Ballot Box Bunny

Even fifty years later this short holds up as a terrific commentary on life in America. Here's Yosimite Sam, running for mayor on a platform that promises to exterminate rabbits. "Two rabbits in every pot." Bugs hears this and needs to run against him to save his own skin.

Sound familiar?

Yosemite Sam runs for Mayor and builds himself as Honest Sam. He is running on an anti-rabbit platform. Bugs Bunny hears this and decides to fight fire with fire.

This is a simple Bugs vs Yosemite Sam in an election fight. There are some very good gags. Theodore Roosevelt is a great bit and it offers terrific violence. Kissing babies is an obvious one and Bugs gets to dress up. The cigar bit is a little off topic. I have never seen people hand out cigars for an election. Maybe they could do something else like the candidates' buttons or balloons filled with gas. The picnic and ants are a solid gag. Again, it may not be directly on target, but it is adjacent. The piano gag is a classic which does get often recycled. I don't mind repeating it if it is comedy greatness. I really like the "Dark Horse" resolution. The Russian Roulette is rather dark, but darkness is part of the Looney Tunes legacy.

Yosemite Sam is running for mayor. One of his campaign promises is "to rid this country of every last rabbit." Bugs chokes on his carrot when he hears this.

"Hey, this calls for strategy. I'll fight fire with fire," he proclaims. He decides to run against "Honest Sam."

Talk about smear campaigns! Mainly, what these two guys try to do is the blow the other guy up, with dynamite stuck in everything from watermelons to pianos. It's the usual fare, but that means some clever gags and Bugs usually outwitting the loud and obnoxious Sam.

In the ending, well, let's just saw a "dark horse" surprises both candidates.

Ballot Box Bunny (1951)

*** (out of 4)

Another winning Looney Tunes episode this time finds Yosemite Sam running for Mayor when Bugs Bunny shows up and decides to run against him. With the two in a battle for the job you just know one of them are going to get blown up. The word explosion is the key here because there are many throughout the short and all of them get some very big laughs. We have an exploding cigar, piano, canon and all of them give some hysterical laughs. Sam's character is wonderful here and really steals the film, although there's no doubt he was one of Bug's greatest co-stars. What I also enjoyed was the look of Sam after being blown up countless times. Each time gave Sam a new look and I loved all of them.

Hilarious Bugs Bunny short that takes a poke at politics. It's directed by Friz Freleng with a story by Warren Foster. Yosemite Sam is running for mayor on an anti-rabbit campaign. Bugs hears this and decides to enter the race to oppose Sam. One laugh after another with great lines and gags. Very nice animation with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Wonderful Technicolor is always a plus. Excellent voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. He does some of his best Yosemite Sam work here. Energetic music from Carl Stalling. My favorite bits were the cee-gar bit and the Emma joke. Oh and that ending is classic. A great Bugs & Yosemite Sam cartoon that is sure to please most fans.