Ballot Box Bunny

Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam run against each other for mayor in a small town. Needless to say, they have all sorts of dirty tricks to play on each other; Karl Rove has got nothing on these guys. I wish to assert that politics would be better if it was more like what "Ballot Box Bunny" portrays. Sure, you may say, politics is already dirty enough - especially with George W. Bush getting us into the Iraq War and the recent revelations of Mark Foley's creepy activities. But seriously folks, wouldn't you prefer Bugs and Sam's actions to politicians running touchy-feely ads telling us how they'll lead us through prosperity and adversity? All in all, a classic cartoon. And don't forget to vote on November 7!

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.

Usually I am not a huge fan of the Looney Tunes cartoons where Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam are partnered together, as they almost always end up in a pretty mediocre string of slapstick jokes. Here, there were still slapstick jokes, but, for me, they seemed to be funnier and there seemed to be a secret personality let out from Yosemite Sam in this episode that I had not seen before (I do not want to give spoilers, but basically how he feels about partnership). Also, some of the slapstick gags included were ones that (according to reviewers on IMDb) have been repeated several times, I had not seen before, so I found them almost delightful to watch. (The piano one was one of them.) The theme of the episode was also quite entertaining. If there was one thing I did not like about this episode, it was that almost all of the jokes end up with dynamite going off or guns being fired. Pretty dull.

In this episode, we first see Yosemite Sam trying to place himself in the title of mayor, by convincing the townspeople to respect him. As he strings out a rather irrelevant list of things he will do for them, Sam tells the people he will eradicate every rabbit. Duh, Bugs Bunny is listening nearby - and of course -, he does his best to fight against Sam and become mayor. Cartoon capers commence...

I do not want you to go away thinking that I really like this episode, it is not one of my very favourites. It is one of my favourites which includes Bugs and Sam.

I recommend this to people who like all Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny jokes and for Looney Tunes fans in general. Enjoy "Ballot Box Bunny"! :-)

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.

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?