Rabbit Every Monday

In this Looney Tunes episode, we see Yosemite Sam assuming an unusual role (for him) as a rabbit hunter, a role that (as I know all Looney Tunes fans will know) Elmer Fudd usually takes, while Yosemite Sam is usually the gangster with a gun (or sword, possibly). Bugs Bunny is cooking carrots just outside his burrow and as he fools Elmer Fudd, he fools Yosemite Sam and does a good job of making sure the hunter does not catch him. However, will Bugs Bunny remain in his burrow..?

I thought this episode would be pretty predictable, as most Yosemite Sam vs Bugs Bunny episodes are (and because of that they are not my favourite type of Looney Tunes cartoons). However, some pretty unexpected gags and plot twists did occur, making this episode all the more entertaining. Possibly my favourite slapstick gag in this episode was the bubblegum was, the cartoon makers use it to lead Yosemite Sam into all sorts of scrapes. This episode did not contain as much speaking jokes as I would have liked, though, although neither do pretty much any of the YS vs BB episodes, as those types of cartoons rely almost entirely on slapstick.

I recommend the episode to people who like all Yosemite Sam vs Bugs Bunny cartoons and to people who prefer something a little less predictable in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Enjoy "Rabbit Every Monday"! :-)

P.S Near the beginning of the cartoon the Looney Tunes episode "Daffy Duck and Egghead" is referenced, when we see a member of a cinema audience starting to walk away. No-one is shot in the audience by a cartoon character in "Rabbit Every Monday", unlike in the episode where the gag was originally made.

8 and a half out of ten.

This is the one with the priceless bit where Bugs sings his heart out to a large carrot which he's roasting on a makeshift spit:

Oh carrots are divine, You get a dozen for a dime, It's magic...

They fry, a song begins, They roast and I hear violins, It's magic...

Why do I kid myself, Of the love that I have are all really few, When in my heart I know, the magic's my love for you!

This is one of Friz Freleng's best Bugs Bunny cartoons. It's a fairly simple Bugs versus Yosemite Sam plot but it's very funny with one great line and gag after another. Some of the funnier bits include Bugs singing to his carrots, Sam breaking the fourth wall and threatening the audience not to move or he'll blow their hide off ("And I'll do it, too!"), misadventures with bubble gum, and a party in the most unexpected place. The animation is beautiful. Love the colors and the characters and backgrounds are all well-drawn. Excellent voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. Carl Stalling's music is, as usual, perfectly suited to the action. It's one of the great Bugs & Sam shorts and definitely one for Freleng's highlight reel.

Bugs Bunny is cooking some carrots, which Yosemite Sam smells (where there's carrots, there's rabbits). But when Sam attempts to blast the flea-bitten varmint, things always go haywire! Even when Sam gets Bugs back into his house, it's still not as easy as it looks to deal with him. Is this Sam's eternal doom?! It's just always great to see how nothing was sacred to these guys. Everything was always fair game. True, it's not much different from most Bugs-Sam pairings, but they're always so hilarious. And this one even had an interesting twist at the end. "Rabbit Every Monday" is a real treat. In conclusion: Happy new year!

For several reasons Rabbit Every Monday is one of my personal favourite Bugs Bunny vs. Yosemite Sam cartoons. It is excellent and very funny, not only in the script with especially Bugs' hilarious last line but in the sight gags the chief delight being Bugs crooning to a carrot. That's not all though, the cartoon is well paced and goes at a good length, while the animation is pretty good particularly in the backgrounds and the music is as energetic and lively as I like it. Rabbit Every Monday also has a simple yet constantly entertaining story, and there are several unpredictable turns throughout the course of the cartoon. Bugs is great as usual, and Yosemite Sam while playing a different role to that he usually plays is a worthy foil. Mel Blanc as he consistently does is superb with the voice characterisations. Overall, excellent cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox