steve Brodie who, in 1886, decided he needed a good luck charm to break his run of bad luck. There is a plaque by Brooklyn Bridge to commemorate him jumping from there - an event, we learn, that was caused by Bugs outwitting him when Brodie decided he would adopt a rabbit's foot as his charm.

Bugs Bunny doing his well loved wise cracking, tricky stuff is always worth seeing and here it is pretty much the saviour of a cartoon that trades almost entirely on Bugs' New York mannerisms and con-appeal. The plot sets time back simply to set up the punchline (which works well so no problem), and the material is the usual stuff we've come to expect from Bugs. He dresses up, he is everywhere at once and he runs rings out the luckless Brodie. It is pretty funny but it doesn't quite have as much in the way of imagination as one would hope for from Bugs.

Bugs is the saviour here and he really carries the short himself. He is omnipresent, one step ahead and very funny. Brodie is OK as a big Irish thug but I prefer Bugs' partners to have a bit more to them that simply being a patsy.

Overall this is still worth seeing as Bugs is on good form - it's just a shame the material lacks the spark and imagination that so many of his cartoons thrive on.

What a beautiful animated rendering of the Brooklyn Bridge! We get a little history of it and a comment about "Steve Brody making his sensational leap from it into the East River." Bugs is looking at the sign commemorating the event when an old-timer asks him, "What in tarnatiion did he do that fer?"

Bugs tells him in flashback form. Suddenly we see the Bower back in 1886. What artwork! This looks prettier than a postcard. Anyway, Bugs relates the story of Brody.

Brody, looking for a rabbit's foot to change his luck, is even dumber than Elmer Fudd. Have you noticed how Bugs' foes are always about the dumbest people on earth. They make our bunny look like Albert Einstein, in comparison. Even Bugs remarks near the end, "What a tara-ra-goon-de-ay," which I assume means "big, stupid goon."

To me, the best feature of his animated short was that colorful and well-drawn artwork. Kudos to animators Basil Davidovich, Philip DeGuard, Emery Hawkins, Bill Melendez and Don Williams, along with director Arthur Davis.

Bugs Bunny tells a story to an old man.It is a story about a man who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge back in 1886 and survived.This man, called Steve Brody, was a down-on-his-luck gambler and needed a rabbit's foot.For good luck, you know.And Bugs, being a rabbit and all...But Bug's foot ain't for sale.And Bugs assures the man rabbits' feet aren't lucky.He tells him to go see Swami Rabbitima.He can help him become luckier.But he looks awfully much like Bugs...Bowery Bugs (1949) is directed by Arthur Davis.Mel Blanc provides the voices for Bugs, Old Man and Little Pool Hall Man.Billy Bletcher is the voice of Steve Brody.This is pretty funny Bugs Bunny short, where we can see Bugs wearing a few disguises (including Bugs in drag).But Bugs may have been too rough on that poor fellow.In one scene he hits Brody- six times- so that he can read the bumps on his head.That's a funny scene, but was it necessary to hit him six times? Wouldn't five have been enough?

Arthur Davis directed a humorous Bugs Bunny cartoon with the talents of Billy Bletcher (Steve Brody). It is worth noting that this is the only Bugs Bunny short directed by Arthur Davis.

I enjoy the scene in the cartoon where Steve believes everyone in town is turning into rabbits and jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge. This marks the end of the flashback portion and is quite humorous. Another favorite scene is when Steve seeks help from "Swami Rabbitina" to improve his luck streak after receiving the business card from Bugs. Then we heard a voice saying, "Enter, Oh seeker of knowledge." A punching-bag pendulum hits Brody across the head and... *WHOMP!* "THAT'S YOU, FATHEAD!"

In conclusion, this Bugs Bunny cartoon is another favorite of mine.